Werque Podcast

@jeffreylottadrew director, producer and choreographer of @bestindragshow. This actor/dancer, with more than 25 musicals to his credit and former Miss Nevada, winner of Battle for the Tiara as Lotta Slots, has a wonderful story about survival and breakthrough!

Gregory Butler a.k.a. ‘The Body of Broadway’, has staged productions of Chicago, The Musical in Denmark in Moscow, Korea, Germany, the Netherlands, and the U.S., as well as, restaged productions of the show for television, including Dancing With the Stars, and major awards shows (Tony Awards, Bambi Awards) as associate choreographer for 15 years and counting.

As associate choreographer, he has helped stars like Brandy, Usher, Patti LaBelle, Patrick Swayze and Melanie Griffith bring their characters to life. We talk about entering dance through a side door by taking Kung Fu, (which was considered more acceptable), the traumatic event that happened to him at 9; getting accepted - and then asked to leave - The Julliard School and the lifelong work of building yourself into the person you were always meant to be.

This episode was produced and edited by David Neuendorff.

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Follow Greg Butler on IG: @gkbut

Jack Lorenz, like so many of us, graduated from college with no idea what he wanted to do with his life. While working as a bartender, a customer asked him to handle the finances for a new production company. This turned out to be the beginning of a career making movies; overseeing production at major studios like Sony and Universal, until he was called to work in the field of social justice.  Jack spent 12 years as the Executive Director of the Gatekeeper Foundation, and four years as Director of Programs and Development at Equality California. He is now at The Alliance For Housing and Healing as Director of Development and Communications. The Alliance For Housing and Healing provides the basic necessities of life to men, women, children, and families living with HIV/AIDS through a safety net of essential housing and direct supportive services.  We talk about finding his life’s work and the crucial need for services like this with the homeless population in California.

Curl up with a cup of cocoa for our Christmas Kiki episode. We talk about our favorite holiday movies and songs, our most memorable Christmases, Puerto Rican/‘American’ style Christmas mash up and how we get down with old Saint Nick. Sit down for our season 1 finale and get into a few of our favorite things.

Kevin's Most Epic Christmas Playlist 2019:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/62PqjTa6eaDfQxSaz1mOWk?si=EmBZptuqS9O3wMPY4viFSg

Kevin's Most Epic Christmas Playlist 2018:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6Qf8lTFkJdGdkcP1sB1z3O?si=ybZRskcSR4ihVT4bAdWxLA

Vincent Castellanos was born in Havana, Cuba, where he was raised by his grandparents and surrounded by a loving family. His world was turned upside down when he came to the U.S. as a child, to live with his parents. Left alone while his parents worked, he would ‘call’ people on the phone, having conversations with the characters from his imagination. Eventually he found dance, then acting, landing guest star parts on NYPD Blue, Six Feet Under, Twin Peak and other TV shows, as well as, the role of Mateo in “Anaconda” with Jon Voight, who inspired him to become an actor and Jennifer Lopez, who became a good friend. We talk about his 30 year career in entertainment as an actor, writer, director, how at the age of 50 he decided to go back to school to earn his certificate in Interpreting and Translation, and the unexpected joys of second acts.

Kevin Stea has been a professional dancer for an incredible 3 decades - a fact made even more incredible by the fact that he took his first dance class at 17. Just 18 months later he was hired as a dancer and associate choreographer on Madonna’s Blond Ambition Tour. We talk about Luis and Kevin’s mutual fascination when they first met, his admiration for Vince Patterson, working with artists like Lady Gaga, Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson, recording music as his alter ego ‘That Rogue Romeo’, acting (including making cult-movie history with Showgirls), and reconnecting with his father and traveling with him to China to trace his roots.

“City of Glass” by That Rogue Romeo aka Kevin Stea

This episode of Werque was produced and edited by David Neuendorff

Theme song “La Selva” by Eddie X

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter @werquepodcast

We love hearing from you! Shoot us your questions or comments at: [email protected]

werquepodcast.com

Anil Patel is a multi-hyphenate with with two major roles that might seem unlikely on the surface - Director of Operations for Jeffrey Sanker’s White Party Palm Springs, the signature event of Sanker’s White Party Entertainment, which has evolved into the nation’s largest gay dance music festival, attracting more than 30,000 attendees - while also serving as the Alumni Chair and Spiritual Advisor at La Fuente Hollywood Treatment Center. We talk about his first career in fitness, his own journey through addiction and recovery (including dealing, which landed him in jail and estranged from his family), rebuilding his life, reconnecting with his family, the joy of being Uncle Anil, and the birth of his alter-ego, Chanelta.

This episode of Werque was produced and edited by David Neuendorff

Theme song “La Selva” by Eddie X

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter @werquepodcast

We love hearing from you! Send your questions or comments to:

[email protected] and sign up for our newsletter for all the latest.

werquepodcast.com

Victor De Jesus is a television writer with credits that include Criminal Minds and 3 years as a staff writer on Third Watch. We talk about what it’s like being a Latinx writer in Hollywood, his very first job in entertainment at Spike Lee’s 40 Acres and a Mule, working in production on projects like Malcolm X, Jungle Fever and I Like it Like That, plus  the importance of collaboration and being a mentor to young writers of color who want to break in.

Follow Victor on Instagram @frugalvic

This episode of Werque was produced and edited by David Neuendorff

Theme song “La Selva” by Eddie X

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter @werquepodcast

We love hearing from you! Shoot us your questions or comments at: [email protected]

werquepodcast.com

Carlton Wilborn began his career in Chicago as a principal dancer with the Hubbard Street Dance Company.  Carlton made the move to L.A. where he was hired on Madonna’s Blond Ambition tour. We talk about dancing as ‘the pillar of strength’ on two Madonna tours - Blond Ambition and The Girlie Show (and which was his favorite), making the transition to acting, his work as a life coach and mending fences with his father.

Kenna Ramsey is a vocalist, actress and voice over artist who has toured with Vintage Trouble, Ghost Hounds, John Mayer and Michael Poinareff; her musical theater credits include “RENT” “Caroline or Change”, “The Lion King”,  and “The Who’s Tommy” as the Acid Queen. We talk about her early career as a cast member at Disney World and Universal Studios, the risks and rewards of breaking out of a steady paying gig, traveling with ‘the band’ (sometimes as the only girl) and what it feels like being about that private jet life.