Transcript
A Night with Shaun Cassidy: Stories, Songs, and Wisconsin (Hour 3)
Nite Lite with Pete Schwaba and Greg Bach · Mon Jan 26, 2026
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Oh, man.
It is money.
We got two hours in the books already, folks.
If you happen to have missed the first two hours, check out civicmedia.us, where you can see or watch or listen to the first two hours in podcast form.
We had a great talk with Mike Clemens in hour number one about the Super Bowl.
And some Wisconsin sports fun.
And then in hour number two, my guest Chip Chinnery told us about some fun money tips and how he parlayed $5 in cash into 38 bucks.
And it only took him 20 years to do it.
I'm kidding.
He has this great website.
We'll jump in more.
We'll jump back in with Chip in just a minute.
But coming up at 735, the legendary and iconic Sean Cassidy will be here.
Sean is coming to Wisconsin and has a couple of dates for a live show here in Green Bay and one in Madison.
So we'll talk to Sean about that as well as some of the other stuff he is up to these days.
Looking forward to that.
And our question of the night is, who would you like to be your mentor?
I said Warren Buffett, in honor of Chip Chinnery, or Sydney Sweeney.
And I already surmised that since I have Chip in my life, I don't really need Warren Buffett, so I just went with Sydney Sweeney by default.
Conrad said Mark Wahlberg.
And Skip
And Skip Bales.
Two of the most hateable people in the world.
Well
hateable.
No comment.
But let us know, 855-752-4842-855-756.
You can also text us on the app, or if you're watching the radio at Facebook, YouTube, or X, you can drop us a stream comment and be part of the show.
And I say that, I kid, obviously Conrad, because your mom texted the show, and she said to her mentor, she would want to be Kim Kardashian, because you can make a lot of money without having any talent, so.
That's a great one.
All these have been outstanding.
Fun to read your texts on the air, folks, so let us have them.
And we will get caught up on text in just a bit.
Right now, we have a few more minutes with my pal, Chip Chinnery, a very funny stand-up comedian, a really solid actor, and equally as smart when it comes to money tips.
Chip.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
Tell us about your book.
You had this great book, Charging Mount Stand Up, my first year in comedy that came out, I want to say, about a year ago.
And how's it doing?
And what can you tell us about
it?
It was about my first year on the road doing stand up.
I kept a journal and I took pictures at every gig, whether it was a one nighter or a week long gig.
I took pictures of the comedians I worked with.
Pictures around the club them on stage me us condo life whatever it was and I wrote about it.
It was kind of it was fun It was from 1988 to 1989.
So that's a few years ago.
Yeah, I didn't didn't have to make up anything I just opened my journal and it was almost like reading a story I'd long forgotten because it was like what I did who that's and you forget how long ago things were happening and you're like Something was so important that you wrote it in the journal
And you forgot it 35 years later, 30 years later.
It's like, who's Stephanie?
I don't know who Stephanie is.
But evidently she was very nice and I liked her a lot.
And she liked me.
So it was a fun look back in people who were young comics at the time.
David Tell's first road gig.
He was opening for me in Poughkeepsie at Bananas.
And that was in there.
Dave Chappelle opened for me when he was 17.
And that was fun.
We did two weekends in Virginia and DC.
And I have some video of him introducing me, bringing me on stage.
And that's, I have links from the book to my website, but you can go to chipgenery.com and look for books and it'll show you some of those videos.
It's great for insight into the world of a road comic in the late 80s because that was kind of when the boom was starting.
And I remember when I met you, I want to, I think we worked in
Together in April and West Lafayette, Indiana
Yes, we did and 90 I believe
okay 90 because that makes sense.
I started doing Open mics at the end of 89 and I started getting work probably before I was ready because there was such a boom in stand-up and I you I think you have a
picture of me wearing looks like I'm wearing mom jeans or something in the late 80s.
I don't know what the hell I was doing, but I'm glad
you were always ready.
Don't talk that way about yourself.
You were ready to go, baby.
What you working downtown Chicago at some trade something or another?
I worked at the board of trade.
Yes, that was my day job right out of, right out of college.
Makes me sound like I graduated in four years.
Right after my fifth year of college, I was working at the Chicago board of trade and I would work until like two in the afternoon and I hated it.
And I would go home and take a nap and then I would hit the open mics.
It was just a fun time in your life.
You don't even realize how fun it is.
you know
until
you look back it's like that's kind of the cruel thing in life sometimes you're like that's why you you have to enjoy every moment because you're gonna look back on this time and you're gonna think it's a great time
yeah and this is uh i look this was april third 1990 we worked at
nix
and west lafayette
yeah that's a college room it was a big room it was a great one nighter which you can't say about a lot of places but that was a really good one
is west lafayette perdu i think so that's where perdu is okay i think yeah
Yeah, so that was a that's where we met and it was a while ago, but it's the book was fun to do and I loved Putting it out there.
I got contacted recently by a guy who's doing a documentary about Mitch Hedberg He's a guy loved your book and I'm gonna tell me more about the road.
I'm doing this thing Maybe when you ever work with Mitch.
I'm like, yes, I did.
Oh my gosh So I took Mitch to a bus stop and he was taking a bus from Toledo to Fort Wayne and after our Detroit week I took him there So anyway, he it was a fun
Mitch Hedberg was such a great standup.
His jokes, he had such a unique style.
And I worked with him in Grand Forks, North Dakota.
It was probably right before I left for LA, maybe 96.
And he was, I was the headliner and he was the middle act and he was begging.
The guy, it was a place called the Westward Ho, and they had a casino.
It was kind
of
a fun, you worked there.
It was kind of a fun place.
And the guy's name was Chris.
He was a pretty good guy, you know, as club owners go.
And Mitch was like, come on, man, you got to headline me, Chris.
Come on, bro.
You got to headline me.
And then he goes up and he did pretty well.
I'm not kidding Chip.
Two weeks later, he's on the Letterman and he's like a phenom.
So that's a great it's fun when you work with people like that and you see them move forward and you realize Oh that that's good because they're truly really talented.
Yeah, I remember watching me.
You look kind of like a 1970s hippy stoner plays in a band somewhere That's just kind of his look and I he was on stage in Detroit at the comedy castle and they're like one
They just weren't giving it up for him.
And I was kind of getting irritated because I was like, this guy's really funny.
And I'm just kind of not sure what's going on.
But I was kind of also glad that he wasn't crushing because I was following him.
And that wouldn't be any fun.
Oh,
that's funny.
Let's talk a little bit about your acting.
I also want to say, I know that Cecily Adams was a dear friend of yours, and she
was
the daughter of Don Adams from Get Smart.
And you turned me on to a class that she taught about cold open auditioning.
And I took two or three of them.
I just really liked her so much, and she was gone far too young.
But you've had so much success.
You've been in so many shows and commercials.
You've obviously got auditioning done.
Is it because of what you learned from Cecily?
And what could you pass on to other people who are listening now who might be actors?
Cecily was great.
She taught us like our class was just about the audition process.
So
it
was we had to be realistic.
And I forget, what was the first part of your question?
Well, it was like, what did you learn from her?
Did what you learn from her help you?
land all these roles, because I remember her advice was very basic.
It was, if you get an audition last minute, ask yourself these very simple things.
Who are you?
Where are you?
What do you want?
And that stayed with me.
I taught my kids that.
I wasn't great at it, but I thought it was great advice.
And obviously you've done well with that, I think.
Yeah, she was just very realistic about what's going on.
And one thing she said, like we had fun in class, but she's like, she's had those 10 years on the road.
Taught you how to be funny and that was something I still remember because she's like yeah, you're doing really well And I said I want to go audition for I want to do other casting I want to go to these casting workshops and audition for these other casting creatures But I wanted off I'm ready because I know there's a point in stand-up when you're still you sound like you're not ready and I wanted to be ready and she's like you're ready so she was very supportive and she was very cool she wasn't
Tweeting it like something so precious even though she is a very serious actress, you know, you know They are the craft it wasn't bad.
It was just being very realistic about it.
No, there was no pretense to her It was all she was just a real and very cool person.
Yeah, I really liked her.
Yeah Gone too soon.
She's been 20 years.
I think
and her husband Jim beaver I still see pop up in TV shows and it makes me think of her which is nice.
Yeah, she's
Yeah, she was a good one.
Yeah.
And to bring tears to your eyes, I was truly just trying to give a compliment to a mutual friend who obviously you do much more than I did.
But so listen, you've been on all these great shows, Seinfeld, Friends, you've got a list of credits a mile long.
Before we let you go, tell us about an experience from one of those shows and what like what was maybe the most fun you had on a set on one of these shows?
Or what was the catastrophe?
There's so many, first of all, David Schwimmer from Friends, solid guy, really great dude.
Like I walked to the stage and I'm in a scene with David Schwimmer and Matt LeBlanc.
And it was a scene where they both worked in a museum and Joey was a tour guide and Schwimmer was the scientist.
So the tour guides were the blue coats and the scientists were the white coats.
And this whole thing was like, the whole scene was like,
Joey, will you sit with me?
The white coats sat in the one section, the black and the blue coats sat in another.
Yes, I will, Dr. Geller.
And then they, let's take off our jackets and see who we really are.
And we go back and forth.
Everybody's revealing something personal about themselves and Sherry Shepards in the scene, talking about her fake boobs.
And I'm talking about, I need, I have an OCD and I need to flip the light switch off and on seven times before I leave room where the family will die.
So it was a fun scene.
And Schwimmer was just a class act.
When I walked to the set the first time, he like, she stuck out his hand, shook it, and said, hey, I'm David.
Welcome to the show.
This is great.
He was very positive.
And another cool little thing he did during the live performance, people sit in the bleachers seats, the audience, and they're watching the show.
when the actors come off the stage at the end of the scene, and he's walking off the stage to go do something else, and somebody yells from the scene, from the stage, or from the bleachers, Ross, Ross, and it's this lady who's in, you know, she's here to see the show, it's probably the biggest moment of her life, you know, I'm just assuming this, because it's a popular show, and it's huge, and she sees the star of the show, she's yelling, Ross, Ross, and he just kind of, he walks by me, he says it to himself, but I could hear it, and he's like,
My name is David.
And then he spun around and had a huge smile on his face.
He said, hi, how are you?
And he walked over to her and shook her hand and made this woman's day.
And I just thought, this was so cool because this guy's, you know, kind of entering Beatlemania status for that little moment of his life.
Right.
And it was just so classic that he realized that this was he could have ignored her and kept walking, but he knew that this would be important to this person.
So I've never
really met or talked to David Schwimmer about it, but I just was very impressed with him.
He was a solid guy.
Well, dude, everything I've seen you on, you know, whether you have one line or five, it's just great.
And I love that you have those experiences.
And I love that you come on the show and share them and check out Chip's Money Tips, everybody.
It's just a great site.
And Chip, keep up the great work.
I'm sure we'll talk
soon.
Thanks, buddy.
Do you guys have Aldi grocery stores there?
Oh,
yeah.
Well, I'm in a new commercial for it.
I'm the guy pushing the cart, grabbing a jar of nuts saying, it's different, but you'll love it.
As the lady, she's coming into the store all hesitant.
I find that interesting because you're the guy that teaches people how to get big, big savings, and then you end up in a commercial of a store that gets you big, big savings.
The role was meant for me.
Keep up the great work, pal.
Love it.
Thanks so much, Chip.
Okay.
Chip Generie, folks, check out Chip.
Chip's money tips, great site, and great little tips to help you save a few bucks.
Who couldn't do that Conrad?
I need big savings.
You need big, big savings.
All right, we are coming back to read more of your texts.
I'm going to tell you something really disturbing about John Lennon and Paul McCartney.
It's Pete Chihuahua at Nightlight on the Civic Media Radio
Network.
You're listening to Civic Media.
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Visit civicmedia.us slash email to get started.
This is Nightlight with Peach Wabba, and it is great to be celebrating Monday night with all of you.
I'm glad you're here.
Conrad Krieger working the board, doing the heavy lifting, using the bubble wrap or popping some popcorn, whatever you're doing over there.
I
to keep
entertained while you're at work, apparently.
Okay.
Our question of the night, folks.
You still have time to get in on the fun.
Who would you want to be your mentor?
Let us know.
On the stream, Dave says Elon Musk.
Have fun with that one, Dave.
Jack Bogle?
Who's Jack Bogle?
And Peter Lynch.
Go to the Google con for those names.
I don't know what kind of nonsense Dave's trying to...
pull over on us here tonight, but we'll get to the bottom of it.
Thank you, Dave.
As always, we have not heard from Sydney yet.
So don't, but don't worry.
We'll get to it.
Well, you
Happy new year to Sydney.
And we've also got, we've had some great texts tonight too.
And Conrad's mom wants to be, wants her mentor to be Kim Kardashian so that she can make a lot of money without having any talent, which I think is very noble.
That's admirable.
Yeah,
noble.
From the 608 Tony the trucker says Pete Bob Uker funny witty and an all-around good guy boy.
You could do a lot worse than Bob Uker That's
That's a great one.
Thank you, Tony Tyler from Wisconsin Rapids says Winnie the Pooh Or Salvador Dolly Wow That is a that's kind of that's right up.
That's very similar to mine with Warren Buffett and Sidney Sweeney
Big difference there Brett from the 9 to 0 says next Monday.
I'll be waking up to your show in Bangkok Oh, wow, that's kind of cool.
Good for you, Brett.
He says through the civic media app But I'll be sleeping through the other shows because it's a 12-hour difference Hey, Brett any way you could join the show be part of the show app stream Whatever and tell the fine people of Bangkok.
I said hello and you know ask him if it would kill him to join the show over the website
on the World Wide Web or the app, whatever.
Safe travels, pal.
That sounds like a lot of fun.
Jack from Merrimack says, as a jazz vocalist, you might expect I'd choose Sinatra for my mentor, but while I love his music, he always seemed to totally focused where there to be a good mentor.
I'd choose Michael Buble.
He seems to have a pretty good approach to people and life in general.
Yeah, I would agree with that.
I like his music.
That's a great one.
Thank you, Jack, and Jack knows music, so I'm not gonna argue with Jack over that.
Sean Cassidy will be here in just a few minutes, folks, in about 10 minutes.
We will talk to the former pop icon and legendary iconic showbiz talent.
Comes from a great family with incredibly talented people, and he's done a lot more.
He was a teen idol when he was a kid, but has gone on to do so much more.
Probably stuff that you didn't even know.
I didn't know until I was researching for this interview, but he's coming to Wisconsin
with a live show, and he will be at the Barrymore Theater in Madison and the Meyer here in downtown Green Bay, just down the street.
So that is coming up in just a few minutes.
We've got some social media text we'll get to too, but first I want to say Conrad, this story shook me to my core.
This is a Buzzfeed article about shocking facts about famous people that are just so freaking fantastic.
Number two on the list, Paul McCartney and John Lennon used to
Pleasure themselves together.
Can I say that?
Okay.
That's no in a circle with some of their friends in a 2019 interview with GQ McCartney reflected on the sexual experience with great detail He says over at John's house.
It was just a group of us He said and instead of just getting roaring drunk and partying.
We were all just in these chairs and the lights were out and somebody started So we all did
Boy that guy that was the first one to do that was taking a risk I'm just gonna pull it out and see what happens And they all joined in McCartney continued.
I think it was a one-off Or maybe it was like a two-off It wasn't a big thing, but you know it was just the kind of thing you didn't think much of it was just a group Yeah, it's quite raunchy when you think about it There are so many things like that from when you're a kid that you look back on and you're like did we do that?
But it was good, harmless, fun, and didn't hurt anyone.
Yeah, it's fun until someone loses an eye.
Whoa, that's...
I was not expecting to
should
Yeah, I wasn't dropping hints or anything, Conrad.
I was just kind of prepping for the show.
Yes, yes.
That's crazy, though.
Back then, it's rock and roll in the 60s.
It's just blokes having fun, apparently.
That's the way McCartney made it sound.
Went on a rider.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Tell us about that one because I only, I think I only read like half of that.
it's called.
Oh, Saxford Avenue, sure.
That's why we love her.
If she did it on purpose, she's a genius.
If it was accidental, eh.
I think I told you, her grandmother is either from Marinette or lived in Marinette.
One of her writers has been to Marinette.
Probably has been to Christmas City, USA.
She's been to Christmas City, USA, probably wearing stolen clothing.
Stolen clothing.
Why not?
Two of Stranger Things premiere, absolutely.
Yes.
Our social media responses to our question of the night, we will get through these two.
Daniel Wheeler says, Fred Rogers, proof that kindness doesn't mean weakness.
I love that answer.
Thank you, Daniel.
JB Thompson, the guy behind the guy, Conrad.
Yeah, says Steve Stevenson, one heck of a Steve.
That's an inside joke, I'm guessing.
I've never heard of Steve Stevenson.
He sounds like a heck of a Steve Matt Harper rap rap rock artists from Green Bay.
We love Matt says Rick Rubin Awesome Matt.
Thank you, sir.
Sean Boy says not to sound sappy, but I will anyway my dad time in a bottle love it Sean Robert Bro our favorite opera singer here at nightlight who is also from Marinette says St.
Francis of Assisi Who was the patron saint of animals?
I believe Bob is like 18 dogs
He competes to sing in front of his dogs.
All right.
When we come back, folks, Sean Cassidy will be here.
This is Pete Schwabba in Night Light.
Great to have you here.
It's the Civic Media Radio Network.
Hey, this is John Gries, also Uncle Rico, and you're listening to Night Light with Pete Schwabba.
Welcome back.
It is great to have you here, folks.
It's a Monday night, a beautiful Monday night in our chilly state of Wisconsin.
And I'm very excited to welcome this next guest tonight, Light.
It's his first time here.
He is coming to Wisconsin in February and going to do two live shows here in our state, one in Green Bay and one in Madison.
We will jump into all of that with my next guest, Mr. Sean Cassidy.
Hey, Sean.
Hello, Pete.
Thanks for having me.
It's great to have you.
You know, I have so much, we talked a little bit before you came on and I want to get to all the stuff we talked about because it's just great.
But let's talk about these shows that you're going to do here in Wisconsin.
My first memories of you are actually not from your music, but from watching the Hardy Boys, a show I used to love as a kid that I can't believe hasn't been remade just because of what Hollywood does.
I'm starting to gop it.
of the
No, take your time.
We'll have Sean back in just a moment, but he is going to play Green Bay here at the beautiful Meyer Theater on February 17th.
Or you can catch him at the Equally Is Beautiful Barrymore Theater in Madison there in the Atwood neighborhood on February 18th.
So he will be here for two nights in Cold Snowy, Wisconsin that I'm sure.
Hey, there you are.
It's going around Sean.
So I'm just
getting over it.
Actually, I got laryngitis about I don't know two weeks ago and then I had a cough for a couple of days But I've been clean for a week and just before this I put in a throat lozenge I guess it had too much, you know, like eucalyptus Yeah lit me up Yes, the Hardy boys was my first job great and that was back in the stone age
some of you dinosaur hunters
I don't know if I'd say that but it was a great show you're coming to Wisconsin in February do you have a winter coat
I think I'll need a couple yeah yes I've heard
What is the temperature today?
Here's what I said earlier in the show Sean.
It was minus minus minus Well below zero this past weekend like temperatures we haven't seen in ten years in Wisconsin five below ten below So that when I looked at my phone app today and saw it was nine.
I actually said oh sweet Which is insane break out
the Bermuda
shorts.
Yeah, exactly
But when you come here, I found this interesting, and I love this about you and your show.
You said, I want to work really cool old theaters on this tour.
And you've got them here in Wisconsin.
You've got the Meyer Theater here in Green Bay, just down the street, and the Barrymore Theater in Madison, Wisconsin.
They're both just stunningly beautiful theaters.
So why did you want to work theaters like that?
Well, my show is kind of a hybrid of like a pop rock show.
theater Broadway show.
It has a continuous narrative and songs that a lot of people will know from back in the day and some new songs and songs from my family, but they're all tied together with story.
And having been a writer producer for much of the last 30 years, that's been my main job.
It's why I haven't, I mean, my last concert tour ended in 1980 at the Houston Astronomal.
I didn't do another concert till 2020.
So you take 40 years off, you know, A, you don't know if anybody's going to show up when you go out, but you also don't know if you're going to enjoy doing it or feel like what anything you're doing is authentic to who you are now.
Because one thing I knew I didn't want to do was try and replicate the success I had as a kid because I thought I would look silly.
And I didn't know if I'd even enjoy it.
But what I found was that the storytelling not only felt authentic to the life I've had, but really resonates with the audience because
Some of the people a lot of people know the song so I had a you know I had a handful of hit records and they know songs from my family you mentioned my mother Shirley Jones and my my godfather Gordon McCray We do some songs that they'll know from movie musicals and my father's work on Broadway So I sort of a family affair, but the stories seem to really really resonate with the people a lot of them are very funny some of them are emotional But they're very much about the audience as much as they are about me
That's great.
So that was gonna be one of my questions.
Obviously you sing.
I think what what makes your show really unique
are those insights you have into your childhood and your showbiz family.
And we talked before you came on.
This is such a great story.
I told you that I used to sing the soliloquy from carousel to my wife's pregnant stomach because I knew about your mom thanks to my parents and my dad used to sing those songs.
And I remember singing them to my son and my daughter because in the soliloquy, there's a part for the son and the daughter.
that you did the same thing and that Gordon McRae was your godfather.
And
I cannot hear the part of the song, my little girl.
Oh, man.
I cannot hear it without crying because I think of my daughters and I have a lot of kids.
I have sons too.
My boy Bill, I will see that he's named after me.
You know, I was funny as a kid, but I had a big, deep.
Broadway-like voice, even as a young guy, which was disguised on a lot of my early records, but it was always there.
And we would sing along with Gordon on those records on Oklahoma and on Carousel in the house.
And yeah, he was my godfather and a dear
man.
beat this to death but the song soliloquy too it was so great about it and what Gordon McCray does so well in it and that he and your mom in that show together were so great but he starts with like you said kind of a funny my boy Bill I'm gonna name him after me and I'm a tough guy and then he segues into my little girl and he totally softens and there's like character arc that we hear about in Hollywood all the time in in this eight-minute song it's it's so
great
no it's like a five act play the song yeah it's it's brilliant and it was the showstopper carousel is my favorite score of the movies my mom did she starred in kind of the holy trinity of new movie musicals she's in oklahoma carousel and the music man and i think the music man is probably the best movie but i think carousel has the best score
agreed
and that song is the highlight of it that and if i love you
which I also used to sing, I sang in an earlier incarnation of the show I'm doing now.
What was it like when you were growing up and you heard your mom sing, If I Loved You, or when you walk through, or any of the songs from that show, that must have been like, was that inspiring to you or a little overwhelming or intimidating?
Yes, yes, yes.
Yes.
All of the above.
I mean, I didn't
No, I would ever sing any of those songs.
I actually sing till there was you from the music man in my show now And I sing it because I realized very very recently that the first two albums I ever owned were with the Beatles which was the second Beatles album and the soundtrack to the Music man because my mother started it with Robert Preston and what's so crazy about these two very different records is they both have the same song on them till there was you
He's sung by Paul McCartney in The Beatles and sung by my mom.
And I realize this is kind of the intersection of everything that ever inspired me musically because I love movie musicals.
I love Broadway musicals.
I love pop music, obviously, rock music, even rap.
Trouble with the Capitol T and that runs with P and that's the cool rap song on the Music Man.
And so many nights as a little kid, I would stand in the wings and watch my mother close her show.
with till there was you.
Or when you walk through a storm, you'll never walk alone.
So yeah, to your question, I never thought I'd sing those songs as I was in like a punk band, you know, in high school.
Really?
And then I was singing pop songs when I was making records.
But I ended up doing a year and a half on Broadway with my brother David in a show called Blood Brothers.
And I was now in my mid 30s and my voice had matured and I could sing, really sing those songs.
So now I am, along with the pop songs.
I feel like I get to honor my family that
way.
And what a great way to do it.
My guest is Sean Cassidy.
You can see him at the Meyer Theater here in Green Bay on February 17th or at the Barrymore in the Atwood neighborhood of beautiful Barrymore Theater in Madison, Wisconsin.
On February 18th, he's going to sing and tell great stories about his, pardon me, fascinating life and his mother Shirley Jones.
Was she protective of you
when you were coming
up?
Yeah.
Yeah, I mean she didn't want me to do this neither to my father And I wouldn't want my kids to do it either But do kids listen no apparently not You know I It's really interesting I reflect on it now and I talk about this a lot in the show too because a lot of the show is sort of an examination of the shared experience I had with the audience 40 years ago when they're many of them were kids and I was a kid basically and the journey we've had and
to be able to look back and go, how did I, how did this happen?
How was my first act in showbiz to such a big deal?
And how did I step away from it?
Oh, and why am I alive?
Which is also kind of part of the question.
And I realized is, I probably would never have become a performer had I not been born into a family of actors and singers.
But like if you're born into a family of plumbers, you kind of know plumbing and people say, hey, you'd make a great plumber.
You should go into plumbing.
Really?
Okay.
And a lot of people are sort of pushing you into plumbing So off you go and hey you become a successful plumber great, but guess what in my family?
There was nothing novel about having a number one record out the game or Starring on a hit TV show because three people had already done it before me and in a way I think that saved my life because I wasn't special Whereas if you're Elvis
And nobody in your family has seen anything remotely like the kind of success he had, or many, most people who have an experience like that.
It totally turns the wheel upside down and, you know, you're making more money than your father, grandfather, great-grandfather have ever imagined and you don't know to trust anymore and you don't know who really loves you for you.
That was, none of that was the case in my family.
Wow.
And so I think I'm here because of it, but
but I also realized is very early on I really am a writer and I was drawn to the writer's room even on the Hardy Boys I was more interested in being with the writers than I was being on the soundstage acting and the minute that dawned on me it was like oh I can do a creative thing and kind of stay home and kind of have more like a normal life that was like a home run and the fact that I could do it it gave me this life
That's fascinating.
Let's talk about that a little bit because because you were like this teen idol and I didn't know this about you until I started reading about you recently I had no idea you were an executive producer on shows like Cold Case and American Gothic and you were writing them So that is that one hell of a jump from what was that like going to adoration and people losing their minds over you to just being in a writer's room with a bunch of guys with
Bad posture and flannel shirts.
I mean, that must have been an incredible change.
Yeah.
And I loved it.
I was one of those guys.
Yeah.
Bad posture and flannel shirt.
I first of all, nobody sets out to be a teen idol.
You set out to be an actor or a singer.
And if you're a teenager and maybe you're a cute kid with nice hair, that is what happens, right?
Right.
So but that, you know, again, I'd watch my brother David go.
through it I'd watch my father was a matinee idol on Broadway at 18 my mother was you know Academy Award winner 25 so I'd seen this journey and I knew as far as teen idol was concerned it's short shelf life right so you either you know kind of Justin Timberlake yourself or going back Frank Sinatra yourself into a long career having been a teen idol if that's what you want yeah
try, or in my case you totally go, that was fun.
Good night at the Astrodome for 55,000 people in 1980.
See you soon.
And I started writing scripts and the first television series I saw was American Gothic, a show I created.
And after that, I got show after show after show on the air and
I just, I just spent five years as an executive producer and writer on a show called New Amsterdam, which is a great hospital show.
Let's pick up there, Sean.
We got to do a really quick break.
And when we come back, I'm going to ask Sean, he was actually one of the writers to a sequel of one of my all time favorite films.
We'll ask him about that and we'll see, tell you where you can see him in Wisconsin next month.
It's Pete Schwabba and Nightlight on the Civic Media Radio Network.
You're listening to Civic Media.
Find the latest news, information, and archives of all your favorite shows on the Civic Media website, civicmedia.us.
My guest tomorrow night here on Nightlight will be Seth Wickersham, ESPN senior writer and author of American Kings, the legendary Frank Hermans speaking of the Meyer Theater, and Heather Heil.
They will both be in studio, very excited to have a couple of our Nightlight Besties on the show tomorrow.
Right now, we are talking to Sean Cassidy, who has had just an incredible career.
He will be performing in Wisconsin in February.
February 17th at the Meyer Theater here in downtown Green Bay.
Sean, you're welcome to stop in the theater.
We're right down the street.
All we ask is that you bring a dish to pass.
And if you want to sing this soliloquy, I wouldn't argue with you, but that's totally up to you.
No pressure.
All right.
And then he will also be performing at the Barrymore February 18th.
We're talking about his career.
What are your favorite songs?
You've been doing the tour now for a while, Sean.
Of all the things you just mentioned in your experiences in different genres of music, what are your favorite songs to sing that you might sing when you come here to Wisconsin?
Of mine.
Or of yours or of just songs that are part of your show.
What gets you the most excited to sing them?
It's interesting.
It changes night to night, depending on kind of the arc of the audience's experience.
There really is an arc and a kind of a narrative beginning, middle, and end.
And one of the highlights emotionally
I did a show on Broadway called Blood Brothers with my brother David and the final song was this powerful anthem we sang with Petula Clark who played our mom.
I sing it with my nephew in the show.
He takes David's part and we do this duet and it's kind of a high point and I really look forward to that but I also look forward to singing the hit songs because unlike most people who had hit records 40 years ago, I haven't spent 40 years singing them.
So I actually am excited about singing them.
I have a passion for singing them.
And I, in all humility, think I sing them better than I did then because my voice hasn't been torn up after singing them for 40 years.
Sitting in that writer's room, yeah.
That's fantastic.
I want to ask you, I got a couple more questions for you.
You, one of my all-time favorite films is Midnight Run.
Me too.
Yeah, and you were part of...
a sequel to that and you co-wrote the script with George Gallo and that just blew my mind.
It's called Midnight Run for Life.
What was your experience on that like?
Well, I didn't co-write it with George.
I had met George.
He wrote the original.
He was one of the executive producers on what was to be a spinoff series and they started these as the Universal had these old things like the Mystery Wheel with Colombo and the Cloud and
You know, they were doing a new one that introduced Hercules and Xena and Midnight Run.
And they made three Midnight Run movies.
George was a producer on them.
And I wrote the first one.
It's called Midnight Run for Your Life.
And like you, I loved the original Midnight Run.
Gallo was, I mean, he wrote a brilliant script and those guys are so great in it.
So the movie aired and it was one of my first credits and it actually opened the door.
to me getting a deal at Universal and subsequently writing American Gothic.
That is excellent.
Before we let you go, I'd also love to ask you about My First Crush.
In addition to all your showbiz success and the things you've got going on now creatively, you own a winery called My First Crush.
Is that right?
I live in the wine country of Santa Barbara.
Our family does.
And we produce a wine called My First Crush.
that raises money for No Kid Hungry, which is a great organization that feeds kids all over the world.
You can join our wine club and get one of the greatest Pinot Noirs in the world.
Where
would people
learn more about that?
Just Google My First
Crush.
Myfirstcrush.com.
Go and sign up for the wine club and we'll have a wine bottle together down the
road.
Oh, that is so great.
And the proceeds, like you said, go to Needy Children.
I absolutely love that.
This has been so much fun, Sean.
It's been great talking to you about your career.
Someone I have, I remember listening to and watching the Hardy Boys, just great memories and love the Gordon McCray angle.
I'm going to play this later and get to listen to that again.
But knock them dead here in Wisconsin, blow the roof off the joint, whatever all the cliches are.
I hope you have a great time.
I will, Peter.
Look forward to seeing everyone, and thanks for having me.
You got it.
All right, that's Sean Cassidy.
You can check him out here at the Meyer Theater in Green Bay, February 17th, or if you're in Madison, February 18th at the beautiful Barrymore Theater.
I promise you those will be great shows because I've seen clips of this tour, and it's just outstanding.
So check that out.
And, Con, what do you think?
Should we get a couple of tickets?
but- Well, there's a road and we have to get there, right?
So it has a trip, so- I mean, we could even take the bus, you know.
Is there a bus on Washington Street?
I think so.
Yeah, we'll figure it out.
We could walk a carpool, or get one of these blue bikes out here, you know.
We'll figure it out.
Jim Denney on the stream says, Peter O'Toole, that's who he would like to be his mentor.
That's a great, playful mentor who was a fine actor as well.
Mike on social media says, Benjamin Franklin, he was an extremely well-educated man who also loved to have a good time.
I wouldn't know about that.
Sounds like Mike partied with Benny Franklin.
Chad Fran says, Pete Schwab, of course, I'm a terrible mentor, Chad.
You don't want me anywhere near any of your morals or ideals.
I think sex after marriage is not a good idea.
So that's what you're learning from me.
Just run far away.
Tim Baker says, Alice Cooper, he has done it all.
Not bad.
Well done, Tim.
Thank you, pal.
Sean Boyce is Robert Bro.
We have two dogs and four cats, all of whom have fawn over me since Mrs.
since miss fritz cast me as st francis in a first grade in first grade for a skit i tease my family that i am him reincarnated wow that was a long
Well, those are two guys that went to my high school who are going back and forth.
And then Rob says, Sean Boyce, I believe, at St.
Francis of ACC, who is the patron saint of animals.
You don't talk much about animals, Conrad.
It's making me a little suspicious.
How do you feel about animals?
Do you?
All right, that's the right answer.
All right, folks, we are coming back tomorrow night to do this all over again with some great guests.
A fun question.
And it was a fun night here.
It was great to have you.
Thank you to Mike Clemens, Chip Chinnery of Chip's Money Tips, Sean Cassidy.
Thank you for all your texts and calls.
And we will see you tomorrow night.
On behalf of the lovable producer Conrad, I'm Pete Schwabba saying good night, Wisconsin.
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