Cool as Hell Theatre

If you're not listening to Michael Rice's Cool As Hell Theatre Podcast, you're missing out.Rice interviews all kinds of Bay Area theater folks about their lives and work, but what's really cool as hell (sorry, Michael) is the way he manages to steer the conversation in such interesting, unexpected places. Just listen to his recent interview with Erin Blackwell about a show she directed in the San Francisco Fringe Festival. Really good stuff. Hilarious, in fact.I was curious about Rice and the reason he decided to pioneer the art of Bay Area theater podcasts, so he kindly agreed to be Theatre Dogs' first blog interview.So, Michael, why did you start the Cool As Hell Theatre Podcast?

I started the Cool As Hell Theatre Podcast out of frustration. I had beenputting together my brilliant one man show (yes I have an ego when it comesto acting), but I knew that I did not want to do the traditional andantiquated postcard marketing thing. So as I was putting together my one-manshow, I thought long and hard about marketing ideas. At the time, I lovedthis program called FLASH, which was used to design interactive websites. Ihad a designer create an interactive design that I put onto CD. I thendistributed this CD to different arts venues and such. I handed them out topeople coming out of shows. I thought it was a brilliant idea, until the dayof my opening and 2 people showed up. You can see what was on the CD by going to www.MichaelWayneRice.com. Click enter, and after the brief intro, hover over the panels and click to see the picture and hear the vocal. It may need some time to load.

So how did that lead to the podcast?

After that failure, I was still convinced that there was a better way tomarket theatre. So I pondered for a while, and a friend mentioned bloggingto me. It was a good idea, but at that time, a little over a year ago,blogging was already a pretty mature platform and I knew that I would notwrite on a consistent basis.So as I was researching blogging, I came across the term podcasting. Iresearched that for what turned into an all-night affair because as I beganto understand what it was all about, I knew that it would be the platformfor self-promotion. But not long after seeing that it would be great forself-promotion, I saw a bigger picture, and realized it would be a greatvehicle for promoting the theater profession.

From whence do you hail?

I am from the Bay Area. I was born in San Bernardino but moved to theBay Area in my infancy.

How did you get involved in theater?

I got involved in the theatre scene after being a cellular and molecularbiology major (I wanted to be an opthalmologist) and realized that I wasnot smart enough to handle the physics that would be necessary to become aneye surgeon. I had to change my major, and after a few detours withdifferent majors (physical therapy, occupational therapy), I decided Iwanted to act. And so at the age of 26 I went to the theater department atCalifornia State University Northridge and joined the department. Two yearslater I graduated and went to Graduate School at the University of Missouri@ Kansas City.

What's your ultimate theatrical goal?

My theatrical goal is to let my genius shine for the world to see. (Butfirst I gotta get off my ass and perform) :-)

As Michael frequently says fon the podcast, cool, cool, cool. Find out more and subscribe to the podcast here.