Biographical Information

Here’s the list of general biographical information:

• SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor/Chair Emeritus, State University of New York Fredonia, Department of Theatre and Dance.  Academic CV .
• Professional actor and director. Member of Actors’ Equity Association. I work primarily within the Buffalo NY theatre community. I have a career-long interest in Shakespeare. Professional acting/directing resume.
• I have recently migrated to Micro.blog for all current personal entries as of November 2024 (see above).
• I am a passionate baseball fan. The NY Yankees have been my team since I was 7 years old. I occasionally write about the Yankees and the baseball season in general; entries can be found in Play Ball!
• I am teaching myself how to write haiku. Some of my work appears here. If you’d like to read more of my work, contact me.
• My former theatre blog, a poor player, is now a private archive. Please email me if you would like access.
• Due to my unwillingness to offer my personal information to unscrupulous corporations in this “surveillance capitalism” climate, I attempt to keep as low an internet presence as possible in a quixotic attempt to preserve what little personal privacy is left to any of us. Other than this blog, I do not maintain any social media presence (NB: see new info re micro.blog above). Email remains the best way to contact me. Email is therivertao at duck dawt com. Please email me for any further contact information.
• This blog operates under a Creative Commons License. I use an Attribution/Non-commercial/No Derivative form of the license, which means that you are allowed to download my work and share it with others as long you credit me, but you can’t change the work in any way or use it commercially. See the Creative Commons link in the footer for more information. Because I use this license, I consider this a platform for sharing and not publishing. If you wish to use any of my work commercially (such as a print publication that is for sale), and/or would like to compensate me for such use, please email me. Compensation is not, however, a prerequisite for commercial use.
• I enjoy hiking, camping, riding my ebike and my Honda Trail 125, and traveling in my RV. I don’t get to do enough of any of this.

Current projects

• I host a bi-weekly podcast for the 1891 Fredonia Opera House in Fredonia NY. Notes from the Aisle Seat covers events at the Opera House, as well as happenings in the arts scene in northern Chautauqua County. New episodes drop every other Wednesday. Give it a follow! Here’s the latest episode:
  
• I’m invested in Take 5 Studios in Rochester NY (run by my son Eric). We recently produced a 5-actor staged reading of MacBeth from Thursday-Saturday Oct. 26-28, 2023. We are currently considering our future options. In the meantime, check out the website if you’re interested in classes or one-on-one coaching and are in the Rochester area.
• Occasional volunteer gigs with the Brainstormers of Western NY.