Shock radio starts blasting tonight when Plantation's Mosaic Theatre unveils its production of Eric Bogosian's 1987 play Talk Radio. Paul Tei, founder and artistic director of Miami's Mad Cat Theatre, plays the big mouth in the hot seat, shock jock Barry Champlain. The play, which earned a Tony Award nomination for Liev Schreiber when it was done on Broadway last season, offers a scathing look at a guy who will say (and do) just about anything to fatten his ratings.
But there's another, happier behind-the-scenes drama playing out during the Talk Radio run. One of the cast members is Dave Corey, a veteran actor with both radio and voice-over experience. The production's Carbonell Award-winning sound designer is Matt Corey, former personnel manager and "utility bassoonist" with the late, lamented Florida Philharmonic. He also happens to be Dave Corey's son.
This is the first time father and son have worked on a show together, and to say they're thrilled is an understatement.
Matt notes that his dad "...has worked in radio in some capacity since he was a teenager, so he has been an incredible resource for me in terms of ideas and creating an authentic radio sound. But besides all of that...I am his biggest fan. Seeing for the first time how he goes about his business of acting, from my position behind the scenes, is something that I will never forget."
Dad Dave says this: "Whenever I'm in the rehearsal process of a play, there comes a point where I feel like I'm having an out-of-body experience. I look around and see me in the middle of all this talent and creativity. It's surreal. Then, I break out in a huge smile -- sometimes even a tear or two -- and consider how fortunate I am to be living my dream. OK, now put my son in the mix. Well, it just doesn't get any better."
The elder Corey is also sentimental in a way that Bogosian's scathing Champlain could never comprend.
"We've watched this dear child grow from a little baby I could hold in one hand to an incredible musician who played the bassoon in the orchestra with Luciano Pavarotti standing just a few feet away to the recipient of last year's Carbonell for sound design," Corey says of himself and wife Jo-Ann. "Yet will always be the 'parental units' who remind him to eat his vegetables and put his seatbelt on. What a beautiful and blessed ride we've all been on together."
(Photo of Dave Corey, left, and Matt Corey by George Schiavone)
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