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Ed Dixon, veteran of over a dozen Broadway shows (including Les Miserables, Anything Goes, Sunday in the Park with George and No, No, Nanette) joins Candi & Randy to talk about his bestselling memoir "Secrets of a Life On Stage... And Off."
He has worked with everyone from Busby Berkeley to Ruby Keeler to Leonard Bernstein, to Ann-Margret to Kevin Spacey to Tony Danza to Kathie Lee Gifford to Stephen Sondheim and everyone in between.
At the halfway mark of his very long stage career Mr. Dixon suffered a devastating drug addiction which nearly killed him and left him homeless.
He overcame addiction and went on to rebuild his life & career and have even greater successes in his life and profession.
This show is in advance of Ed's already sold-out show at NYC's Metropolitan Room on July 2nd where Ed will read excerpts from his book and sing selections from his career.
For those who can't be there, hit the "play" button and get the inside scoop in advance with The Candi & Randy Show.
Just a few excerpts from "Secrets of a Life On Stage... And Off:"
• On working with Ruby Keeler in No, No, Nanette: "She launched into the big tap number, "I Want To Be Happy" and she had the most amazing taps. Even at 60 she was like a riveting machine. She starts doing trenches - which are very hard - and then the company start joining in one line at a time. We got to the end of the number and the audience leapt out of their seats and threw their programs in the air screaming like graduation day at West Point."
• On doing Leonard Bernstein's MASS at the opening of the Kennedy Center: "He was there, and he was writing it as we were rehearsing it. West Side Story was the first record I ever purchased and here I was working with the person who created it." Ed also tells a story of auditioning for the production and thinking Bernstein had brought his young boyfriend to sit in on the auditions, and then later discovered it was a 22 year old Stephen Schwartz who was helping with the lyrics for the show.
• Being the first replacement (as "Thenardier") in the original run of Les Miserables: "It was the hottest show in the world. You couldn't get a ticket. Every single seat was sold every day. To come into something that was that "hot" was an amazing experience. To be in a hit that was that big and important was just amazing."
• On talking so openly about his bout with drug addiction: "It's really why I wrote the book. It's been more than 20 years since this event, and I thought enough time had past, and I have established my reputation, that I could talk about this. I was 40 years old and it never occurred to me that something so life changing could happen to me. I thought I knew who I was, what I was. I did the wrong thing one Monday afternoon, and the minute I did I knew something terrible had happened."
• Working with Ann-Margret: "You can't imagine how fantastic she was. She was kind and warm and loving all the time to everyone. It was like traveling with Buddha - she just gave love to everyone she met."
If you have any interest in what goes on behind the scenes in the theater, join us to hear first hand about an amazing life lived on and off stage.
For more info about Ed, visit www.eddixon.biz
He has worked with everyone from Busby Berkeley to Ruby Keeler to Leonard Bernstein, to Ann-Margret to Kevin Spacey to Tony Danza to Kathie Lee Gifford to Stephen Sondheim and everyone in between.
At the halfway mark of his very long stage career Mr. Dixon suffered a devastating drug addiction which nearly killed him and left him homeless.
He overcame addiction and went on to rebuild his life & career and have even greater successes in his life and profession.
This show is in advance of Ed's already sold-out show at NYC's Metropolitan Room on July 2nd where Ed will read excerpts from his book and sing selections from his career.
For those who can't be there, hit the "play" button and get the inside scoop in advance with The Candi & Randy Show.
Just a few excerpts from "Secrets of a Life On Stage... And Off:"
• On working with Ruby Keeler in No, No, Nanette: "She launched into the big tap number, "I Want To Be Happy" and she had the most amazing taps. Even at 60 she was like a riveting machine. She starts doing trenches - which are very hard - and then the company start joining in one line at a time. We got to the end of the number and the audience leapt out of their seats and threw their programs in the air screaming like graduation day at West Point."
• On doing Leonard Bernstein's MASS at the opening of the Kennedy Center: "He was there, and he was writing it as we were rehearsing it. West Side Story was the first record I ever purchased and here I was working with the person who created it." Ed also tells a story of auditioning for the production and thinking Bernstein had brought his young boyfriend to sit in on the auditions, and then later discovered it was a 22 year old Stephen Schwartz who was helping with the lyrics for the show.
• Being the first replacement (as "Thenardier") in the original run of Les Miserables: "It was the hottest show in the world. You couldn't get a ticket. Every single seat was sold every day. To come into something that was that "hot" was an amazing experience. To be in a hit that was that big and important was just amazing."
• On talking so openly about his bout with drug addiction: "It's really why I wrote the book. It's been more than 20 years since this event, and I thought enough time had past, and I have established my reputation, that I could talk about this. I was 40 years old and it never occurred to me that something so life changing could happen to me. I thought I knew who I was, what I was. I did the wrong thing one Monday afternoon, and the minute I did I knew something terrible had happened."
• Working with Ann-Margret: "You can't imagine how fantastic she was. She was kind and warm and loving all the time to everyone. It was like traveling with Buddha - she just gave love to everyone she met."
If you have any interest in what goes on behind the scenes in the theater, join us to hear first hand about an amazing life lived on and off stage.
For more info about Ed, visit www.eddixon.biz
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