Stan Read:
CLASS OF 1959
Shawnee High SchoolClass of 1959
Louisville, KY
Stan's Story
Stan is from Louisville, Kentucky. He is married with Ellen Read. His schools include Shawnee High School. He later attended American River College, Sacramento, University of Louisville (English and Voice studies). He works(ed) at ABC Radio Chicago, Keller Williams Realty.
Stan's interests include Chris Gardner Band and Road 88 at Thunder Valley Casino Resort on Nov 03, 2012, Tennis, Sacramento Kings, Roger Federer, Kim Clijsters, Rafa Nadal, Roger Federer. Music he likes includes Ginger's Open Mike Mondays, Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band, Jazz. Books he likes include Biographies, Autobiography. TV shows he likes include Tennis Channel, Sports, Late Night Comedy.
More about Stan:"I am a 72 year old "don't want to get out of show business" guy who is having the time of his life. I have a great family, enjoy singing and playing trombone in jazz bands in the Sacramento area, helping people buy and sell real estate, and playing tennis. It's all good!! Specifically, I started out singing and playing trombone in a big band in Louisville, Ky. From that I started auditioning for professional music theatre. My first big job was with the St. Louis Muny Opera in St. Louis, Mo. This is the largest summer theatre in the US, seats 12,000 people and is Actors Equity. The leads are all Broadway Stars, and I was this just out of the box 21 year old kid excited to be in show business. We did 7 shows including Music Man and Pajama Game. I got to do small parts and chorus. At the end of the summer, I went home, packed my bags and informed my parents that I was moving to New York to try out for the big time. Being a member of Actors Equity now was a big feather in my cap, because I got to go to Broadway auditions first before non-Equity singers did. It worked. I got jobs in summer theatre in and out of New York City. Early in 1963, someone told me about an audition for a Harry Belafonte national touring show with singers and dancers touring from New York to LA. I auditioned for Belafonte's music director Howard Roberts and he loved my voice. I was the only person hired out of 200 guys. We toured for 6 months, ending in LA where we did a live recording at the Greek Theatre. That album can be still purchased. During that August while at the Greek, I had the great pleasure of travelling by plane (August 28th) overnight with Harry Belafonte and Hollywood f...Expand for more
riends to Washington DC to attend the March on Washington. I was on the plane with James Garner, Paul Newman, and a whole host of big names from Hollywood. This was probably the biggest event of my life looking back. I got to meet Sammie Davis and others who met us in Washington DC. We were given chairs to sit in on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to witness the famous Martin Luther King speech, and other famous people. While touring with Harry Belafonte, I received my draft notice from the Army and in the Fall of that year, I reported to the Army in Manhatton. Not too happy about having my show biz career interrupted, I managed to find my way into the Army Band and was sent to Alaska for 2 years. I always found myself performing music in different shows as well as playing in the Army Band. After mustering out of the Army after my 2 years were up, I returned to New York as a married man. Singing jobs were a bit scarce in 1966 in New York, so after performing in a couple of summer tours in Camelot, Oklahoma with Gordon MacRae, and On a Clear Day You Can See Forever with John Raitt, I decided to go to an announcing school to train for the Broadcasting industry. Just out of school, I was advertising for a job as a DJ and a program director at KTIV TV in Sioux City Iowa hired me sight unseen to be an announcer at that station. We talked on the phone and he liked my show biz background and thought I would be good in TV. Sooooo, I packed up my wife and stuff, bought a new Volkswagon with a sun roof and moved to Sioux City, Iowa for 2 years. While there, I was the weatherman, and had a talk show that I started myself. From there, we moved to San Jose, California to do radio, then Fresno in radio, then on to Chicago for 10 years to do radio and tv. (At this point I had moved into sales management) After Chicago, I worked with some radio station owners in Reno, later moving to Sacramento to work in TV and radio. All the while I kept my music going and was singing in any event I could get myself into. This takes me up to today where my music talents have somehow taken over my life and I am having more fun than should be allowed. Like I said earlier, it's all good! Now I am concentrating on performance and writing about my adventures. Writing new music is part of my life today, and I hope to come out with something this year that I can sell.".
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