 And don't miss this: Central Coast Railroad Festival October 6-10, 2011 |
David BaumgartenDavid Baumgarten started his career as an internationally known folksinger with thirty plus years of touring and singing for over a million people. In 1969 Baumgarten picked up his guitar and went "on the road" excelling as a Folksinger and Storyteller, being recognized by the Associated Press as, "One of the finest Balladeers of our time." He is especially recognized for his singing of sea related materials and was Founder of TASA (traditional Arts of the Sea Association.) which created on going festivals in including the Seattle Shanty Festival and the San Francisco Maritime Festival of the Sea. His travels include numerous tours of the USA and fifteen tours of Europe including performances in England, Germany, Italy, Greece, Holland, and Belgium.Mr. Baumgarten began his theatrical career at the University of Redlands, where he studied drama, and the University of Southern California, where he studied cinema. He was Founder/Producer/Director of Repertory Unlimited and ARTIS Repertory Theater at the Warner Playhouse and Hollywood-Vine St. Theaters. He produced and directed the West Coast premier production of Eugene O'Neil's "Long Day's Journey into Night" staring Ruth Warrick. He also produced or directed works by Benet, Ibsen, Inesco, Genet, Williams, Thurber, Camus, and T.S. Elliot with professional performers. In 2005 Baumgarten was invited by Garrison Keillor to be a musical performer on "The Prairie Home Companion Cruise" to the American and Canadian Maritimes. He was also a founding director of the Roger Wager Choral Institute in Los Angeles and served as Executive Director of that organization as well as serving for two years as Executive Director of the San Diego Folk Festival. Since locating in San Luis Obispo in 1990 he has served as Executive Director of Pismo/Pacific Light Opera Theatre (PLOT), and has directed at the San Luis Obispo Little Theatre and the Pewter Plough Playhouse in Cambria. He has written two screenplays "Melinda's World," "Elijah, a true story," and co-authored "So Love Returns." His recent feature film "Melinda's World" (2004), can be seen on DVD via NetFlix and is distributed nationally by TAPEWORM INC. He produces two ongoing weekly television shows which can be viewed on Charter Channel 2. |