Becoming Wilkinson

Mel discusses his journey on the professional side in this second episode. MEL ENGLAND has starred on Screen and Stage, Off-Broadway, internationally and across the USA, since his debut at age 10 in CYRANO DE BERGERAC, directed by British Actor/Director Anton Rogers at the Dallas Theatre Center. He's played Brad in the play ELECTRICITY for audiences around the country, from New York, Los Angeles, Palm Springs, to Minneapolis, where he won Best Actor in a Tour from Lavender Magazine. On film, he starred in the title role of RON AND LAURA TAKE BACK AMERICA for which he won a Best Acting Ensemble award (IIFC) and two Best Actor nominations (NYCIFF & IndieFest). The film, which he co-wrote and co-directed with co-star Janice Markham, earned 13 other wins and nominations, including Best Comedy & Best Director, co-starred Golden Globe Best Actress Nominee Irene Bedard and Jim J. Bullock, and can be seen on Amazon Prime. He stars in the feature BEST DAY EVER, Winner Best LGBT Film (IndieFest) also on Amazon, and appears alongside Academy Award Best Actress Nominee and Golden Globe Winner Sally Kirkland in ARCHAEOLOGY OF A WOMAN. He recently signed to star with Kirkland in the upcoming feature film LOVE ANONYMOUS. Other film roles include Mr. Ghoulden in the hilarious dark comedy feature PERSONA AU GRATIN, Winner Best Comedy (IndieFest USA) and co-starring alongside horror film star Sid Haig in the indie hit LITTLE BIG TOP (released worldwide on Netflix & Amazon). He also starred in the dark comedy PERSONA AU GRATIN (Best Comedy, IndieFest), and as a minister confronted with his own crisis of faith in HIGHLIGHTS (Best Drama Nominee, Moviefone Film Festival). Most recently, he can be seen in the feature FROM ZERO TO I LOVE YOU, and in the TV movie FAME AT DEADLY COST on Lifetime and internationally on Canal. On Stage, England's solo show SWIMMING WITH THE POLAR BEARS directed by Jill Andre, premiered Off-Broadway at the Lynn Redgrave Theatre, as part of a benefit for The Climate Project, featuring posters of the show signed by former Vice President Al Gore, and then toured world-wide, to the 2009 UN SUMMIT ON CLIMATE CHANGE in Copenhagen, LA, and the National Mall in Washington DC for the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day. Other Off-Broadway credits include HECUBA, MARRIAGE with the Pearl Theatre Company.England has been a proud part of many notable "original" New York productions, including THE RING OF DEATH by Off-Broadway legend H.M. Koutoukas, director Chris Sanderson's MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM in Washington Square, HONEYSUCKLES (developed for TV by FOX), SEA MONKEYS at Playwrights Horizons by Tony Nominee Chad Beguelin (THE PROM), FREDDY at LA’s Fountain Theatre, and KING OF CONNECTICUT with Phillip Seymour Hoffman. England studied with legendary acting teachers Stella Adler and Terry Schreiber, attended NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, trained with internationally acclaimed director Agousto Boal, with members of the Royal Shakespeare Company at the British American Theatre Institute, and is a graduate of Dallas' High School for the Performing and Visual Arts with Karon Cogdill & Jane Farris, and in the beginning at the children’s theatre program the Dallas Theatre Center, under the direction of Synthia Rogers. For Mel's full bio and other information, please go to: http://www.MelEngland.comPhoto: Copyright Wilkinson/2023Opening and closing music courtesy the very talented Zakhar Valaha via Pixabay.To contact Wilkinson- email him at BecomingWilkinson@gmail.com

Mel discusses in background and early life in this first episode. MEL ENGLAND has starred on Screen and Stage, Off-Broadway, internationally and across the USA, since his debut at age 10 in CYRANO DE BERGERAC, directed by British Actor/Director Anton Rogers at the Dallas Theatre Center. He's played Brad in the play ELECTRICITY for audiences around the country, from New York, Los Angeles, Palm Springs, to Minneapolis, where he won Best Actor in a Tour from Lavender Magazine. On film, he starred in the title role of RON AND LAURA TAKE BACK AMERICA for which he won a Best Acting Ensemble award (IIFC) and two Best Actor nominations (NYCIFF & IndieFest). The film, which he co-wrote and co-directed with co-star Janice Markham, earned 13 other wins and nominations, including Best Comedy & Best Director, co-starred Golden Globe Best Actress Nominee Irene Bedard and Jim J. Bullock, and can be seen on Amazon Prime. He stars in the feature BEST DAY EVER, Winner Best LGBT Film (IndieFest) also on Amazon, and appears alongside Academy Award Best Actress Nominee and Golden Globe Winner Sally Kirkland in ARCHAEOLOGY OF A WOMAN. He recently signed to star with Kirkland in the upcoming feature film LOVE ANONYMOUS. Other film roles include Mr. Ghoulden in the hilarious dark comedy feature PERSONA AU GRATIN, Winner Best Comedy (IndieFest USA) and co-starring alongside horror film star Sid Haig in the indie hit LITTLE BIG TOP (released worldwide on Netflix & Amazon). He also starred in the dark comedy PERSONA AU GRATIN (Best Comedy, IndieFest), and as a minister confronted with his own crisis of faith in HIGHLIGHTS (Best Drama Nominee, Moviefone Film Festival). Most recently, he can be seen in the feature FROM ZERO TO I LOVE YOU, and in the TV movie FAME AT DEADLY COST on Lifetime and internationally on Canal. On Stage, England's solo show SWIMMING WITH THE POLAR BEARS directed by Jill Andre, premiered Off-Broadway at the Lynn Redgrave Theatre, as part of a benefit for The Climate Project, featuring posters of the show signed by former Vice President Al Gore, and then toured world-wide, to the 2009 UN SUMMIT ON CLIMATE CHANGE in Copenhagen, LA, and the National Mall in Washington DC for the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day. Other Off-Broadway credits include HECUBA, MARRIAGE with the Pearl Theatre Company.England has been a proud part of many notable "original" New York productions, including THE RING OF DEATH by Off-Broadway legend H.M. Koutoukas, director Chris Sanderson's MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM in Washington Square, HONEYSUCKLES (developed for TV by FOX), SEA MONKEYS at Playwrights Horizons by Tony Nominee Chad Beguelin (THE PROM), FREDDY at LA’s Fountain Theatre, and KING OF CONNECTICUT with Phillip Seymour Hoffman. England studied with legendary acting teachers Stella Adler and Terry Schreiber, attended NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, trained with internationally acclaimed director Agousto Boal, with members of the Royal Shakespeare Company at the British American Theatre Institute, and is a graduate of Dallas' High School for the Performing and Visual Arts with Karon Cogdill & Jane Farris, and in the beginning at the children’s theatre program the Dallas Theatre Center, under the direction of Synthia Rogers. For Mel's full bio and other information, please go to: http://www.MelEngland.comPhoto: Copyright Wilkinson/2023Opening and closing music courtesy the very talented Zakhar Valaha via Pixabay.To contact Wilkinson- email him at BecomingWilkinson@gmail.com

AUSTIN URBANAustin Urban shares his story in this "Anatomy of an Abusive Gay Relationship" and he also shares some insights into other men's personalities, wants and needs in his experience as a gay male escort.It's easy to look at someone else's failing relationship and to then make a judgment about it.  "Why is he putting up with that behavior from his partner"? "Why doesn't he just leave"?  "What does he see in him"?But life isn't always so cut and dried.  Sometimes there are unresolved issues from one's past that keep people in relationships that are not good for them. Sometimes fear or economic reasons come into play. And some people falsely believe that only male/female relationships are subject to abuse.  In this episode, Austin Urban shares the details in this "Anatomy of an abususive gay relationship".He also shares some insights into other men's personalities, wants and needs in his experience as a gay, male escort.Photo: Copyright Wilkinson/2023Opening and closing music courtesy the very talented Zakhar Valaha via Pixabay.To contact Wilkinson- email him at BecomingWilkinson@gmail.com

In the words of Terry Ray:"I  can't remember not wanting to be an actor.  To be fair, I can barely remember having hair, but still.  It's a passion I've fought hard to nurture and a dream I've never given up on, even when it defied all odds and all logic... and believe me, it usually did... Then one day I decided to quit waiting for the phone to ring for that one line as the theater manager on 7th HEAVEN (of course I used an example that I booked) and create my own opportunities by adding the hyphenates writer-producer to the acting thang.  I teamed with Larry LaFond and we amazingly hit a home run our first time at bat (look at me with the sports metaphors) with the incredibly successful little short film GAYDAR, which was in over 120 film festivals, won a ton of awards and was recently named by California Independent Film Festival as one of the 20 Best Comedy Short Films of all time. Larry and I also made a short film called THE COST OF LIVING, a way too timely comedy about life after global co-starring Jim J. Bullock, Molly Hagan & Greg Mullavey.  (More film festivals and awards).​I'm the creator, writer and star of HERE TV's first original sitcom FROM HERE ON OUT (available on Amazon Prime) with Juliet Mills as well as the co-creator-writer-producer-star (sharing that "co" with Wendy Michaels) of MY SISTER IS SO GAY (Amazon Prime) with Loni Anderson as my mother.   I got to co-star in 5 seasons of Michael Vaccaro's star-studded comedy CHILD OF THE 70s.  I wrote and co-created the game show MODD COUPLES now playing on Hulu, I co-wrote the 2017 TV movie LOVE UNPLUGGED.  My new show,  TV THERAPY features a different classic TV character (played once again by the original actor) in a therapy session today (with me as the doctor) with all the issue they would currently have...  ​Since 2016 I've been starring in ELECTRICITY (my debut as a playwright)....Mel England as my co-star we became  the longest running play in Palm Springs, performing in two venues at the same time: as an immersive theater experience inside a real Palm Springs hotel room and also on stage as Oscar's Bar & Cabaret Theater and then moving to The Desert Rose Playhouse as our final venue and we prepare for an Off-Broadway run.  ​I'm  the first instructor at the famed Actor's Lab's new Palm Springs branch of their acting school.   Maybe my master plan is starting to work"!          -Terry Ray                                                                                                                                                                                   Epilogue:  Terry's  latest play is THE LINCOLN DEBATE which explores the possibility that  Lincoln was actually gay.  It premiered in Palm Springs in December 2022 and will be returning in the Spring of 2023 at The Bent Theatre- Palm Spring's newest and only gay theatre.  Terry is also the managing director of The Bent.See Terry's full bio and other fun info at: http://www.terryray.tvPhoto: Copyright Wilkinson/2023Opening and closing music courtesy the very talented Zakhar Valaha via Pixabay.To contact Wilkinson- email him at BecomingWilkinson@gmail.com

Rob Rosen is a multi-award-winning and best-selling author/editor/anthologist.He's  the author of: Sparkle: The Queerest Book You'll Ever LoveDivas Las Vegas Hot LavaSouthern FriedQueerwolfVampQueens of the ApocalypseCreature ComfortFateMidlife Crisis FierceAnd God BelchedMary, Queen of ScotchTed of the d'UrbervillesSort of DeadGenie in a Vodka BottleBobby Ray Breaks the Universe. His short stories have appeared in more than 200 anthologies.  You can read some of his best ones in:Short SpurtsShort Spurts 2Short Spurts 3He is also the editor of: Lust in Time: Erotic Romance Through the AgesMen of the ManorBest Gay Erotica 2015Best Gay Erotica of the Year, Volumes 1, 2, 3 and 4. Please visit him at www.therobrosen.comPhoto: Copyright Wilkinson/2023Opening and closing music courtesy the very talented Zakhar Valaha via Pixabay.To contact Wilkinson- email him at BecomingWilkinson@gmail.com

Alex Price is new to Palm Springs after moving here from the East coast in 2021.  His life has taken him from the sticks of Tennessee, to Washington DC, a brief detour in Wuhan, China (ever heard of it?), and finally to the West coast and the Coachella Valley.  A government bureaucrat during the day, Alex has rekindled his love of acting and can be found performing in two different, local stage productions. Check him out in The Bent’s production of THE LINCOLN DEBATE at the Palm Springs Cultural Center in February 2023 as well as Desert Theatreworks’ production of THE MOUSETRAP in February and March.You can find Alex at www.thealexprice.com or through his Instagram https://www.instagram.com/xand83/Find tickets to THE MOUSETRAP:  https://ci.ovationtix.com/36400/Find tickets for The LINCOLN DEBATE at The Bent Theatre: https://www.thebent.orgPhoto: Copyright Wilkinson/2023Opening and closing music courtesy the very talented Zakhar Valaha via Pixabay.To contact Wilkinson- email him at BecomingWilkinson@gmail.com

Jason Reale is a recent transplant from NYC where he was a director of design for a global branding agency. At the age of thirty he decided to change up his life, quit his job and rediscover his passion for acting by studying the Hagen technique at HB Studio. It was there where he was able to start to unravel the facade he had built up over the years and reawaken his creative spark. Since moving to Palm Springs he has started to find his people through the plays he has been cast in. His most recent play, The Lincoln Debate by Terry Ray, poses the questions of Lincolns sexuality. This play has been his most challenging role to date and probably the role that has helped him grow the most. It doesn't hurt that he shares a lot in common with the sixteenth president, besides just the beard. More info and to contact Jason:  http://jasonreale.com/Photo: Copyright Wilkinson/2023Opening and closing music courtesy the very talented Zakhar Valaha via Pixabay.To contact Wilkinson- email him at BecomingWilkinson@gmail.com

Alan Kraemer and Claudia RiedAfter careers in the tech industry and the fashion industry respectively, Alan Kraemer and Claudia Ried have reinvented themselves in the desert as producers and entertainers. On this show they tell us about their various ventures and adventures.Links: YouTube: https://youtube.com/@PalmSpringsPointofViewFacebook: https://www.Facebook.com/PSPOVInstagram:  https://www.instagram.com/pspov1938/Photo: Copyright Wilkinson/2023Opening and closing music courtesy the very talented Zakhar Valaha via Pixabay.To contact Wilkinson- email him at BecomingWilkinson@gmail.com

Kevin  has travelled extensively throughout the USA.  After getting kicked out of his home as a teen, he had many harrowing adventures that seemed to bring him to various forks in the road.  But somehow, he beat the odds and was able to choose the path away from certain destruction.But it wasn't until he tested positive for HIV that it all came together and he was able to settle down, complete his education, get married and find purpose in life doing a job that he loves.  And all the previous challenges meshed together to make him the man he is today.It took many round about ways to get places but eventually always made it!He currently resides in NYC with his husband and he's working as a nurse in a NYC hospital. Photo: Copyright Wilkinson/2023Opening and closing music courtesy the very talented Zakhar Valaha via Pixabay.To contact Wilkinson- email him at BecomingWilkinson@gmail.com

Kevin  has travelled extensively throughout the USA.  After getting kicked out of his home as a teen, he had many harrowing adventures that seemed to bring him to various forks in the road.  But somehow, he beat the odds and was able to choose the path away from certain destruction.In other words, he takes many round about ways to get places but eventually always makes it!He currently resides in NYC with his husband and he's working as a nurse at a NYC hospital. Photo: Copyright Wilkinson/2023Opening and closing music courtesy the very talented Zakhar Valaha via Pixabay.To contact Wilkinson- email him at BecomingWilkinson@gmail.com