Tom Handley

German, French, Hispanic, Russian/Slavic, Southern, Hillbilly, Northern Cracker, British/Aussie/Kiwi, Heroic, Evil, Evil Sidekick

While I am new to the field I have done some limited reading for the blind and NFP voice work. I have done public readings of Pablo Neruda with Flamenco accompaniment and Blaise Cendrars. Blasie in the man who got Henry Miller to write and is one of the forgotten creators of modernity. I have read his works, both poetry and fiction for groups both as planned and spontaneous events. I have appeared in documentary films about the cafe I owned and operated in Wicker Park; Urbus Orbis, The Third Place. Limited college experience although I have received my masters from the School of Hard Knocks in Small Business Administration. I have, over the years taken acting classes at The Ted Liss Acting Studio, Act One Theater Bookstore and worked with David Shepard, the forgotten man of improvisation. I was born and bred in the theater and have that deep seated love of the theater as a result. I would love to bring these skills and experiences to any and all projects. I have access to a full professional studio already involved in music, video and voice over work. This includes the full range of audio processing equipment and computer audio and video mixing. I come from a Theater family, both my parents and grand parents met through Vaudeville and the stage. My father was a bit player in Hollywood and was a stage manager at the birth of television. As a result I am a quick study, memorize well and can take direction. My brother is an Academy Award nominated screenwriter and playwright who teaches screen writing now. In my role as owner/operator of Urbus Orbis, called the coolest cafe in America by Rolling Stone Magazine, I was always in the public eye and "onstage". I functioned as a theater and music producer for The Back Room an intimate 50 seat performance space. I also functioned as a lighting and sound technician for many of these performances. We hosted Chicago's most well regarded Experimental Music series and at the time when Wicker Park was the music capitol of American, presented both local and national acts. Highlights of these music series include Grammy Award winning artists Jewel, Paula Cole and Ben Harper. In addition Urbus was the home away from home for many musicians in the nearby Wax Trax stable of artists.