A mime with noise, stand-up with no talking – drama with no acting. Viral sensation Tape Face has to be seen to be believed. Tape Face is a character created by performer Sam Wills; delightful, wry, many-layered, hilarious and with universal appeal. He accesses an inner child in us all that must be fed. Through simple, clever and charming humour, aimed at satisfying that hunger, this America’s Got Talent Finalist gives a performance which is delightful, wry, and hilarious. Through simple, clever and charming humour, Tape Face has created one of the most accessible and enjoyable shows the world has ever seen. Tickets available at www.torrancearts.org or the theatre ticket office at (310) 781-7171 

TOCA Backstage

39 - Sam Wills (aka Tape Face)

Terry Casey and Chris Pierce talk about the band

038 - The Fenians

Emmy® nominated, Irish singer - producer, Michael Londra is from the opera capital of Ireland, a small town on the South East coast called Wexford. He decided in his early 30’s to follow his heart and pursue a professional singing career. His leap of faith was rewarded when he soon became a leading man in musical theater in Dublin playing many roles culminating in becoming the lead singer for Riverdance and touring internationally.

037 - Michael Londra's Ireland with Michael

Every now and again, something so cool comes along that I just have to share it with you.  Audiojack is a very unique experience that I highly recommend you give it a try. As the website describes it, it is an audio based movie with no words to mindfully engage your imagination.  In short, you close your eyes, listen to a bunch of sound effects that are specifically designed to elicit a response from your imagination. The story that is created is yours and yours alone. It was my pleasure to speak with David Tobin the creative genius behind Audiojack.   With a history of working in film, television and music, David stumbled upon the creation of this unique tool that is used not only for education and health programs around the world but to engage the imagination of everyone.  The best part is that it’s free to use (there is a subscription price to the app if you want to unlock all the “stories”) and it will help you escape to hustle and bustle of the craziness we are all going through.

036 - David Tobin from AudioJack

Chris Jacobson is an enthusiastic businessman who learned about the plight of foster youth who are aging out of the foster care system. Rather than just feeling sorry for them, he took it upon himself to create a company that not only sells great coffee, but also involves these young people in hopes to give them a foundation for building their future. Building on the premise of helping those in need, Chris has set up a system to give 20% of coffee orders to selected non-profits. Just like TOCA. Coffee is available in whole bean, ground, Single Serve Cups, decaf and flavored. You can buy just one package or subscribe. Click here to check it out! goodstuffcoffee.com/toca

035 - Chris Jacobson from Good Stuff Coffee

If you don’t have plans for this Saturday October 3, I can recommend the streaming performance by Los Angeles Virtuosi under the direction of Maestro Carlo Ponti.  To learn more about this event, check out our podcast here. Maestro Carlo Ponti has been bringing music to the world for over 20 years. From the Russian National Orchestra to the San Bernardino Symphony. In 2013, he founded the Los Angeles Virtuosi Orchestra – an ensemble emphasizing music’s educational value of which he is the Music and Artistic Director, and currently performing its’ sixth concert season (2020-2021) in Los Angeles, California. For tickets to the October 3rd event, https://www.eventbrite.com/e/carlo-ponti-the-los-angeles-virtuosi-orchestra-rising-stars-tickets-118365603707

034 - Maestro Carlo Ponti

Typically, these newsletters and podcasts are used to let you know about the exciting shows we have coming up. A quick glimpse into the background of the artist, a simple reminder to get your tickets or just come interesting information about TOCA or the art as they relate to the South Bay or Torrance. I feel, however, that I would be remise in my duties if I didn’t make you aware of a virtual program that is coming up on October 2. I first learned about “Mortified” over 12 years ago. I heard about the book, then discovered that they had a show in Hollywood. My wife and I drove out to a small performance venue on Hollywood Blvd not sure what to expect… we ended up laughing so hard and enjoyed the show so much we went several more times. Each time a new and different group. Hailed a “cultural phenomenon” by Newsweek and celebrated by This American Life, Entertainment Weekly, Time, Wired, The AV Club, The Today Show (twice), and beyond, Mortified celebrates stories revealed through the strange and extraordinary things we created as kids. It was great to speak with the Mortified artistic director, Neil Katcher who gives more details on what Mortified is and what it has become. Once just a small show presented in Hollywood, now shows being created around the globe, television series, podcasts, book and now a game you can play at home. If you can’t make their live event on Oct. 2, I highly recommend that you check out their Netflix documentary and series. 

033 - "Mortified" Artistic Director Neil Katcher

It was a pleasure speaking with Oisín Mac Diarmada about his upcoming virtual performance, Breakfast in Ireland. This special performance will be Zoom live streamed from Sligo, Ireland with Oisín Mac Diarmada (fiddle) and Samantha Harvey (dance / piano) Fiddler Oisín Mac Diarmada has spent most of his musical life living in Sligo, an area noted historically for an extraordinarily rich fiddle tradition. Founder of leading traditional group Téada, with whom he has toured extensively throughout the world since 2001, Oisín’s solo performances have seen him play at specialist music festivals such as Masters of Tradition in West Cork, accompanying former Irish President Mary McAleese on a State visit to Romania and performing Charlie Lennon’s Island Wedding suite with the Southern Georgia Symphony Orchestra in the US and the Württembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen in Germany. Oisín has toured frequently in recent years with noted singer/accordion-player Séamus Begley, with whom he has released 2 duo albums. Most recently, Oisín was co-author along with fellow-Sligo musician Daithí Gormley, of Fiddlers of Sligo Tunebook, a publication focussed on the Sligo fiddle tradition. Providing masterful accompaniment on piano, Samantha Harvey originally from Ventura, California now living in Sligo, is also an award-winning step dancer. Samantha's energetic dance and musical performances on stage has seen her become an increasingly prominent touring performer and teacher. Samantha has toured with a number of touring shows such as Téada, Irish Christmas in America, Ireland – The Show, and Tomaseen Foley, including performances with orchestras such as the Omaha Symphony and Edmonton Symphony. Since this will be streamed via Zoom, you may want to make sure that you have your robe on.

032 - Oisin Mac Diarmada - Breakfast in Ireland

With all the craziness going on in the world today, I have to confess that at times, it seems like we are riding an emotional rollercoaster. Some days we are truly optimistic and some days are filled with despair. Then you meet someone like Grace Fisher. I learned about Grace through an old friend of mine who shared some of her videos on her social media page. The video posts were mostly of a young girl in her mid-late teens playing music. She was full of life and you could tell that the music was inside her just waiting to come out. 5 years ago, Grace lost all ability to move. She can no longer strum her guitar, dance on the stage or do just about anything else that a young girl in her early 20s can do. Still, she has found a way to create music, stay optimistic and enjoy the beauty in life. This year marks that 30 year anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. In light of this special day, Easterseals has put together a film challenge honoring people with disabilities. This year, Lynn Montgomery (the director of the feature length documentary ‘Amazing Grace’) entered a 5 minute documentary about Grace’s story. You can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goLiaNItVrw&t=231s Easterseals’ social media contest for these short videos is an attempt to bring awareness not only to the organization but the ADA as well. The video that gets the most views and shares wins! You have until August 2nd to help Grace’s video win. Please watch, like, and forward this message to help us promote our short.  Grace also has a non-profit organization to help young people with disabilities experience the arts. Learn more here: https://www.gracefisherfoundation.org/

031 - Grace & Debbie Fisher

Jon Armstrong has won numerous awards including Close Up Magician of the Year. His special brand of humor and magic have been seen in 30 countries, not to mention “The Today Show”, “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” and “Penn and Teller’s Fool Us” , which caused Penn to exclaim his act as “the most original I’ve ever seen!” When you see him live, Jon hopes that you laugh loudly, are amazed by his skills, and most of all, feel like you made a new friend. Jon will be performing a truly interactive 45+ minute performance that will blow your mind. Unlike any televised performance by a magician, you know that there are no camera tricks, edits or special effects as it is happening live via Zoom. The performance will be Saturday July 25, 2020 at 7pm

030 - Magician Jon Armstrong

Bearing an ever expanding repertoire of, as she puts it, "obscure, lovely and naughty songs from the 1910s, '20s and '30s," Janet Klein is a musical archaeologist hiding in the body of an F. Scott Fitzgerald heroine. Her music is as timeless as her personality.

029 - Janet Klein joins TOCA To Go

TOCA's SouthBay Festival of the Arts was supposed to be Saturday June 27th. However, due to the Covid 19 pandemic, we had to cancel the event. Still, with all that's going on in the world, we'd still like to share the arts with you this weekend. On Friday June 26th at 7pm, TOCA will present a live concert, streaming on our Facebook page. Jeff Bordes is an amazing musician who has appeared on TOCA's stages. Together with his guitarist, they will be streaming live from Jeff's porch in Northern California. Don't miss it!

028 - Jeff Bordes

The current COVID pandemic has taken its toll on performing arts organizations and performing artists. In hopes to support these artists who are critical to our success, we have created TOCA To Go. A way to support local artists and TOCA. Do you know someone who is missing the excitement of a live performance? Got a special occasion that you want to celebrate or need a special gift you want to send to someone? Try TOCA TO GO! With just a few clicks, we will send a performer to your home, place of work or to their email inbox. Laura Ellis is one of the performers you can hire. A singer, actress, and recording artist, Laura Ellis is known for her beautiful voice, her vintage vocal styling, and her sparkling stage presence Laura performs across country in her touring productions. With her retro jazz flair, she has graced cabaret and concert stages including the famed Jazz Alley in Seattle, Feinstein’s at the Nikko in San Francisco, and the Moonlight Amphitheatre in Vista, CA. Her broadcast credits include History Channel’s Route 66 and Modern Marvels documentaries, the HBO Carnivale series, and ABC’s Modern Family. In recent years, she has starred as the singing voice of the adventurous, Kat Knight, on the video game Contrast, by Compulsion Games, downloaded more than 1.5 million times. Her most recent recording, Broken, Lovely, was in consideration for a Best Vocal Jazz Grammy in 2016. Additional performers who are a part of TOCA To Go are: Janet Klein Janet is the very definition of an “old soul”. Growing up in a region of Southern California where the last vestiges of the “California Dream” were still barely in tact as strip malls proliferated, she linked historical images she’d seen of early turn-of-the century postcards with bungalows along palm lined streets, orange groves, grand Mission style hotels & onion-domed libraries- the way things were got into her blood, and today she’s the most refreshing anachronism to every materialize from the ether of the Prohibition. Klein doesn’t merely perform songs from “ lost America” –she actually lives them, and transports her audiences along the way. Klein considers herself a “musical archeologist and treasure hunter” digging up compositions by the likes of Wilton Crawley and A.P. Randolf and Robert Cloud, songs of the Victrola and lost Vitaphone films. She and her LA based band the Parlor Boys authentically resuscitate early jazz of the 1920s and 1930s with wild spirit, vigor and grand skill. SEND A TAIKO PERFORMANCE Yuta Kato Yuta Kato was born and raised in California to a Japanese speaking family.  Introduced to taiko by Kagami-Kai, a local rice-pouding group, he decided to further his studies with San Francisco Taiko Dojo at the age of 10. Since then he has been a part of UCLA Kyodo Taiko, Nihon Taiko Dojo, Getsuyoukai, and professional groups: TAIKOPROJECT, ON Ensemble, and Portland Taiko, Unit Souzou. From Fall 2007 until Winter 2011, he resided in Japan to study under masters of various traditional Japanese music. Upon returning to the US in 2011, he served as Coordinator for the 2011 North American Taiko Conference at Stanford University. Kato now focuses his attention to teaching taiko and currently resides in California serving as the principal and instructor for LATI (Los Angeles Taiko Institute) housed at  Asano Taiko US, which opened in 2013. He performs as a member of UnitOne (Torrance, CA). Isaku Kageyama Isaku Kageyama is a taiko performer, educator, and recording artist currently working with Asano Taiko US, Los Angeles Taiko Institute, and UnitOne.  His resume includes performances on networks such as NBC and VH1, venues such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and tours of across North, South, and Central America, Asia, the Middle East and Europe. Julia Asano Trio Julia Asano, then Julia Kato, began her taiko career under the tutelage of Seiichi Tanaka as a member of San Francisco Taiko Dojo Rising Stars Dream Team.  She was also a performing member of TAIKOPROJECT in 2005 and 2006 before moving to Japan and marrying into the drum-making Asano family.  She helped found Asano Taiko U.S., teaches at Los Angeles Taiko Institute, and performs with the Asano Taiko U.S. resident ensemble, UnitOne. 

027 - Laura Ellis & TOCA To Go

Arts organizations (as well as small businesses) was hit with Assembly Bill 5 (AB5) at the beginning of the year which outlines a new way to determine who is an independent contractor vs an employee. With the changes in the determination, many found that creative artists who were once paid per gig or as an independent contractor were now seen, in the eyes of this bill, as an employee. Needless to say, that has major financial repercussions for these organizations and business. Then, if that wasn’t bad enough, along comes Covid 19 which is close to being the devastating blow to most organizations. I reached out to Julie Baker the Executive Director for the Californians for the Arts organization to see if she could help answer some basic concerns.  Julie Baker is a seasoned arts and marketing professional. Prior to becoming Executive Director of Californians For The Arts and California Arts Advocates in October of 2018, Julie Baker served on the board for four years as chair of the membership committee and of Confluence, an arts advocacy conference. She serves as the California State Captain to Americans for the Arts', National Arts Action Summit and is chair of the visibility committee for the State Arts Action Network. From 2009-2017, Julie Baker served as the Executive Director of The Center for the Arts, a non-profit performing arts venue and California WorldFest, an annual music and camping festival located in Grass Valley, CA. Prior to moving to California, Baker worked in New York City at several prominent art galleries and the international auction house Christie’s before becoming the President of her family’s art marketing agency, Gerngross & Company Inc. In 1998, she moved with her family to Nevada City, CA where she was first employed as a Senior Executive Producer for Tristream, a 20- person web development and marketing/branding company. In 2001, she returned to her passion for the arts and opened Julie Baker Fine Art, a gallery of emerging artists. She was the co-founder of Flow art fair, a satellite art fair to Art Basel Miami Beach. She is active in her local community including serving on the high school Site Council and the board of California Heritage: Indigenous Research Project.  

026 - Julie Baker

During this time of social distancing and stay at home orders, sometimes the only way to stay connected with friends and family is through photos, videos and Zoom calls. We’ve all had times when we have taken a selfie or photo and instantly deleted it because we didn’t like it. Or maybe you are on a Zoom happy hour or business meeting and you look at your image compared to others and can’t seem to get the lighting just right. That’s one of the reasons I wanted to talk to Mark Comon from the Creative Photo Academy and Paul’s Photo in Torrance.  Mark and I met during one of the city of Torrance’s Arts Leadership meetings. We met again when he came on board to work with TOCA on the photo exhibit for the SouthBay Festival of the Arts. I’ve been following him on social media for a while and noticed that once the Covid crisis hit, he immediately started posting short videos about being creative and hints on how to take better, more creative photographs.  I thought, if there was one person out there that could help create better images, it would be him. Mark Comon is founder of Creative Photo Academy, PMA Academy and the PMA Certified Photo Instructor program. Mark has effectively taught photography to amateurs, hobbyists, professionals and other photo instructors. His passionate approach to creativity, simple explanation of technical topics and inspirational images will help your photography take flight. Mark loves to inspire you to take, make and keep better photographs. Mark teaches Photo Boot Camp, Advanced Classes and is a leader on many Adventures and Workshops. Mark is also available for one-on-one tutoring on any subject. Hope you enjoy this conversation. Be sure to follow him on social media or visit him at Paul’s Photo when you are able.

025 - Mark Comon from Paul's Photo

TOCA Backstage connects the audience with our performers before they step foot on the stage. You’ll hear from artists about how they got started, what you can expect from their show, what inspires them – and even advice and inspiration for the next genera

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TOCA Backstage

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