I am a semi-retired software engineer/manager who is now running a small musical theater group in San Francisco. I was married twice but I am now divorced, I have two grown kids and two wonderful young grand kids who live in Denver. Theater has always been my passion and I am lucky to be able to do this full-time now after spending my entire career in high tech software companies.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I love to travel and as a retiree/manager of a non-profit arts company, while I have a comfortable income I don't have the resources to pay the prices of hotels these days on a regular basis and couchsurfing is one way to help minimize those costs. Also, I love meeting new people. When I visit, I try to offer something up to my host, such as tickets to see a local show as a gesture of my appreciation.

Interests

As mentioned above, most of my interests these days are in the arts and in particular in musical theater. I am a director, producer, lighting designer and occasional actor (most recently, I appeared as one of the feature roles, Lazar Wolfe the butcher, in Fiddler on the Roof!) I am also a modestly competent pianist and guitarist and singer (I love to do local karaoke on the road!)

• arts
• theater
• design
• acting
• running
• technology
• traveling
• karaoke
• engineering
• software

Music, Movies, and Books

Most of my favorite music is from Broadway or old standards. I love Stephen Sondheim (Sweeney Todd and Into The Woods), Kander and Ebb (Cabaret and Chicago), Cole Porter (Anything Goes, countless standards), Gershwin, Berlin, etc. I also love the music of the 60s and 70s (Beatles, David Bowie R.I.P., Byrds, Dylan, Sting, etc.) I am not much into modern pop music (hip hop, rap, etc.) I love movies of all kinds except I am not huge on fantasy (Lord of the Rings) or bloody action films (Marvel comix stuff, etc.) Recently I loved The Martian and The Big Short. My favorite books are modern "pulp fiction" like John Grisham and Richard Patterson.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Directed the musical HAiR with help/assistance from the original producer Michael Butler. Meeting him and many of the people from the original companies of HAiR on Broadway, Los Angeles and San Francisco was a HUGELY exciting experience and his support and help was invaluable to making our production a very authentic one.

http://www.metroactive.com/metro/07.11.07/hair-0728.html

What I Can Share with Hosts

I am usually interested in seeing local theater productions when I visit and would be happy to treat my hosts to tickets to see shows with me.

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Mexico, Sweden

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States