Author Stan Zimmerman ("The Girls: From Golden To Gilmore") Part 2: "The Friggin’ White Board Scared The Hell Out Of Me"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Release Date: 10/10/2024
Playwright & TV Writer Steve Yockey (Sleeping Giant, The Flight Attendant, Dead Boy Detectives): "I Write Theatre Instead Of Going To Therapy"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Dennis is joined via Zoom by playwright and TV and film writer Steve Yockey to discuss Steve's latest play, Sleeping Giant, which is playing at the Road Theatre Company in Los Angeles. The play, which is about a group of people dealing with a mysterious lake monster, is Steve's way of exploring authoritarianism, a theme that is even more timely today than it was when he starting writing the play in 2018. Steve talks about his journey as a writer; from making the decision to abandon the business school path in college in order to study playwriting, to getting withering critiques for his...
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Career Coach & Author Barbara Deutsch: “I Don’t Go To Therapy Anymore. I’ve Peeled Enough Of The Onion”
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
For this special New Years episode, Dennis is joined via Zoom by his career and life coach friend Barbara Deutsch to do a podcast version of Barbara's famous year-end Completion / Creation Workshop. Barbara has been leading clients through this process for years--usually in groups-- and has graciously agreed to take Dennis through a version of the workshop on this podcast. The questions she has participants tackle are as follows: • What worked for me this year? • What didn’t work for me this year? • What did I lose/gain? • Specific accomplishments in career. • Eye opening...
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DENNIS DOES DNR HOLIDAY STYLE 2024
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
In this special holiday crossover episode, Dennis Hensley pops in to the Derek and Romaine Show to talk about all things holiday-time; from gift giving to favorite traditions to decorating to Mariah. Happy Holidays! (Note from Dennis: I heard from a listener my audio is a little low in this ep. Sorry about that...it was mixed on their end and can't be fixed till after the holidays)
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Instagram Creators Eric Seppala (@olivianewtonjohnisadoll) and Ruston Harker (@dolldecree): "Playing With Dolls In A New Way"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Dennis is joined via Zoom by two of his friends from the Xana-crew; Eric Seppala and Ruston Harker who have something unique in common. They both created passion projects during the pandemic involving Barbies and Instagram, which continue to today. Ruston's account is @dolldecree and it features short animated vignettes involving Barbie and her friends, saying pithy things and looking fabulous. Eric's account is @olivianewtonjohnisadoll and it's exactly what it sounds like. Using Barbie dolls, Eric has painstakingly recreated looks from Olivia's career; from her breakout days in the 1970's to...
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Author Brian Sonia-Wallace (The Poetry of Strangers): "I’m Like An Uber Driver For Your Emotions"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Dennis is joined via Zoom by author and poet Brian Sonia-Wallace to talk about his book The Poetry of Strangers, which documents his adventures traveling the country as a typewriter poet-for-hire. He recalls the stunt that led to him first getting into public typewriter poetry when he declared during an open mic type show that he was going to make his rent money doing nothing but poetry. It worked...and led to his career as what he calls a "rent poet," which is like a rentboy but for poems. He talks about some of the places this vocation has taken him; from paid residencies at the Mall of...
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Author and Collector Bill Morgan (Collector's Guide To TV Toys & Memorabilia): "I Live Like This. This Is Every Day."
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Dennis is joined by one of his pals from the Xana-crew, Bill Morgan, who is the co-author of a book called Collector's Guide To TV Toys & Memorabilia 1960s & 1970s. The book features every TV tie-in toy you remember from your childhood and a bunch that you never even knew existed. Bill talks about first getting obsessed with collecting when his ex was given a set of Three's Company trading cards as a kind of gift. Seeing the cards were numbered Bill wanted to collect them all and a new passion was born. Bill talks about shooting the photos for the book himself while his...
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Actor-Singer Hugh Panaro (Man Without a Mask): “Darling, There Are Six Moments When You Have To Be Thinking With Your C@#k”
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Dennis is joined via Zoom by Broadway veteran Hugh Panaro to talk about his album and cabaret show Man Without a Mask, which is playing in Los Angeles on December 5th at the Catalina Jazz Club. Hugh talks about making the leap to recording and doing his own cabaret show after years of appearing on Broadway and on the West End in shows like Les Miserables, Sweeney Todd and Phantom of the Opera, in which he logged over 2500 performances as the Phantom. In regards to that show, Hugh talks about the mask itself, what it's made of, how it's maintained and how he feels about it. He also talks about...
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Actor Marc Samuel (The Merry Gentlemen): "I Call It The 'Hold In A Fart' Look"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Dennis is joined via Zoom by actor Marc Samuel to talk about his two new Netflix projects; the holiday film The Merry Gentlemen and the Ted Danson comedy series Man On the Inside. The Merry Gentleman is like a holiday twist on The Full Monty with Marc playing a reluctant male stripper who, along with his pals, puts on an exotic male review show to save their small town theater. Marc talks about performing the various dance numbers, working opposite male lead Chad Michael Murray, getting in shape for the role and what it's like to work for Netflix generally. He also talks about Man On the...
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Alexis Spraic & Prudence Fenton from the documentary The World According to Allee Willis: "If It's Not Blowing Your Dress Up, Go Get Ice Cream"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Dennis is joined via Zoom by two women from the documentary The World According to Allee Willis; director Alexis Spraic and Executive Producer Prudence Fenton who was also Allee's life partner. Allee Willis, who passed away on Christmas Day in 2019, is primarily known as a a songwriter (Earth Wind & Fire's "September" and "Boogie Wonderland," the Friends theme song, The Color Purple musical) but she was also an accomplished visual artist, collector of kitsch, wild party thrower and internet entrepreneur. Alexis talks about what drew her to Allee as a film subject, sorting through...
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Author David Ciminello (The Queen of Steeplechase Park): "Deep Inside Me Beats the Heart of a Bodacious Burlesque Queen"
DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley
Dennis is joined via Zoom by author David Ciminello to discuss his delicious debut novel The Queen of Steeplechase Park which is the story of an irrepressible Coney island burlesque queen and meatball entrepreneur named Belladonna Marie Donato. David talks about how the character is inspired by his larger-than-life great aunt Emily who was, in fact, a burlesque performer on Coney Island and actually won a trophy for Best Bust for her 38 DDDs. David also talks about how he got the book published, how he chose the mouth-watering recipes that appear throughout the book and the spontaneous reading...
info_outlineDennis continues his conversation with TV writer Stan Zimmerman, author of the memoir The Girls: From Golden to Gilmore. In Part 2, Stan talks about working on the Gilmore Girls and learning to write dialogue in the show's unique, fast-paced style. He also talks about the humiliating T-shirt gift he got from Roseanne and Tom Arnold while working on Roseanne, taking random meetings with icons like Diana Ross, Goldie Hawn, Joan Collins and Pia Zadora, being a judge/mentor on the Bravo reality show Situation: Comedy, getting into playwriting and directing theater later in his career and going to Russia to work on the Russian Roseanne and meeting sexy Russians on the gay app Hornet. Other topics include: the holiday movie he wrote for Donna Mills, Loni Anderson, Nicolette Sheridan, Morgan Fairchild and Linda Gray, going to Studio 54 and telling Andy Warhol to stop taking his picture, his natural optimism, the thrill of having his beloved mother come to tapings, and why he wore glasses to pitch meetings when he didn't actually need them.
After the interview, Dennis recalls his epic 60th birthday weekend.