Creativity in Captivity

A San Francisco-based designer who creates innovative drill, staging and artistic visual projects for marching bands, winter color guards and indoor percussion ensembles around the world. Michael performed with Pride of Cincinnati Winter Guard, won a WGI World Championship with State Street Review and performed with The Cavaliers Drum & Bugle Corps for four years in the color guard. He started an independent world class winter guard called Escapade and was on the design team of Bands of America National Champion Centerville HS. Michael attended the San Francisco Academy of Art University, earning a Fine Arts degree in Computer Arts/New Media. Michael was the drill designer and visual coordinator for The Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps and served on the design team for all seven of their Drum Corps International World Championship titles. He currently writes for some of the top high school marching bands and winter color guards in the United States. His designs have been featured by several high school Bands of America National Champions, the most recent being the 2012 BOA Grand National Champion Carmel HS, as well as four-time WGI World Champion Pride of Cincinnati, and two-time WGI Scholastic World Champion Carmel High School. Michael’s international design experience includes two-time WGI Bronze Medalist Aimachi Color Guard, and three time WGI Bronze Medalist Aimachi Percussion Ensemble from Nagoya, Japan. In 2007, Michael was inducted into the WGI Hall of Fame, and in 2011 he was inducted into the Drum Corps International Hall of Fame.

A pianist, conductor, recording artist, composer, and arranger whose work as a music director and keyboardist led her to conduct and play with touring Broadway productions of Jersey Boys, Six & Motown: The Musical. Jo Ann Daugherty loves making all kinds of music. Her most recent jazz trio album Bring Joy earned a 4-star review from Downbeat Magazine and was listed as one of their “Best Albums of 2017.” Her work with jazz multireedist Victor Goines has included performing in beautiful spaces such as Dizzy’s Club and Smoke in NYC, Satchmo Summerfest in New Orleans, Jazz at Lincoln Center Shanghai, and most recently Havana, Cuba. Jo Ann music-supervised and played on the orchestral soundtrack of the wildlife documentary To The Ends of the Earth and provided music direction and played on tour with An Unforgettable Nat King Cole Christmas. 

Bob Blumer is a professional gastronaut with an adrenaline addiction. He has created and hosted three award-winning TV series that have aired in over 20 countries, written seven acclaimed cookbooks, including his latest “Flavorbomb: A Rogue Guide to Making Everything Taste Better”, and broken eight food-related Guinness World Records. In his books and appearances around the globe, Bob transforms ordinary ingredients into wow-inspiring dishes through simple cooking methods and whimsical presentations that have become his culinary trademark. Bob’s first series, Surreal Gourmet, was a pioneering Food Network instructional show. It featured his signature recipes and was anchored by his iconic Toastermobile—an Airstream trailer tricked out with a professional kitchen and topped with two eight-foot-long slices of toast. In his genre-pushing competition series, Glutton for Punishment, Bob had five days to train for a physically daunting, food-related challenge, then had to compete against highly trained professionals with his newfound skill. Bob is an ambassador for Second Harvest in Toronto. He has personally raised over $250,000 to help alleviate hunger for the perishable food bank, and several other noble causes. When he is not traveling for work or pleasure—which is most of the time—the transplanted Canadian cycles daily in the canyons near his home under the “D” of the Hollywood sign, doing his best to stay in shape for his next big adventure.

A Belgian born multi-media artist and designer residing in the Los Angeles Arts District.  Her design projects and artwork include numerous permanent and temporary murals and installations, as well as exhibiting in galleries.  She works on multiple pieces in various media simultaneously, fueling the velocity of her creativity as she sways between the commercial and fine arts worlds.  Her work focuses on the exploration of color, topography, geometry, nature’s phenomenons, architectural amalgamations, and optimism.  In 2017, after a 12 year career in marketing for architecture, interior design, and real estate firms, she ventured off to start Caroline Geys Design Studio.  She counts among her clients: Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, Dunn-Edwards Paints, ROW DTLA, Reebok West Hollywood and Santa Monica Collectives, City of Los Angeles Parks and Recreation, Arts District Brewery, Global Inheritance in association with Coachella Music Festival, MASAYA, Uprooted Dance Company, and Infuse Wellness.  She shares the time and dedication that it takes from concept to execution with any mural and what working in a studio with three cats is like.

Puerto Rican born Rick Negron made his professional debut at age ten in a production of the musical The Me Nobody Knows in San Juan. By the time he graduated high school he had performed in musicals and danced on television with some of Puerto Rico’s top celebrities. He graduated from Sarah Lawrence College and briefly pursued a concert dance career before setting his sights on Broadway. His Broadway credits include: Leader of the Pack, Drood, Legs Diamond, Man of La Mancha, The Goodbye Girl, Ragtime (L.A.), Mamma Mia! (Sam Carmichael/LasVegas), In The Heights  (Kevin Rosario). National Tours: West Side Story (Action, Riff, Bernardo), Man of La Mancha with Robert Goulet. Rick also danced in Michael Jackson’s Bad video and Chicago the movie. Currently he plays King George III in the "And Peggy Tour" of Hamilton. He is a proud member of AEA & SAG/AFTRA. Follow him on Instagram @1stpuertoricanking and learn more at ricknegron.com 

One of the world’s greatest ventriloquists who also happens to be an extraordinary writer, comic, actor, cartoonist, poet and puppeteer. Jay considers his real job to be a tour guide on a journey into the imagination. He is best known for playing the schizophrenic role of Bob & Chuck Campbell on the classic television series Soap. His one man show Jay Johnson: The Two and Only! ran on Broadway and won the American Theatre Wing Tony Award for “Best Special Theatrical Event” in 2007. The show also won the Los Angeles Ovation Award for “Best Solo Show.” In high school he produced and starred in his own local television show sponsored by a car dealership that lead to summers performing in theme park shows at Six Flags over Texas, Astroworld and Six Flags over Georgia where he logged in 918 performances at the Crystal Pistol theater (that’s 10 shows a day for 13 weeks). Jay moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in television, landing over 30 national commercials, hosting three comedy specials, producing and performing in two network TV specials, two HBO specials, appearing as a guest on hundreds of variety shows and starring in four television series. On this episode of the podcast, Jay vents with Pat Hazell about creativity, theater and writing scenes where he plays all the characters.  

A writer, actor, filmmaker, and activist all embodied in one talented muti-disciplinary artist. Candice is a soul-centered entrepreneur from Houston, Texas who believes in the transformative power of belief. She is the creator of Fatherland, WAIL and 30 Ways To Get Free. In Candice’s artistic productions she merges her academic background (B.A., Black Studies; Master of Public Administration) with a deep rooting in African spiritual traditions and the metaphysical world. She is currently commissioned to write a new play for Catastrophic Theatre, and is working on a new collection of poetry under the title INITIATION. She joins me to express her affection for the Oxford comma, to discuss her shows being created as a ceremony with a ritual attached and how along the way she learned to hold love & anger in the same hand. 

A New York City based director, choreographer and educator who recently directed the London premiere of On The Edge, a new musical from composer Sam Hall. On Broadway he served as the Associate Choreographer of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s hit musical School of Rock, which he also had the privilege of staging in Sydney, Melbourne, and Seoul. He currently serves as the Associate Choreographer on the Broadway bound musical The Heart of Rock & Roll, celebrating the music of Huey Lewis, and on Ever After, a musical adaptation of the 1998 film. As a director, he staged readings of Nicolas Greco’s Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Marrying a Big-Breasted American Woman starring Anupam Kher and Grounded For Life at the York Theatre. He is currently choreographing Radio 930, a new musical centered around a group of young rebels in East Germany who used banned western rock music to bring about the fall of the Berlin Wall. As an Assistant Choreographer, he helped develop Barry Manilow’s Harmony for Center Theatre Group and The Alliance Theatre, The Nutty Professor with Jerry Lewis and Marvin Hamlisch, and the Broadway revival of On A Clear Day You Can See Forever starring Harry Connick, Jr.  Patrick has staged concerts for Tony Award winner Kelli O’Hara with the Boston Pops and for Mario Cantone on ABC’s “The View.” As a teacher, he has served on staff for Britney Spears’ and Usher’s performing arts intensives.

A master chocolatier who makes European-style chocolates and is recognized for igniting the artesian chocolate renaissance.  Fran’s smoked salted caramels are reported to be a favorite of President Obama who frequently shared them with visitors to the White House.  Fran’s passion for life underscores her appreciation of pure flavors paired with superb, fresh ingredients. Her joie d'vie and devotion to her art has been an inspiration for others. Her Gold Bars are considered the gold standard for sophisticated candy bars and are sold in specialty markets from coast to coast. She is the author of Pure Chocolate: Divine Desserts and Sweets from the Creator of Fran’s Chocolates and the owner of Fran’s Chocolates Ltd., located in Seattle and Bellevue, Washington.  

A visual artist and designer that plants his flag at the center of art, nature & science.  Christopher works with reclaimed organisms and natural elements to create breathtaking museum exhibits by transforming exotic insects and tropical sea creatures into astounding works of art.  Marley’s artwork has been exhibited in hundreds of galleries worldwide. His solo exhibitions have been featured at The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, The Beaty Biodiversity Museum in Vancouver B.C., The Houston Museum of Natural Science, The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, the Stamford Art Museum, Los Angeles Museum of Art, WMODA and the Queens Museum. Many of the world’s most exclusive retailers such as Bergdorf Goodman, Saks 5th Avenue (NYC), Gumps (San Francisco), Barney’s (NYC) and La Galerie du Bon Marche (Paris) have also hosted solo exhibitions. His first book Pheromone, The Insect Art of Christopher Marley (Pomegranate, 2008) was named one of the Best Books of 2008 by The Times (UK) and his second book, Biophilia (Abrams, 2015) is a New York Times Bestseller.  He maintains design studios in Willamette Valley, Oregon and in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. On this episode Christopher shares what it was like to grow up with his dad’s dead birds in the freezer next to the popsicles, what he now keeps in his many freezers around the world and how important lighting is to displaying elements of nature.