ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Probably best known for the role of "Bulldog" on the Emmy award-winning series "Frasier," DAN BUTLER is also the writer and performer of the one man show "The Only Thing Worse You Could Have Told Me…" which garnered critical acclaim across the country (and world) including Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations during its Off-Broadway run. A multi-talented actor, writer, director, and producer, Dan’s love of creative invention stretches back to his Midwestern roots.
While growing up in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Dan would conceive, stage, and perform Billy Rose-like extravaganzas and vaudevilles at family get-togethers. In school he’d write plays, concoct sketches and skits, mount political spoofs and compose musical send-ups of classics like "The Odyssey." Some of these he’d film on whatever the equivalent of video was in the late 1960’s. He was also very active in community and high school theatre during this time.
While still in high school, he began acting at the regional campus of Purdue-Indiana Theatre in Fort Wayne where he starred in many productions. In 1975 he won the Irene Ryan National Acting Scholarship Competition in Washington DC after being nominated for PIT’s production of “Marathon ’33.” Seeing the scholarship as a sign to leave the Midwest, Dan ventured to California where after one year at San Jose State University he auditioned and was accepted into the professional training program at American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco where he studied from 1976 to 1978 during the energizing time of Bill Ball’s Artistic Directorship.
Right out of conservatory, Dan began a rich legacy of work at many of the major repertory companies across the country including Trinity Square in Providence, the Old Globe in San Diego, Actors Theatre of Louisville, and Hartford Stage Company to name a few. In the midst of these theatrical stints, Dan made time for personal adventures including a solo cross-country bicycle trip in 1979 from Providence RI to San Francisco in which he pedaled over 3400 miles.
By 1980, Dan had moved to New York City where over the next decade he began building an impressive list of acting credits On and Off Broadway including: "The Hothouse," "Biloxi Blues," "True West," "Walk the Dog, Willie," "Widow Claire," "Domino," "As You Like It," "The Lisbon Traviata," and "Early One Evening at the Rainbow Bar and Grille." In addition to the theatre, Dan began his film career during this time in such movies as "Long Time Companion," "Long Walk Home," and "The Silence of the Lambs."
Dan also returned to writing in earnest. He wrote the book and lyrics to the musical "The Case of the Dead Flamingo Dancer" which enjoyed two successful runs in England as well as a star-studded benefit performance for ACT-UP at the Promenade Theatre in NYC in August 1990 (which Dan staged).
The 1990’s found Dan in Los Angeles and on many popular television series such as "Roseanne," "Quantum Leap", "The X-Files," "Picket Fences," "From the Earth to the Moon," "Life Goes On," "Ally McBeal" and, most prominently, "Frasier," where in addition to acting he had the opportunity to direct a very successful episode, "Frasier’s Gotta Have It." During this time Dan also became one of the artistic directors at the Road Theatre Company where he directed several productions as well as first developing his one man show "The Only Thing Worse…"
In addition to his rich professional experiences, Dan’s also been very active with such organizations as Project Angel Food, Project Nitelight, the Suicide Prevention Center, ACT-UP, Human Rights Campaign, and the National Coming-Out Campaign. He is a proud contributor to the ACLU, the Los Angeles Mission, as well as many theatres in the Los Angeles area.
When it comes to training, Dan considers himself a “pack rat” blending together inspiration he’s received from the following teachers and coaches: Frank Kenworthy, Larry Life, Dan Cashman, Suzanne Shepherd, Harold Guskin, the works of Michael Chekhov, Cameron Thor, Alice Carter, and Richard Waterhouse (Dan’s partner of 14 years).
Exciting work continues, most recently in such venues as: "Monk," "House," "Without a Trace" (on television); "Chronic Town," "Fixing Frank," "Enemy of the State," "The Fan" (on film); and "On Your Toes," "On the Twentieth Century," "Old Money" and "The Further Adventures of Hedda Gabler" (on stage).
At present, Dan is jazzed about making his film directorial debut with "Karl Rove, I Love You" (co-directed with Phil Leirness). Dan is also the producer, co-writer, and star of the film. A dark comedy shot in documentary style, Dan describes "Karl Rove, I Love You" as "part Michael Moore part Christopher Guest part "Capturing the Friedmans" that asks the question "What if the role of a lifetime became the love of your life?"
Dan and his partner Richard now reside in Vermont.
DONALD OLIVER, a native New Yorker, studied at the Manhattan School of Music and was part of the BMI Music Theatre Workshop under the direction of the program’s originator, the late Lehman Engel. "The Case of the Dead Flamingo Dancer" was his first professionally produced musical. Since then he contributed music for two songs in the holiday revue "That Time of the Year," which has been recorded—twice—and performed—many times—since its premiere in New York in 1996.
He is the owner of Chelsea Music Service, Inc., New York’s oldest and most prestigious music preparation firm. As a copyist and (since 1990) as the supervising copyist, he worked on over 125 Broadway productions including "A Christmas Carol," "Assassins," "Cats," "Chicago," "Dance of the Vampires," "Five Guys Named Moe," "Guys and Dolls," "Into the Woods," "Jekyll & Hyde," "Jerome Robbins’ Broadway," "Kiss of the Spider Woman," "La Cage aux Folles," "Merrily We Roll Along," "Passion," "ShowBoat," "Starlight Express," "State Fair," "Steel Pier," "Sugar Babies," "Sunset Boulevard," "Swan Lake," "The Lion King," "The Phantom of the Opera," "The Secret Garden," "The Who’s TOMMY," "Whistle Down the Wind," as well as countless other shows, films, television productions, club acts and recordings. In the course of this career, he has been privileged to work and collaborate with many distinguished and accomplshed actors and musicians, including Liza Minnelli, Bette Midler, Jimmy Webb, Carly Simon, Chita Rivera and Betty Buckley.
He compiled and edited two books: the acclaimed collection of George S. Kaufman’s writings entitled By George and The Greatest Revue Sketches. His primer for performers, How to Audition for the Musical Theatre,is in its third revised edition and is used as a university textbook. He contributed to New York’s Playbill magazine and reviewed computer games for A+, the first successful Apple computer publication.
Soon after he graduated from Tulane University in New Orleans, he became Artistic Director for the Octagon Theatre Company in New York, co-producing well-received revivals of "Knickerbocker Holiday," "Zorba," and "Drat! The Cat!," among others.
His favorite job ever was playing pit piano for "Gypsy" with Angela Lansbury and he can be heard playing the celeste on a recording of lullabies, “All Through the Night,” sung by opera diva Marilyn Horne.
Currently he is developing his next musical-theatre project, called "Love Stories."
The entire contents of this web site copyright © 2008 by Dan Butler and Donald Oliver. All rights reserved.