Thanks to all the narrators, host Bob Kaliban, and daily producer Carol Monda.

 

2015 HEAR Now

Festival Featured

Programming

                   
   Celebrating

Mark Twain!

Thursday, June 11th - Saturday, June 13th
5:30pm-6:30pm
Prospero's Books
Reader's Room (2nd Floor)

Each night, beginning on Thursday, June 11th, from 5:30pm-6:30pm, and running through Saturday, June 13th, guest narrators read selections from Mark Twain at Prospero's Books (1800 W 39th St, Kansas City, MO) in their newly completed 2nd floor Readers’ Room.

With support from SAG/AFTRA, 2015’s A Celebration of Mark Twain! was free and open to all and included a slice of d'Bronx Pizza nightly for all audience guests and Mark Twain narrators.

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                                                    Thursday, June 11, 2015:

Featured Narrators Included:

George Taylor
Reading from Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
(Chapter 8 - Huck hides out on the island.)

As the son of an author/artist father and an author/actress mother, I inherited a love for the written and spoken word.  It is my passion to bring words to life; to make them meaningful to the listener; I do that with my voice.

I have spent my adult life communicating ideas and concepts, teaching about products and ideas with positions in sales, sales management, retail management, and customer service.  I’ve done this for major and minor corporations and for the U.S. Government.

Now, I provide voice for Christian authors by producing audio books and creating characterizations for video production. With a voice that is expressive and dynamic, soothing or powerful, accented or not, it is my job to make your words come alive.

I have narrated and produced over 35 audio books for Audible.com, Helping Hands Press, and Narration by George Classics.  These include genres such as classic literature, science fiction, romance, fantasy, westerns, action/adventure, historical fiction, and poetry.   

Rozanne Devine
Reading from The Diaries of Adam and Eve

Rozanne (Rosie) Devine has appeared in theaters in Kansas City, Omaha, and St. Louis and has worked in independent films, commercials, voice over and radio.

She has produced nine audio books since she discovered the joys of narrating last summer.

She lives, works, plays and reads in Kansas City.

Kelley Hazen
Reading from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
(Chapter 2 - White washing the fence.)

Kelley Hazen is an actress/narrator living in LA, was born and raised in KCMO.

Currently ‘Dr. Bartlett’ on ABC’s The Young and The Restless, Kelley is a 3-time Chicago Joseph Jefferson winner, 2-time Los Angeles Ovation Award winner and 2-time Audiofile Magazine Earphones Award winner.  Kelley is also a lecturer for the world-renowned Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles.

Follow Kelley on IMDb, Twitter, and on Facebook
Listen to her production company, Storyteller Productions on Soundcloud.

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Friday, June 12, 2015:

Featured Narrators Included:

Sue Bilich
Reading from A Ghost Story & Wit Inspirations of the Two-Year-Olds

Sue Bilich has performed in theater, film, musical theater, appeared in national and regional commercials, and in various clubs as cabaret singer.

Sue’s smooth, natural sounding voice, combined with her good ear for dialects and years of Spanish language study, make her a terrific talent as a voiceover and audio book narrator. She always tries to interpret the works as the author intended and enjoys bringing the literary characters to life. Sue has recorded commercially for Texas Audio, Timber Wolf Press, and has been reviewed as an exceptional narrator by Amazon’s reviewer on Audiotexttapes.net, “The Year’s Top Ten Tales of Science Fiction’s” City of the Dead by Paul McAuley.

Dianna Dorman
Reading from The Old Ram

Dianna Dorman is a natural storyteller. Building on her training and experience as a stage and film actor, she has honed her talent to become an audio narrator with an extensive repertoire that ranges from historical and contemporary multi-character fiction and nonfiction, to children’s books, to fantasy, to scientific literature.

Dianna moves seamlessly from narration to character and back again, with a voice alternately warm, lilting, or rasping, as the character demands; always compelling, captivating; immersing the listener in the story.

A seasoned audio narrator with an articulate, friendly, and versatile voice, Dianna has recorded professionally for Blackstone Audio, Oasis Audio, Full Cast Audio, and Timberwolf Press. She is an active member of the Audio Publisher’s Association and National Audio Theatre Festivals.

Heather Farrar
Reading from Advice to Little Girls & Advice to Youth
Heather E. L. Farrar is a published columnist, poet, writer, playwright (Gathering Kane, 2013) as well as an audio-book narrator/actor/voice-talent.

A lifetime resident of Missouri, she's shared 32 years with her husband Richard and 5 children. Owner of Quillsongs Media & Publishing, LLC 

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Saturday, June 13, 2015:

Featured Narrators Included:

Alice Rosengard
Reading from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
(Chapter 12 - Tom Shows His Generosity)

Alice Rosengard is classically trained actor and singer with many corporate videos, commercials and animated films to her credit, Alice brings clarity, warmth, and intelligence to her recordings. She has narrated audiobooks for Audible, Inc., Simon & Schuster Audio, Harper Audio, Troll Books, and AFB Talking Books Productions.

Mac Chamblin
Reading from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
(Chapter 19 - The Cruelty of “I Didn’t Think.”)

Mac Chamblin, is a teacher/director, stage and voice actor, and broadcaster from the St. Louis region. He is professor of speech / theatre  /mass communication and head of broadcasting at Southwestern Illinois College. Recent producing, directing, and acting include a radio play Inside a Kid’s Head and voiceover, for The Red Shark Crew claymation series.

Ross Ballard
Reading from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
(Chapter 29 - A Dangerous Time for Huck Finn)

Ross Ballard is being called 'the king of southern voiced audio books' and has a 2014 Audie nomination to prove it. 

From his new studio high up on Rouse Mountain in Morgan County near Washington, D.C., Ross is turning out audio that is slow roasted for that sweet smoky goodness.

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Support for this program made possible in part by SAG-AFTRA

Thanks also to d'Bronx Pizza