Sam Prince is joined by Roger Rapoport. Roger is the Michigan based author, film producer, journalist and playwright who heads the Heartland Independent Film and Drama Forum. His company Glenside Productions is home to three award winning feature films he cowrote and produced, Coming Up For Air, Pilot Error and Waterwalk. His new play Old Heart, adapted from Peter Ferry’s novel premieres May 14 at Detroit’s historic Redford Theater which is coproducing this bittersweet World War II love story. You can find more about Roger, visit: www.rogerrapoport.com where you can stream his movies, order signed copies of his books, keep up-to-date with his events and read his most recent articles. For acting classes from your host; Sam Prince, check out his website: www.samber.productions and follow along on Instagram: www.instagram.com/samberproductions
Sam Prince 0:05 Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a great actor on stage or television? Do you wish you had an acting coach to help you get to the next level? Or maybe you just have a great idea for a movie series are play but aren't quite sure where to start? Well, you are in the right place my friend. My name is Sam Prince and I am the director of a production company here in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and have been an actor for over 30 years. I've directed and written plays, and screenplays and taught many acting classes. This podcast is your place to learn how to move forward with your career in acting, theater, film, playwriting, screenwriting, and much more. There will be inspiring conversations with special guests as well. So welcome to the creativitorium. podcast, and action. Sam Prince 1:15 Hello, Welcome. Welcome. Welcome to the creativitorium podcast. I am your host and Prince. Thank you for joining me. And thank you for my guest, Mr. Roger Rapoport. How are you sir? Roger Rapoport 1:32 Right. Good to be back with you. We've been working together and now it's it's great to be talking to you and not not be under the gun with cameras shooting. Sam Prince 1:41 Exactly. Exactly. Exactly that. And that was really where we first met right on on that. So Roger Rapoport 1:48 we met on the shores of Lake Michigan, shooting a trailer for a play. And you're, you're the lead actor in the trailer. And it was a tough part. And we are very happy to tell you that the trailer is met with great response. So you have another career. Sam Prince 2:07 That's awesome, man. I so appreciate it. That was so much fun. That was for the plain old heart, which you and I will discuss later on, of course. But it was it was just a beautiful setting right on Lake Michigan. And just a beautiful home and we shot it right there. And it was cool. It was it was great. Roger Rapoport 2:30 Great and will give give your audience a link to it so they can actually see you in action, you know? Unknown Speaker 2:35 Yes, Roger Rapoport 2:36 you know, a picture's worth 1000 words. So there you go. Sam Prince 2:39 Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. And I'm, I'm just so honored to have you on, you know, the area of producing is such a such, you know, it's such a great and interesting field. And, you know, I, like you already know, you know, Frederick, the play was my first kind of dipping my toes into producing realm and, man, it's just, it's such a I can't, I can't even put into words how you know, from directing, and just acting to jumping into producing is just a whole new world. Roger Rapoport 3:18 Well, as you know, every actor is a writer. And and I think most actors understand that because they're constantly working with the lines, you know, adjusting the script, with the help of the director or cutting it if they need be, I mean, even Shakespeare gets cut, right? Romeo and Juliet doesn't always play at full length. Correct. And so, you know, even at that level, we all know that every actor, even if they love the entire play and want to do it word for word, they're working with the director to adjust and modify the script. But I think what most actors don't realize is that and you're you're a good example, is that they also have directing ability and potentially producing ability and when you do all four, you've got a worldview. I know when I started out as a film producer on my first movie Waterwatch hearin Muskegon where I live, Tom Herrmann, who is a veteran actor, and director in Muskegon and taught for many years at community college. His first words of advice Well, if you're going to create and produce a movie, you have to understand what it's like to be an actor. So he sent me to Second City, and I took an acting class. And we did I learned what it's like to be an actor. But I also as a result of that found some actors who I'm still working with. But in your case on Frederick Douglass play, producing, directing starring and writing I mean, that's, that's something that's gives you a worldview and even if you don't continue doing all four, in our case, for example, in old tired, which is premiering in Detroit, May 14 and 15th. You're not a director, you're not a producer, and you're not a writer, you're back to being an actor, which is great. Yeah. Yeah, having that fatality gives you a, you have a bunch better picture of what the director and the actor and in this case to play, right. Our thinking, and I think it makes you much stronger in order to, you know, more flexible, I guess would be the word. Yeah. Sam Prince 5:28 Yeah. I agree. I agree. I agree. So, let's talk about you. Let's talk about, we're going to start at one What gave you that passion, where you started, I know, you just talked about your first film in Muskegon. And then just bring us up to now like your career. Well, Roger Rapoport 5:47 my My background is as journalists beginning in Muskegon, and then worked as a student intern at the Wall Street Journal, I was editor, the University of Michigan daily, in Ann Arbor, after finishing high school in Muskegon. And then and then I moved to Sam Prince 6:04 I went to Michigan, myself and write every day, Roger Rapoport 6:08 right, so I was the editor of the paper, and we had a marriage. Time in the 60s, of course, a lot was going on. And that was a great opportunity to move ahead into doing magazine articles, books, and working for newspapers. And then I became a book publisher, and one of those books water walk, became my first movie. And I suddenly realized that I couldn't be a book publisher, and also be a film producer, and continue writing. So I decided to shift to producing water walk, and then two more films. I produced hot air, which is about an aeroplane that disappears water walk is about a father and son who decide on a whim to paddle one of the toughest canoe routes in the country, the discovery route of the Mississippi, which begins in St. Agnes Michigan, and winds up in St. Louis. And of course, you have to cross Lake Michigan, two rivers in Wisconsin. And then the fox in the in the Wisconsin River. And then finally the Mississippi itself. And as we learned when we were shooting the movie, that's a tough river to paddle. In fact, that was flooding when we shot the film. So it was, it was a real experience. Turned out to be a really great film. It's our 10th anniversary this year, and of the movie, and then my second film was on an airplane that disappears, and everybody knows about the Malaysian plane that was shot down. But there was a second Malaysian plane that they're still looking for. That was lost somewhere, somewhere on a flight, you know, out of out of Malaysia. And that that story is echoed by my movie, pilot error, which is about another plane that disappeared on Air France jet flying from Rio to Paris, it was lost in the Atlantic for 22 months, that plane they did find, and that my film is about that true story. And finally, coming up for air, which is a story about a mom who has a college age, son who's an academic and athletic star is beginning to unravel. And she's beginning to realize that she has to become much more than a caregiver, she has to help him get help quickly as possible. And of course, he doesn't think anything's wrong and, and he drops out of school, he's living in his car, and then he disappears. So she's going to find him and try to get him help, they will, you know, make it possible for him to resume and the life that he the path that he was on. And that film is played all over the country. We've won six best feature awards for coming up for air and for for pilot air. So, and Deborah staples lead actress who I mentioned earlier, has won seven Best Actress awards for in Italy. So we're very happy for her. And then as you know, old Howard is a play adapted from the South Haven writer, Peter ferries novel about an 85 year old World War Two vet who decides to skip out on his family's plan to put him in assisted living. You have son a plane to Amsterdam, and he's determined to find a translator that he worked with during World War Two smuggling food and supplies from liberated southern island, which was liberated in the fall of 44. To the north, across Nazi lines, and unfortunately, the story echoes exactly what's going on in Ukraine right now. With you know, literally people don't have food, water, clothes, medical care or anything and that's, that's what our plays about. In Northern Holland during that hunger winter. People were starving. They didn't have medical supplies and so on. So here we are, you know, eight years later. Roger Rapoport 10:04 i Sorry. Yeah, eight years later echoing this tragic chain of events we never imagined it could happen. Again, certainly not in Europe. It just, it just, but here we are. So the play is unfortunately more timely than any of us working on it would like to be and as one of the actors in the show, you know that we have a great director Carole King, who is the grandson of Detroit royalty, his grandfather, Maurice King, led the, the touring of Motown review. I am very guarded for 10 years. He had his own band, the Wolverines. He's kind of a legend in Detroit. And Carl grew up going to rehearsals with the Jackson Five, you know, yeah. His grandfather discovered Gladys Knight, you know, so he was there the Supremes, you know, so he's, he's a, there's a lot of lineage there a lot, you know, and working in Detroit has just been a godsend. We're retic. Redford theater, May 14 and 15th. For the premiere events. Sam Prince 11:10 Yeah. Yeah. Well, that was a great segue into that, because I really want to talk about that story, I'm sure. Because it was adapted for the stage and some of the roles were changed, right? Roger Rapoport 11:25 That's correct. We did adjust some of the casting. Believe it or not, my wife and Carl together came up with the same idea, which is that in the in the book, Tom Johnson, who is the the 85 year old war vet, is a paratrooper. But we changed that role and made him a an infant infantry man who was part of the Red Ball Express now, I doubt that any of your listeners had ever heard of the Red Ball Express. I hadn't until my wife came across. My wife, Marty came across a newspaper story about this unit that basically, again, echoing what's going on in the Ukraine, when Patton army AFTER D DAY, when they started heading east toward Germany, the Germans had blown up all the roads, so they had to figure out and of course, the ceilings were blocked. So they had to take a convoy of mostly African American soldiers, to transport all the fuel, all the supplies, all the things you've been reading about in Ukraine that have been hanging up the road, the Russian army, all the ammo, everything they had to track, back roads to minefields, they had, you know, had to put sandbags on the bottoms of their trucks. So when they went over the mines, it didn't blow up. These troop transports, there's enemy fire, they were driving these oil tankers to burning downs. So that pans army could advance. And so our, our, our lead character, time gets to Holland, as part of the red box press team. And so that was a major change in the book. But most people don't realize that this integrated unit was mostly African American about 75% was critical to pattens, advanced or Germany and in fact, at the same thing that hung up the Russian army that you know, they had, thanks to these brave soldiers, and the Red Ball Express. Sam Prince 13:34 I am looking for two types of creative cats looking for people who want to learn how to act or want to improve their acting skills. I provide acting and audition coaching for every level. But I'm also looking for all those creative cats out there who have a play or screenplay idea. Or maybe you're just stuck and need help writing your masterpiece. I can help you with that. Just go to Samber dot productions. That's s a m b e r dot productions and click coaching. All your options are right there. And we will achieve your goals together. It's never too late. All right, let's go. Roger Rapoport 14:22 And they were driving 36 hour shifts literally changing seats because one would get really sleepy. So they would literally change seats without stopping the vehicle. They switch seats in motion. It was just unbelievable courage. So now he gets to howl. And finally the ceilings open. So they don't need to keep running the Redbox press and that's where he begins working with the underground. But he needs a translator to help him smuggle food and supplies to the north. And that's that's what the play is about. Unknown Speaker 14:52 Yeah, that's see so excited man. Roger Rapoport 14:56 Right and of course when he gets there, as you can imagine, six years later Are the translator. He can't find her. So he goes to an attorney to try to locate her. And the attorney says give me a couple of days. He comes back two days later, with the death certificate of the translator Saravan Prague, and says to time, Johnson, well, you want to fly back coach your business. I'll get you a flight back to Detroit. And Tom says, no, no, no, I'm sure she's still alive. And that's what the play really starts. That's really the beginning of story. So is he right? Is she still alive? Or is he you know, lost it? You know? Sam Prince 15:37 Yeah. Yeah. That's exciting. May 14 to 15th to Friday and Saturday. That's actually Roger Rapoport 15:45 Saturday and Sunday. And Sunday is a man day for anybody that wants to drive down. Now, we should note that we have Jean Bailey, very well known Grand Rapids actress. Very familiar. That area. And also, we have Shelley Irwin is joined our cast. Awesome. Yeah. And then Kirkland Tamaki is the artistic director museum Civic Theatre is the assistant director and production designer. And then we have two actors from Muskegon. So we have Melanie lamb rock, and Jakari. Carson, who are in lead roles. So we have West Michigan very well represented. Sam Prince 16:26 A yay, coming to Detroit. Yep. Yeah. All right. Exciting. Very cool. All right. So one question, I'd like to ask you, Roger, which, you know, I like to educate our audience, in whatever we're talking about. So in the producing realm, if you could give some advice, what would that be? Roger Rapoport 16:53 Okay, so I produced three feature films and decided that I wanted to produce a play, because I felt that old heart really lent itself to the stage. And the probably the first thing that I did was finding a director that was the toughest part. And I called Steve Overstreet, who runs all the special events at the red Fertitta, where we premiered all three of our films. The Redford is a unique mystery, kind of like, you know, the wealthy or the Frauenthal. You know, it's a historic theater, from the 20s. And they've been phenomenally successful. It's one of the most successful, independent nonprofit theaters in the country, and they get huge audiences. They'll do things like bring in Rita Marino, and show the original West Side Story. But they also got to premiere events. And when I call down to Steve, he said, Well, I know a director, that would be really good for this. And he linked me up with Carole King. So finding them finding a good director is is really tough, because you need somebody who shares your passion for it, and has the time to really devote to it. And he in turn, as you know, taking the reins in a way that is just amazing to me, because he has produced a lot of one of a kind plays and like you. He's a triple threat, he writes, produces and directs. And what that means is that he has deep knowledge of any script and other words of how to make it playable. And he has a whole great team of actors and so forth. But just to give you an idea of who Carl is, dramedy is kind of a special specialty. And a typical kind of show that we'll do is there goes the neighborhood about a white family moving into a black neighborhood. So he's got a good sense of humor, and comedy, even in a serious drama. You know, there's, there's some comedic moments. So he's got a lot of different skills. The other thing I would say, that's really critical, and Carl and I have worked on this together, because you know, you're part of it. Casting was really tricky, because you have to find actors that can hit the ground running, unlike a movie where you can shoot over and over again, not only did you only get one chance every night, you know, you can't you can't rewind. Unknown Speaker 19:18 Right, right. Roger Rapoport 19:20 So what it really means is you have actually have to have very, very proficient actors. And as you know, a lot of them in character roles have, unlike the leads who have the whole play basically to sketch out their identity. In the case of character actors, they have to really hit the ground running. So they have to be believable within seconds of their walking on stage. And that's, that's really tough. You know, fortunately, we have a lot of veterans. And as you know, I would say that the number one rule in any production and I don't care what the show is comedy drama You know, you know, tragedy, whatever it is, there are no small parts in any production, you know, behind stage, everybody gets that. But I'm talking about onstage, you know, the guy who gives Brutus his sword. It's not a big part in Julius Caesar, but boy, you gotta have to do in that otherwise blows the whole scene out of the water. And you're dealing with very experienced audiences, you know, who might, in their lifetime have seen hundreds of shows Not to mention, you're gonna what's on television. So you know, you've got very sophisticated audiences. And, and that's where the casting is really tricky. You know, I need the right person, for example, one of our key roles in the table read that you were part of, for the entire script, we actually move one of the actors up into another role, because she was so good at cold reading that we thought she could, we wanted to try her on a bigger part. And she got up, she got an upgrade. Basically, it says something happens, you know, in rehearsal, where we actually had been looking for an actor for this particular role, a male actor, and then we said, hey, this woman can be a be a lawyer, well, we'll make it a woman lawyer, it'll be even better. And she's, she's terrific. She's so excited. Her name is Carol Ludwig. And you'll see when we do the next stage reading, she's she's just mastered this role of being a Dutch attorney. And so, Sam Prince 21:27 so great. So great. Yeah. And, I mean, it sounds like to me, to some of what you just said, is that you have to have an excellent team. Roger Rapoport 21:37 Right. And the other role that I would say, for, you know, whether it's a high school production, a Christmas play, or a Broadway show, you know, you have to, you have to always be aware that in any, any show that you do, there's no such thing as a lock script. And, you know, I've acini, who directed all my films and starred in the third bad says, you know, he's been on film sets, you know, major Hollywood shows, uh, you know, with major directors, you know, at the level of, say, Spielberg, and they're still revising the script at nine o'clock in the morning, you know, because something, nothing didn't play the way it was supposed to. You know, so shoot, that is so true. Sam Prince 22:20 I mean, so on the Roger Rapoport 22:21 table read that you were part of this, there was what I call miscues. And these were, the actor reads the line, but he changes a word. And just, it's not in the script. And usually, when an actor does that, from my experience, it's because they're making a more colloquial, it's not the way it would read, it's the way it would be sad. And, and I frequently, like in the table read we did, I'm adjusting the script, because the way the actors make it more colloquial, it just sounds better. And so you have to be flexible. Sam Prince 22:54 Man, that is so true. So true. I'm so excited for the play. Now. You know, I just talking about it. And, and, you know, a note you again, excellent director, excellent cast. Yeah. Roger Rapoport 23:07 Well, the state of Michigan in the city of Detroit are two unique places audiences are fantastic. But we've also gotten a lot of support from the community. We got a Michigan humanities grant, the veterans groups, a lot of the leaders of the Jewish community, there's a black Jewish Coalition, SR resources, visit Detroit. You know, Redford is emerging as a arts and entertainment district on the northwest side of Detroit. And for anybody in your audience who's never been to the Redford theater. It's just a beautifully restored movie palace. And that alone is why a lot of people prefer to see it shows there rather than in their neighborhood theater when it comes to movies. Because it's such a great environment, you know? Sam Prince 23:50 Yeah. Awesome. Can't wait. Can't wait. All right. So let's play a quick game. And then we'll sign off. Sure. I asked you to give me four of your favorite actors as of right now today. And we're gonna we're gonna have a little bracket. Final for see who is your favorite? Are these four? Yeah, sure. All right. All right. You just saw the honest nose, you gave me these names, right before we started and to be a couple of them. You're gonna have to describe me and help me with. All right. I'm excited to hear about it. Right. So like, for example, the first one was Mark Rylands. Right, right. We'll put him up against Richard really? Roger Rapoport 24:43 Sure. So Mark Rylands is best known as the artistic director of The Globe Theatre in London. And that if you you know, West End plays like Jerusalem and so forth. He actually is British by and his family lived in Milwaukee when he was growing up, and that's where he really got his start. He's been in a lot of films lately. So he shifted a lot. He was in Dunkirk, BFG. Bridge. Yeah, bridges spies, which was Spielberg and film. So he's done quite a bit of, you know, more recently, a lot of television and film. So you can, you can see him. You can see him on screen. But his stage work is incredible is, is through our performance in Jerusalem is kind of a legend. And he's actually reprised it. He's been in the TV movie, Richard the second and so on. So he's gonna be one of the great stage actors of our of our time. Richard really is much better known, I think, in America, because he's been in movies that are very widely seen. I think, my favorite performance of all of his work, and he's been in two of my films. is, you know, office space, you know, he's just, you know, hilarious. It's one of the one of the great Sam Prince 26:16 office space. Roger Rapoport 26:18 He plays the guy. You know, just a second Sam Prince 26:24 is the one that comes around and says, I'm gonna need you to he's the guy Roger Rapoport 26:29 that keeps wanting to get his stapler back. Unknown Speaker 26:32 Yeah, okay. Okay. All right. Yeah. Yes. Great. Yeah. Sam Prince 26:40 Okay, so, if you had to pick between those two, okay. Roger Rapoport 26:45 Yeah, I would pick of the two I would pick Richard just because he's so versatile. Sam Prince 26:50 Okay. Okay. All right. Okay. All right. Great. And then the other two were Cicely Tyson. Which Yeah, everybody knows. Deborah staples. Right, Debbie staples? Roger Rapoport 27:06 That's a good one. I would, I would have to call it a tie. Because there's so different. But let me let me try to hedge this way. What makes these actors all these four actors really great as they can do anything, any kind of role, serious comedy, you name it? That's, that's America. But you know, they're not pigeon holed. And, you know, Cicely Tyson is obviously much better known than Deborah staples. But I put it to you this way. Anybody who knows the work of both actresses seen them both would tell you that the way they disappear into their characters. You know, in both cases, and I've heard this from audiences are for both these actresses. And by the way, if you haven't read Cicely Tyson's autobiography, you know, she died last year, just after her autobiography came out. It's one of the great showbusiness biographies, autobiographies, and she talks about how people keep coming up to her and say, was that you in that play? I thought that was that didn't look like that wasn't you wasn't, or that, that wasn't you wasn't, Deborah gets that all the time, that people will watch it for two hours and stage and not even realize that it's her. And yes, that's why I call it a tie. Because they both have this incredible ability to change, not just their, their look, or their speech patterns, in order their walk or their gait or you know, age operates down. But they can embody a character so believably, that you completely lose track of the fact that it's somebody you know, and I consider that to be magic. I mean, you do that all actors do it. But some actors make a career out of it. They don't ask any which way, they always want to do something, they always want to be a character they've never been, you know, that's cool for them. And if you talk to them, they say they're looking for roles, that are people that they've never tried, whether it's the Amish project, or sounder, you know, those are two examples. And that's what directors want is somebody with that ability to, to master a role they've never done and that's that originality, is what I think has helped me tremendously is I benefit from the fact that you would appreciate this, some of the best actors in the country are from our region. And unfortunately, there's not a lot of film production here. So for a producer, like you or me, you know, there's a tremendous opportunity, you know, to, to benefit from all this incredible talent that in in a place like New York or LA would be unavailable because they'd be shooting another film, you know, Sam Prince 29:44 right. So true. It's okay. Just to piggyback what you said, like you know, when when you can do all types of roles, there's actors out there, who are pretty much the same. Every time you see him. Yep, that's right. It has actors that are like, yep. Completely different every time you see him. Yeah, you can't believe those are the step up. Unknown Speaker 30:08 Right. Yeah, exactly. That's great. Sam Prince 30:12 So yeah, so so. So if we had to say it would either those four, your Favorites will be the two women? I think so. Yeah. Time for the two one. I think so. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I'm cool. With that, totally. I Roger Rapoport 30:28 think so. Yeah. If you see that work, I mean, you can you can see all four of them any, anytime you want on screen, you know, they're all They're all film actors. So any of your, your audience can look them up and see their work. And you know, we can we can send that information to them if they want it. Okay. Sam Prince 30:46 Absolutely. Cool. Great. Thanks. All right. Well, thank you so much. Thank you for joining me, this is awesome. I'm honored to have you. Anything you're working on after or by chance. Roger Rapoport 31:00 I have a novel coming out. And it's inspired by a kidnapping case in the 70s. It's a fictional story, but it's inspired by a true story of a immediate heiress who gets kidnapped. And it's called my search for Sara price, and it'll be out later this year. Wow. All right. And my website, Roger rappaport.com. So it's r o g e r r a p o p o r t.com. Has all this information. All right. Sam Prince 31:35 Well, I got to have you back on when that comes out. Roger Rapoport 31:39 Thanks a lot. Thank you very much. Take care. Sam Prince 31:43 Take care. Hey, hey, hey, thank you for listening to the creativitiorium podcast. Again, my name is Sam Prince. And it is my honor to be your host and thank you so much for listening. I would also be honored if you could leave a review on Apple podcasts and say some nice things about what you just heard. And definitely please listen every week. We come out every Tuesday. Also, for more information about coaching classes, workshops, and upcoming productions, please check out our website Samber dot productions. That's S A m b e r dot productions. And you can also subscribe to our newsletter. And remember all the words a stage