STAGE TUBE: IT'S WHO YOU KNOW
By: Jeffrey Ellis Oct. 07, 2015
Chambers Stevens is a bona fide Hollywood multi-hyphenate - actor-comedian-acting coach-author - who somehow has encapsulated all of that and more in his new one-man show It's Who You Know, premiering at Memphis' Evergreen Theatre, 1705 Poplar Avenue, October 15-18. Tickets are available online at www.ItsWhoYouKnowOnTour.com.
Performances are at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, October 15-17, and at 2 p.m. on Sunday, October 18.
"Most of us have had brief brushes with a celebrity," Stevens suggests. "Maybe a star is in town shooting a movie and we whip out our cell phone to take a discreet - or not so discreet photo. Maybe they pop up in odd places we don't expect to see them. But when one lives in Hollywood, the brushes with celebrity are more frequent, and often bring hilarious results."
Stevens, in fact, has a personal file box that's fairly bulging with the anecdotes he's collected over his 40 years both in and out of the business which forms the basis for his latest one-man show that is different at every performance. Stevens describes the show as being like "sit-down comedy."
Inspiration for the show, says Stevens, came from a close encounter with filmmaker Steven Soderbergh at a screening of the movie director's documentary And Everything is Going Fine, about humorist Spalding Gray. Soderbergh told Stevens about a film, Personal History of American Trash,where Gray pulls scripts of plays he had been in, from a box, and proceeds to tell anecdotes about his experiences in those plays.
"I thought that would be a perfect idea now," Stevens says. "No one would care about plays, but because I live in Los Angeles, it would be cool to talk about celebrity encounters."
One of the top acting coaches in Hollywood, with a wife who is a producer for Disney, Stevens has had more than his share of run-ins with the rich and famous: "I've worked with them, known them - and run into them at the supermarket," he says. "I have stories that are funny, sad, hilarious and even angry."
A native of Music City USA - aka Nashville - Stevens has many stories involving country music stars. "It started when the Mandrell sisters moved in next door when I was 10," he remembers. "Johnny Cash sponsored my Little League baseball team, and Faith Hill was in the first acting class I taught."
In It's Who You Know, Stevens shuffles a deck of 100 cards, each with the name of a celebrity. He pulls out a name and his natural talent for storytelling kicks in. As a result, no two shows are the same.
An Emmy-nominated author and playwright, Stevens has been lauded for his past shows. His previous one-man show, Desperate for Magic, won the Backstage Garland award, with the Los Angeles Times writing "Star shines in 'Desperate for Magic' The dude is worthy! Way!!!" The paper also called him a "kinetic explosion."
About Chambers Stevens: Emmy Nominee Chambers Stevens has 10 books in print. His Hollywood 101 series is published by Sandcastle Publishing. In the last 15 years, Chambers has toured the country, doing workshops for over 100,000 actors in 40 states.
When at home, Chambers is one of Los Angeles' top acting coaches. Actors he has coached have appeared on Nickelodeon, The Disney Channel, CBS, NBC, ABC, The Cartoon Network, plus countless films, theatre productions including Broadway shows, commercials, and video games. Chambers is a graduate of The Conservatory of Theatre Arts at Webster University and the founder of The Nashville Shakespeare Festival now in its 25th year.
Stevens was a recipient of a 2013 First Night Honor, presented in a gala tribute in Nashville.
As a television actor, Chambers has appeared in over fifty commercials including Pepsi, Coke, and General Motors and many television shows. He has also starred in The Steve Spots, which received six Emmys and a George Peabody Award, Funnybones, which received an Emmy for "Outstanding Children's Program," and GeoScout for which he received a personal Emmy nomination as "Outstanding Actor in a Children's Series."
As a theatre actor, Chambers has performed in over a 100 theatre productions (including Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Biloxi Blues and Brighton Beach Memoirs). He is the recipient of the Geoffrey Award for "Best Actor" for his portrayal of Drew in Eastern Standard. He also received the prestigious Backstage Garland Award for his first one-man show Desperate for Magic.
As a playwright, he has won both The Ingram Fellowship and the Tennessee Arts Commission Individual Artist Award. His play Mother of Pearl is published by I.E. Clark Publishing. Desperate for Magic is published by Eldridge Publishing. Biff and Charlie is published by Samuel French. Travels With Jack Lemmon's Dog premiered at the North Star Theatre in New Orleans. And Bing Bang Boom debuted at the University of Florida and has since been performed in colleges around the country. Twain and Shaw Do Lunch received its world premiere at the New Theatre in Coral Gables, Florida. Twain and Shaw has already won numerous national awards including the Long Beach Playhouse Award for Best New Play, as well as Best Comedy from The Palm Spring International Playwriting Contest.
Currently, Chambers lives in Hollywood. He's married to Betsy Sullenger. Betsy is the executive producer of The Disney Channel's show Liv and Maddie. They have a eight year old son, Twain, whose play Charlie the Spatula Dies a Tragic Death premiered last year with The Story Pirates at the Geffen Theatre.
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