CREATIVE TEAM BIOS

 

BUDDY KAYE (1918-2002)

As his final work Buddy Kaye completed the Book and Lyrics to his original stage musical "WHEN GARBO TALKS!" Buddy was a well-known songwriter and lyricist, whose career spanned six decades. With lifetime record sales exceeding 70 million, some of Buddy's most popular songs were: Till The End Of Time (Perry Como), Full Moon and Empty Arms (Frank Sinatra, Bob Dylan), A-You're Adorable (Perry Como), I'll Close My Eyes (Sarah Vaughn, Dinah Washington, Ella Fitzgerald), Quiet Nights (Tony Bennett, Diana Krall), Speedy Gonzales (Pat Boone) and The Old Songs (Barry Manilow). Buddy was also co-writer of the "I Dream Of Jeannie" television theme song (in continuous network/syndication since 1966).

Buddy produced the Grammy Award-winning "Best Children's Recording" THE LITTLE PRINCE narrated by Richard Burton. He was a Golden Circle member of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (and served on the Board of Directors).  He was a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, President of the Palm Springs Writer's Guild and taught Method Songwriting at UCLA and College of the Desert.

As an author Buddy Kaye’s books were published by Simon & Schuster, St. Martins Press and Candlewick Press. His most successful book The Gift of Acabar (co-written with Og Mandino) now in its seventh printing is published by Random House (Bantam Dell).

Recognized for his distinguished career Buddy Kaye’s passing was eulogized in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times and Time Magazine Milestones. His final work "WHEN GARBO TALKS!" now comes to life with the October 15, 2010 World Premiere at International City Theatre, Long Beach Performing Arts Center. 

 

MORT GARSON  (1924-2008)

For his final work Mort Garson composed the music score for "WHEN GARBO TALKS!" Mort attended the Julliard School of Music on a scholarship where he was a composition major. He conducted the London Symphony Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. His published songs include the No. 1 hit "Our Day Will Come" (recorded by Ruby and the Romantics, Frankie Valli, and k.d.lang), "This Is My Beloved" (Arthur Prysock - gold record), and the Grammy nominated "Zodiac Cosmic Sounds.” Mort was a pioneer in electronic music for film, TV and LP recordings. He arranged music scores for film, episodic TV and game shows, including the National Geographic series "Untamed World" for NBC. His theatre credits included: "Marilyn - The Musical" (at the Adelphi Theatre, London) and "Rouge et Noir” (funded by the Kellogg Foundation).

Mort composed the music score for the Grammy Award-Winning "Best Children's Recording" THE LITTLE PRINCE narrated by Richard Burton. The entire score was created electronically on a Moog synthesizer in 1974. For this and his earlier electronic works Mort was given the distinguished title: "The Grand-Daddy of Electronica” and in July 1969 the Los Angeles Times named Mort Garson “The first Space-Age composer.”

 

JULES AARON

Jules Aaron is the Director of "WHEN GARBO TALKS!"  He is the recipient of 18 Drama-Logue Awards, three Los Angeles Drama Critics nominations (and a 1993 win for Equus), three Garland Awards, twelve Inland Drama Critics Awards, one L.A. Weekly Award and five Dean Goodman Awards. He has directed over 400 productions (including 30 musicals) off- and off-off Broadway, in regional theatres and for public television. Jules has directed frequently at International City Theatre Long Beach, the Public Theatre in New York, Actors’ Theatre of Louisville, South Coast Repertory, The Pasadena Playhouse, New Mexico Repertory, Los Angeles Theatre Center, La Mirada Theatre of the Performing Arts and the Philadelphia Theatre Company to name but a few.

Most recently, Jules directed the World Premiere of Great Expectations - the Musical for the Utah Shakespeare Festival. Other shows include: Jesus' Kid Brother at The Hudson, All My Sons at La Mirada Theatre of the Performing Arts, The Fourth Wall at TheatreWorks, Twenty-Thousand Leagues Under the Sea at the Denver Performing Arts Center .

 

RICHARD D. KAYE

Richard D. Kaye is the Honorary Associate Producer and Additional Book Writer of "WHEN GARBO TALKS!" In August 2003 Richard signed an agreement with director Jules Aaron to develop "GARBO” as a stage musical. He produced the Court Theatre 2003 staged readings of GARBO …the Musical and was Associate Producer of the 2008 GARBO staged reading at ICT - Long Beach Performing Arts Center. Richard was on the Board of Directors of Broadway On Sunset and was a music consultant for the Second Annual West Coast Musical Theatre Conference (featuring keynote speaker Julie Taymor).

Richard worked as a consultant for Sony/ATV Music. He was Associate Producer of the Grammy Award-Winner "Best Children's Recording" THE LITTLE PRINCE narrated by Richard Burton. D/b/a Virgin Ear Music, he published the international hit song "Long Haired Lover From Liverpool" (No.1 on the UK charts for six consecutive weeks). He was co-administrator of the entire TUBES music publishing catalog (including The TUBES/David Foster No.1 Billboard Rock Song "She's A Beauty"). In the early 1970's he worked with the BILLY JOEL catalog as professional manager of Home Grown Music. He was an indie record producer in New York City for Mercury and Capitol Records and began his career, at age 19, as a recording artist for ABC Paramount Records.

 

KAY COLE

Kay Cole is the Choreographer for "WHEN GARBO TALKS!" Kay's credits include: the world premiere of Great Expectations - the Musical for the Utah Shakespeare Festival, Judy's Scary Little Christmas at the Court Theatre, A Chorus Line (McCoy/Rigby), Blvd of Broken Dreams (Coconut Grove Playhouse), (choreographer) credits include: Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks (Belasco Theatre - Broadway, Geffen Theatre, LA), My Fair Lady, The Music Man (Hollywood Bowl), On the 20th Century, Follies, 1776, Most Happy Fella, Sweeney Todd (Reprise!), Songs for a New World (Playwrights Arena), Songs of the Tall Grass (Ford's Theatre), Grave White Way (Hudson Stage), Assassins (LATC), Cabaret (EWP), She's a Handful (HBO Space), Comedy of Errors, As You Like It (Shakespeare LA), Snoopy, Blockheads (London - West End), Guidepost Junction (Kidvid Series), Country Rules (director feature film), Waiting in Line (director, pilot).

 

BRENT CRAYON

Brent Crayon is the Musical Director/Pianist for "WHEN GARBO TALKS!" and he will be writing the Orchestral score. He has been the pianist and music director for over fifty musical productions. He has had the privilege to collaborate with notable directors such as Steven Schwartz, Daisy Prince, Richard Maltby, Jr., Scott Schwartz, Chen Shi-Zheng, Jon Rivera, Kay Cole, and Ed Harris. An accomplished and multi-faceted musician, Brent has been a featured performer in ensembles throughout Southern California, including Santa Monica Symphony Orchestra, The Long Beach Symphony Orchestra, and the Ventura Chamber Orchestra.

 

MICHAEL DONOVAN

Michael Donovan is the Casting Director for "WHEN GARBO TALKS!"  He is happy to continue his collaboration with director Jules Aaron, for whom he has cast numerous shows including Great Expectations at the Hudson and Odyssey, Jesus' Kid Brother at the Hudson Mainstage, The Real Thing and Triumph of Love at the International City Theatre Long Beach, Twilight Romance at the Falcon, and The Philadelphia Story at the Court Theatre. Michael received an Artios award nomination from the C.S.A. for excellence in casting for A Servant to Two Masters at I.C.T., where he is resident casting director. Michael does casting for the Falcon Theatre, The Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts, and recently cast the inaugural production of Romeo and Juliet at the Theatre at Boston Court. Other theatre credits include award-wining Fedunn at the Odyssey.