Daniel Greene

Category: Entertainment

  • My Experience in the Performing Arts

    The performing artist side of me

    Background

    I was born into a family that appreciated the arts, and I got an early start at singing. My first role was Jerome in South Pacific at Camp Saskatchewan in the Adirondack mountains of upstate New York when I was eight years old. When my family moved from New York to San Diego when I was ten, I was fortunate that the San Diego School of Creative & Performing Arts opened its doors only months later. I attended SCPA from sixth grade through high school graduation. From there, I went to UCLA to study Theatre Arts. I learned a lot about theater but wasn’t ready for college, I guess, so I worked in LA for a while before moving back to San Diego. Then I realized I wanted to learn ASL, so I went to Mesa College, lived with a deaf man, and in a couple of years I became an interpreter.

    ASL interpreting has been my day job since 1990, but I have continued to involve myself in the performing arts. I have performed in straight plays, musicals, operettas, and even opera. I have trained in voice acting (a.k.a. voiceover) and on-camera acting and have some voiceover and student film credits to my name, including one voiceover/camera commercial. I have studied singing under several singing teachers including Dianna Ruggiero, Stephen Crawford, and Dan Hooper. My most recent performing arts experience was singing in the opera chorus of Aïda with the Phoenix Opera in February 2009.

    When not performing on stage, I use my YouTube channels azsingersigner and danieljamesgreene as an outlet for singing and a do a lot of photography that I share on Flickr.

    Voiceover

    In 2003, I began an earnest study of voice acting with The Commercial Clinic in San Diego, CA. I have a Commercial, Corporate, and Audiobook voiceover demo. If you would like to hear it, please contact me.

    I first explored voiceover work when I played the title character in The Invisible Man radio drama at the San Diego School of Creative & Performing Arts when I was 11.

    Some of the voiceover jobs I have done include:

    • On-camera/voiceover 60-second promo spot for a Makeover Madness show on Community View
    • Gambler in a radio ad for Golden Acorn Casino
    • Ring Announcer in a soundtrack for a multi-media performance art piece called Chela
    • Reader of short stories, poems, and pronunciation drills for the companion CD to a textbook called Monthly Integrated Method ESL for a Mexican company called Advanced Methods Company
    • A radio ad to promote a play I was in with The Alternative Theatre Company on Energy Arizona FM

    One of my voiceover mentors, Penny Abshire, wrote a lovely testimonial of my work. Thanks, Penny!

  • Singing with ABBA

    I sang in a children’s chorus with ABBA when they performed a concert at the San Diego Sports Arena in 1978. It was the Year of the Child, and they were getting children’s choruses to come up and sing “I Believe in Angels” with them in every concert they performed on their world tour. I met Björn, Benny, Frida, and Agnetha and had them sign the yellow T-shirt I wore. I got a used guitar string signed (on the square paper package) by one of the guitarists. Frida and Agnetha sang operatically during the warm-up / sound-check and I was amazed. Being at their concert was thrilling, although way too loud. Singing on stage with them was one of the greatest joys of my life. My mother said I was beaming the whole time. Years later, when I outgrew the t-shirt, I considered making a pillow of it but ended up throwing it out. Same with the guitar string. Imagine my surprise when I saw the movie Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, and Guy Pierce’s character shows off a vial he wears around his neck containing the little “gift” Agnetha left him in the toilet! I thought, “Wow! This guy carries her poop around with him and I threw out the t-shirt she (and Frida and Benny and Björn) autographed?” Well, I do feel some regret for throwing out their autographed souvenirs, but who needs artifacts when no one can take away from you the thrill of actually meeting them and sharing the stage with them? I would much rather meet an artist, talk with them, laugh with them, perform with them, or shake their hand, than have an autograph or—gasp!—physical specimen of theirs to remember them by.

  • The arts are in my blood

    Okay, maybe I’m bragging a little, but I would like to tell you something about my family and their involvement in the performing and visual arts.

    • My grandmother on my mother’s side was a singer who performed in vaudeville. She toured the Orpheum circuit as Linda Preston with comedian Gene Sheldon. If you have an Orpheum theatre in your town, chances are she performed there! She was also a member of SAG under the name Audrey Arent, and she did a Mitchum deodorant commercial and appeared as an extra in the movies King Kong (1976), Network, and The Turning Point.
    • My grandfather on my mother’s side was Johnny Drake of The Modernaires– yes, Glenn Miller’s Modernaires who appeared in The Glenn Miller Story.
    • My grandmother on my father’s side, Helene Greene, was an interior designer and an award-winning painter.
    • My grandfather on my father’s side, Ernest Greene, played trumpet and harmonica in jazz bands as a young man.
    • My mother, Jonni Greene, sang in musicals throughout high school and junior college. She has sung in choruses of one form or another since I was 10.
    • My father, Andrew Greene, took some painting a sculpting courses and supported a friend in teaching and promoting her art classes.

    I am grateful to my family for passing down their tradition of performing and visual arts, and for encouraging me in my artistic endeavors.

  • Voiceover Testimonial for Daniel Greene

    Daniel Greene is a multi-talented actor who is as comfortable and capable behind a microphone as he is on stage. He takes direction very well and is delightful to work with… Daniel also has the uncanny ability to slip effortlessly into any character I suggest to him—as well as many he has developed on his own. Not only can he get into character quickly; he can maintain a character for long periods of time without losing any of the character’s strength or energy… Working with Daniel has been a joy. Directing him, watching him, and hearing his work is a treat! —Penny Abshire, Senior Producer/Director/Writer, The Commercial Clinic

    If you have a testimonial to add, please leave a comment here or on my LinkedIn profile. Thanks!

  • Singing Experiences

    • Started taking weekly singing lessons from mezzo soprano Dianna Ruggiero from July 2003, and I’ve been delighted with the results.
    • Sang as a member and soloist with the Shir Hadash Choir at Congregation Dor Hadash 1999–2000, 2003.
    • Sang for nine holiday seasons with Janet Hammer’s Full Measure Carolers from 1993–2003.
    • Recorded vocals for Voices of American History Volume II: American Revolution—The Journey Toward Independence, Creative Partners, 2002.
    • Sang at Piano Zinc in Paris, November 1, 1997.
    • Performed a solo cabaret concert at A Better Worlde Galleria, June 9, 1996.
    • Sang in choruses of San Diego Comic Opera’s productions of Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado, 1993, 1994.
    • Sang with the Gay Men’s Chorus of San Diego, 1993.
    • Sang in choruses of SGI-USA (an international Buddhist world peace organization), 1978–1990.
    • Sang in several choruses at the San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts (SCPA), including Choral Ensemble, Concert Choir, and Mixed Chorus, 1978–1985 (Gail McKinney and Norm Boaz directing).
    • Performed several numbers as a soloist in An Evening with Jones & Schmidt at SCPA, 1985.
    • Performed in choruses of several musicals at SCPA, including The Music Man, Pippin, Bye-Bye, Birdie!, and Oklahoma!, 1978–1985.
    • Lisped enthusiastically through “Gary Indiana” as Winthrop Paroo in The Music Man at San Diego State University, 1981.
    • Brought the house down singing “Suppertime” as Snoopy in You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown! at San Diego Junior Theatre, 1980.
    • Recorded vocals for a children’s educational/recreational album, We All Live Together, Youngheart Records, 1979.
    • Sang “I Believe in Angels” in a children’s chorus with the rock group ABBA at the San Diego Sports Arena, 1979.
    • Created the role of Rocky in an original musical based on Morrie Turner’s comic strip Wee Pals at SCPA, 1978.
    • Made my musical theater debut as Jerome in The King and I, at Camp Saskatchewan, 1975.