Shows
This Town OKCS1E11 Scott MunzChances are that if you've attended the Great State Fair of Oklahoma in the past 3+ decades, you've encountered attractions booked by Scott Munz. As the spokesperson for the Fair, he's in charge of all promotions, so you've probably seen or heard him in media interviews. In this episode, you'll hear him tell the secret of the Six-foot Man Eating Chicken!But before he gets to that story, Scott tells about his start in the music business booking bands as a university student in upstate New York. A few of them you'll recognize: Billy Joel (whom he danced to w...2025-07-2942 min
This Town OKCS1E10 Christy ZelleyJust about everyone who does anything of importance in this town is a Leadership OKC alum. After all, their mission is to develop leaders. Christy Zelley is the executive director, but she started as the administrative assistant to the first director (only her second job out of college). She became the number two woman in a two-woman shop back when LOKC was in its eighth class. LOKC is about to announce Class 43.Christy tells of the many cities in which her family lived and how they ultimately returned to this town. She details how the organization came to b...2025-07-0741 min
This Town OKCS1E09 Jim BeaverYou've seen him in numerous TV shows and some movies. But as a character actor, you wouldn't know this name. It's Jim Beaver. He tells tales of a working actor - from his college days at Central State University (now UCO) in Edmond to New York City and finally to Los Angeles.He tells a funny story about his big break in Norman Jewison's 1989 "In Country" with Bruce Willis when the director mentioned his name ahead of Willis'. And Jim tells more about the many TV shows his worked including "Justified" and the show he considers to be...2025-06-1754 min
This Town OKCS1E08 Billie ThrashTalk about a mainstay in OKC theatre! Billie Thrash came here in the 1970s on a whim and has since graced the stages of many theatre companies as a choreographer, director, and performer. In this podcast, she describes working with Carpenter Square in its inaugural season and choreographing this town's first production of The Rocky Horror Show. Lots of theatre stories here including how, on another whim, she auditioned and was cast in the Papermill Playhouse production of Follies and the thrill of having to get into makeup in the stuck-in-the-tunnel bus. But they made it! Billie also shares how...2025-06-1042 min
This Town OKCS1E07 Dick PryorThese days, you hear KGOU-FM general manager Dick Pryor on his weekly "Manager's Minute" along with other features. A long-time broadcast journalist, Dick actually started at KGOU while in college. His career began in sports radio in the 1980s and moved to television news where he spent 25 years at OETA with a stint as a lawyer along the way. He tells his story before we get into the philosophy and purpose of public broadcasting and the value of a major in broadcasting and journalism. Post-production by Fred O. BishopSponsored by Carpenter Square Theatre2025-05-2434 min
This Town OKCS1E6 Cacky PoarchCacky Poarch has made a name for herself as the executive director of the deadCenter Film Festival - twice. As she retires again after this summer's Festival, she tells her story of growing up in the red dirt, tumbleweed-strewn fields of Quail Creek, performing improv comedy in Aspen, working as a casting director in OKC, and touring the state as Captain Supertooth. And she reminisces on the movie that took dCFF to the next level and how deadCenter Film Icons came about.Post-production by Fred O. BishopSponsored by Carpenter Square Theatre2025-05-0535 min
This Town OKCS1E5 Randy KempWe've heard his voice for years on television and radio commercials as well as at sporting events. He got his start in radio at the age of 14 with a live, on-air audition orchestrated by his station manager father. Brought to OKC for a radio job at the old KLTE, for the past several decades he's run his own audio recording studio, RK-One Productions. Back during the covid pandemic, RK-1 Studios was the location of a series of classic radio show recreations, broadcast live on the Carpenter Square Theatre YouTube channel (where they are still available for viewing).Post-production...2025-04-0852 min
This Town OKCS1E4 Joy Reed BeltA vibrant city needs an arts district with a unique character. In Oklahoma City, that's The Paseo. And thanks to visionary John Belt and his wife Joy Reed Belt, OKC has the most distinctive district in this town and where Joy runs the JRB Gallery as OKC's preeminent art dealer. In this podcast, Joy tells how she arrived here, via Tulsa to teach returning Vietnam vets (with a little help from Leon Russell), and became involved in the revitalization of The Paseo all while becoming a world-traveling business consultant. You may think you know something about the history of the...2025-03-2046 min
This Town OKCS1E3 Terry VealTerry Veal has performed in virtually every theater in Oklahoma City over the past 40-odd years. He's been a mainstay at Carpenter Square Theatre since its first season. Following college, the Navy, and college again, he started his acting career at Oklahoma Children's Theatre. He moved into education by teaching drama first at Choctaw High School then at Classen School of Advance Studies. Along the way, he's shard the stage with such greats as the late, local legend Brenda Williams and a college-aged Kristin Chenowith. In this interview, Terry also reveals important lessons he learned from a couple of his i...2025-03-0350 min
This Town OKCS1E2 Leslie SpearsLeslie Spears has had a front row seat to the culture of Oklahoma City for a few decades now. Starting as a receptionist at a radio station and moving into promotions, she worked at the OKC Chamber of Commerce to promote the first MAPS projects that transformed downtown OKC, then moved to the OKC Museum of Art and later to the Myriad Gardens. She now promotes all of OKC through her position at the reborn Oklahoma Gazette. In this podcast, Leslie tells how the OKCMOA managed to become the nation's lead exhibitor of glass artist Dale Chihuly....2025-02-1246 min
This Town OKCS1E1 Ben HallBen Hall is an Oklahoma City-based actor, director, writer, and scenic designer. He has appeared in many films both small, independent ones as well as Oscar-winning movies such as "Minari" and "Killers of the Flower Moon."Ben also designs and builds sets for multiple theatre companies, churches, and film production companies. He tells his story - how he landed in Oklahoma City and how his career progressed to become a cultural icon in This Town.Post-production by Fred O. BishopSponsored by Carpenter Square Theatre2025-02-0241 min