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![]() Tom Solari and Hunter Dana Jackson |
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When Tom Solari was 10, his family moved from Boston to Los Angeles, where he and 3-year-old brother Jay-Jay were introduced to the world of entertainment. |
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The brothers were soon performing as a song & dance duo and Jay-Jay, a phenomenal young tap dancer by age 8, landed a regular spot on Disney's hit television show, the Mickey Mouse Club. |
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As Mousketeer Jay-Jay's official guardian on the set, Tom Solari enjoyed an invaluable behind-the-scenes look at day-to-day network TV production. This experience, along with an Associate Degree in Theatre Arts from Los Angeles Valley College, served as a good beginning as Tom embarked on a career in show business. |
![]() SPC (Specialist) Solari |
After a period of Army
Reserve active duty, Tom resettled in
Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he owned and operated Cafe Solari,
a popular "coffee house" restaurant. |
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It
was here that Solari co-founded the
Old Town Studio, transforming an old auto repair shop into
the region's first avant-garde theatre. |
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It
was the early 60's and Solari was hailed as the originator of a
whole new style of theatre with his "Happenings." According to a review in the Albuquerque Journal: "(A 'Happening' is) an ever-changing presentation designed to keep the audience asking 'What will happen next?'" |
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N E W Y O R K |
In
1965, Tom packed off to New York, where he worked as an assistant to Off-off Broadway theatre
icon, Ellen Stewart, at her La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club.![]() Ellen Stewart |
A
Mecca for new playwrights, countless plays and careers were launched
from the stages and workshops of La MaMa, including works by Sam
Shepard, Lanford Wilson, Tom Eyen, Jeff Weiss and Jean Claude Van
Itallie. |
![]() Spotlighted in the Newsweek article were new playwrights Sam Shepard and Jean-Claude Van Itallie. Sam Shepard would later make his mark as a popular Hollywood film actor. |
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A L B U Q U E R Q U E |
Inspired
by the La MaMa experience, Solari brought several of these
groundbreaking plays back to New Mexico for presentation by the Old
Town Studio. Included were one-acts Chicago by Sam Shepard
and War by Jean-Claude Van Itallie. |
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One night, at the Old Town
Studio, a burgundy velvet beret was tossed from the audience onto
the stage as a suggestion for an improv. The owner of the beret was Clark Carr, who later was invited by Solari to become part of the troupe. Thus began the successful comedy collaboration known as Solari & Carr. |
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The comedy
duo was featured at top venues in New York and Los Angeles: The Bitter End, The Factory,
The Now Grove, The Ice House, The Troubadour.
No one had seen anything quite like them.![]() "Two poets, Solari and Carr: poetry through motion, mime -exciting. Solari and Carr; poetry through song and dance, almost vaudevillian; poetry theatre, freer in style than I've ever seen, disarming, rape of tradition, honest and enlightening ...pure and simple, poetry in action." --L.A. Weekly |
"Solari & Carr, regulars on the Ray
Stevens summer-replacement vidshow, are visually brilliant via
half-silent, half-talk interpretations that run the gamut from
minipuppet takeoffs to 'Kicking the Smoking Habit.' Their
exclamations are articulate, movements lithe, overall impresh quite
promising." --Daily Variety Highlighting the comedy portion of the show was Solari and Carr, who were featured on the Sonny and Cher Show last season. Their routines are unusual, employing pantomime and lots of action - something different from the ordinary straight man-comedian teams." --Pasadena Star News ![]() |
![]() "Theirs is different from the average comedy team in that it leans more toward drama. You won't laugh at one-liners every second, because they don't tell jokes. What they do is more in the skit category where you are amused and follow the humor stream to its logical or if such be the case, its illogical end." --Valley News |
Within
a year of teaming up, Solari & Carr were appearing as cast regulars on
major network TV shows including The Sonny &
Cher show, The Andy Williams Show and The Ray Stevens
Show with stints on The Merv Griffin Show and Johnny
Carson's Tonight Show. |
![]() "Stevens did his eight shows ... with a 'family' of his own--Lulu, the scotch singer; Mama Cass, the balladeer turned comedienne; Steve Martin, a purposely unfunny comic, and a couple of characters in gunny sacks who, on the opening show, did a wonderfully funny bit satirizing soap opera." --Los Angeles Times The popularity of The Baggs led to the production of a children's film featuring the Bagg characters as heroes. In the making of the film, the fearless burlap duo performed all of their own stunts! |
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Solari's talents in producing,
writing and directing achieved a new level when he and his
wife--author, educator and photographer, Cam Smith Solari (d.
1991)-- founded their own production company, Solari Communications, in 1974. Over nearly two decades, Tom and Cam produced more than a hundred outstanding film, slide and video presentations for all types of organizations and on four continents. |
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"The 'Imaging from Space' display is outstanding. Its appeal to both
the technical and
lay public is obvious to anyone watching their
responses even briefly.
I want to express my gratitude and admiration.
The show is excellently done and is even better than we
had hoped.
You did a masterful job."
- Robert J. Mackin, Jr., Earth & Space Sciences Div JET PROPULSION LAB |
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"We presented… the DC-9 Super 80 and McDonnell Douglas shows you prepared,
and received high praise for an excellent program."
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"We at Calty Design want to thank you for producing a very successful
presentation for us.
The board of directors of Toyota Motor Corp. saw it
at our annual presentation in Japan.
It was a solid hit, just what we wanted."
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"I
want to thank you again for the outstanding video you produced
for our spring sales meeting. You people are definitely "miracle workers."
It was a most impressive display
of professionalism."
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Other Solari clients included Texaco, the University of Southern California, Walt Disney Education, Transamerica Corp., Knoll International (designer furniture), the Swedish American Line (cruise ship), Bentley Mills (commercial carpeting), Edelbrock (automotive) and Quaker State Oil, to name a few. |
A highlight of Solari's international work was the production of an audio/visual welcoming presentation for the United Nations Round-Table Conference on the Mutual Responsibility of Arts and Industry for the Development of Culture. |
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Held at UNESCO House in Paris, the Conference brought together 90 prominent artists and industrialists from 32 countries to discuss how they might help each other to improve the quality of life across the world. |
![]() Waikiki |
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![]() Hong Kong Harbor |
![]() Xian, China |
![]() The Forbidden City |
The Freedoms Foundation National Awards
Program is intended "...to focus attention on those whose
words and deeds generate faith in America and respect for its
ideals." |
This moving
patriotic film was re-released in November of 2001 under the new title,
AMERICA! |
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In
1992 comedy veteran Tom Solari was approached by fellow writer,
Richard Stewart, about the idea of starting a sketch comedy group. |
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Based
in Hollywood, the group created ten original, full-length shows over
a ten year period while also enjoying successful runs at L.A.'s
popular comedy clubs including The Theatre at the Improv,
The Comedy Store,
The Laugh Factory and The Ice House. "Thank you for such a great time. This show was beyond our imagination. My wife had to ask me to stop laughing. I could not control my emotion." F.A. "Never have we seen a show more spellbinding than yours. You drew laughter and a few tears." A.W. "The wonderful combination of brilliant writing, so professionally executed and directed, knocked me out... A joy to watch... Rich and Satisfying... Thank you for a wonderful evening." T.R. With a large repertoire of audience-tested material, LaughWorks continues to perform contemporary, polished work that is funny, tasteful, often musical, sometimes poignant and always original and entertaining. |
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![]() Jan Houston-Solari |
In 2002 TOM SOLARI and JAN HOUSTON-SOLARI partnered
to form SOLARI CREATIVE SERVICES. With her background as a professional actress, vocalist, recording artist, concert producer, poet, writer and literary editor, Jan adds considerable skill and aesthetic sensibility to the Solari Creative environment, which she serves as Marketing Executive, Production Coordinator and Video Editor. |
![]() Tom Solari & Jan Houston-Solari |
HOME
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DIRECTING
RECENT CLIENTS PROFESSIONAL HIGHLIGHTS WEB DESIGN WEB CLIENT SUCCESS JAN HOUSTON-SOLARI AMERICA! |
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