Blending the Arts and EducationA Passion for Learning Drives a Brilliant Artistic Career Growing up in a family of military, academics and scientists might have seemed an unlikely environment to support a career in the arts. But for Katherine McNamara, these people were also artists and musicians who nurtured her creative spirit, as well as […]
read moreThe Gift of InsistenceWhat Happens When You Refuse to Take No for an Answer American actor, Wilson Cruz, knew from an early age that he wanted to perform, to “be in the business,” and it was largely this burning desire that led to his family moving to California by the time he was 10 years […]
read moreThe Wake-Up Call That Changed EverythingA Mother’s Death and the Pursuit of a Dream Growing up in the shadow of five older siblings who were successful in business produced added pressure for Jim Gaffigan to follow in their footsteps. Ignoring the calling of his heart, he did what was expected of him, attended college and […]
read moreA Mother’s Love Nurtures a DreamThe Right Foundation Supports a Brilliant Career “What the camera needs is truth and if you’re doing a big musical number and [it] requires a kind of energy, then you’re not going to overwhelm the camera if you’re doing something that’s authentic to what it needs to be. …you still […]
read moreThe Purest Kind of StorytellingThe Power of Letting the Story Create the Artistry “[Shakespeare is] my hero in understanding that you can create great art without condescending or patronizing your audience. And that really is something that I firmly believe in and am inspired to do in my own work whether it’s opera, theatre or […]
read moreAn Unexpected GiftHow a Shy Loner Fell into a Brilliant Performing Career “[Regarding the decision to end Seinfeld]…funny is not the obstacle here. The obstacle was that after nine seasons, the audience could more or less anticipate how any of these characters would react in any given situation. There was nothing new that we could […]
read moreBorn with a MissionA Childhood Revelation of a Life Purpose “I never wanted to do anything else. I was born with a mission to entertain and lift people’s spirits. I remember being totally enamoured of everyone I saw on TV and thinking I have to do that.” It can take people decades to develop enough […]
read moreStumbling into DestinyArt Doesn’t Just Imitate Life; It IS Life “If you don’t think you’re the kind of person that has stories to tell, you are exactly the kind of person who should be telling those stories. You have time to find out what kind of storyteller you are and which part of the storytelling […]
read moreAuthenticity in the Arts and LifeThe Journey to Showing up as Yourself There’s something to be said for daring to discover who you are, and the journey shouldn’t end there. The next step is to share who you are fully and authentically with the world. In this episode, film and TV actor Alan Cumming discusses […]
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