Randye Kaye
Encyclopedia
Randye Kaye is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 voice over artist, radio host, actress, singer, and author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

 based in Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...

. From 1990 she has been a radio personality on NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...

 affiliates WSHU-FM
WSHU-FM
-External links:*...

/AM
WSHU (AM)
WSHU , is a National Public Radio-affiliated radio station operated by Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut. It primarily features news, talk and informational programming....

, and was on air with STAR 99.9 FM
WEZN-FM
WEZN is a radio station broadcasting an Adult Contemporary format, licensed to the Bridgeport, Connecticut community. The station is currently owned by Cox Radio and it has a strong signal which reaches into most of Westchester County, New York and well north of Hartford, Connecticut...

 from 1990 to 2005. Kaye has voiced commercials for dozens of major companies, and has narrated a number of children's books for authors such as Gail Gibbons
Gail Gibbons
Gail Gibbons is an author and illustrator of children's books. With over 120 titles to her credit, Gibbons is a leader in the field of nonfiction, educational picture books....

, David A. Adler
David A. Adler
David Abraham Adler is an American author of nearly 200 books for children and young adults, most notably the Cam Jansen mystery series, the "Picture Book of..." series, and several acclaimed works about the Holocaust for young readers....

, Jan Brett
Jan Brett
Jan Brett is a best-selling American author/illustrator of childrens' books. Her books are known for colorful, detailed depictions of a wide variety of animals and human cultures ranging from Scandinavia to Africa...

, and Sarah Stewart
Sarah Stewart (author)
Sarah Stewart is an award-winning author of children's books. She is married to David Small.-Works :*The Gardener with David Small , Trumpet Club, New York 1998*'The Library with David Small , Farrar, Straus and Giroux...

. She also narrated the audio version of Past Perfect, the 2007 novel by Susan Isaacs
Susan Isaacs
Susan Isaacs is an American novelist and screenwriter. She was born in Brooklyn, New York, educated at Queens College, and worked as a senior editor at Seventeen magazine. She married Elkan Abramowitz, a lawyer, in 1968 and in 1970 left work to stay at home with her newborn son, Andrew. Three...

. Kaye has announced the release of her first book, Ben Behind His Voices: One Family's Journey from the Chaos of Schizophrenia to Hope, by Rowman and Littlefield on August 16, 2011.

Early life

Kaye claims she first developed an inclination for performance while attending summer camp as a child, where she preferred theater to sports. She also was influenced by her parents' collection of Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

 Cast albums. She began writing in high school as a columnist, and later began working on song lyrics. She later attended SUNY Albany where she graduated with a B.A. Kaye earned her way through college by singing and playing guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

 at coffee houses, both her own original music and covers.

Acting

After college Kaye returned to theater and improv, performing on tour and in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 and Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

. At one point she tap danced on-stage with Ann Miller
Ann Miller
Johnnie Lucille Collier, better known as Ann Miller was an American singer, dancer and actress.-Early life:...

. After becoming a mother, Kaye stayed regionally in Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...

 and New York City. She played Smitty's Mom in the Greatest Movie Ever Made by GMEM Productions, Joan in the Stamford, Connecticut
Stamford, Connecticut
Stamford is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population of the city is 122,643, making it the fourth largest city in the state and the eighth largest city in New England...

 rendition of The Guys
The Guys
The Guys is a play by Anne Nelson about the aftereffects of the collapse of the World Trade Center. In the play, Joan, an editor, helps Nick, an FDNY captain, prepare the eulogies for an unprecedented number of firefighters who died under his command that day...

, as well as various other theater roles. In May 2011, she starred in a benefit cabaret
Cabaret
Cabaret is a form, or place, of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue: a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting at tables watching the performance, as introduced by a master of ceremonies or...

 in Westport
Westport
-Canada:*Westport, Nova Scotia*Westport, Ontario**Westport Rideaus, local junior "B" ice hockey team**Westport/Rideau Lakes Airport*Westport, Newfoundland and Labrador-Republic of Ireland:*Westport, County Mayo**Westport House**Westport railway station...

, sharing the stage with Sarah Pfisterer and Raissa Katona Bennett of the Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

 production of Phantom of the Opera, and Kristin Huffman of the Broadway show Company
Company (musical)
Company is a musical with a book by George Furth and music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The original production was nominated for a record-setting fourteen Tony Awards and won six....

. She's also appeared in Guys and Dolls
Guys and Dolls
Guys and Dolls is a musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. It is based on "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" and "Blood Pressure", two short stories by Damon Runyon, and also borrows characters and plot elements from other Runyon stories, most notably...

, Cabaret
Cabaret (musical)
Cabaret is a musical based on a book written by Christopher Isherwood, music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb. The 1966 Broadway production became a hit and spawned a 1972 film as well as numerous subsequent productions....

, and Nunsense
Nunsense
Nunsense is a musical comedy with a book, music, and lyrics by Dan Goggin. Originating as a line of greeting cards, Goggin expanded the concept into a cabaret that ran for 38 weeks, and eventually into a full-length musical...

, which was directed by Danny Goggin. She is a member of SAG
SAG
Sag or SAG may refer to:* sag * a sag pond* a lens sag, distortion of astronomical lenses and mirrors* Sagittarius , in astronomy*Sagittarius * Sag Harbor, New York* Sâg, a commune in Sălaj County, Romania...

, AFTRA, the Actors' Equity Association
Actors' Equity Association
The Actors' Equity Association , commonly referred to as Actors' Equity or simply Equity, is an American labor union representing the world of live theatrical performance, as opposed to film and television performance. However, performers appearing on live stage productions without a book or...

, and Theatre Artists Workshop.

Radio

Kaye was a Connecticut radio personality at STAR 99.9 FM
WEZN-FM
WEZN is a radio station broadcasting an Adult Contemporary format, licensed to the Bridgeport, Connecticut community. The station is currently owned by Cox Radio and it has a strong signal which reaches into most of Westchester County, New York and well north of Hartford, Connecticut...

 from 1990 to 2005, and is currently a part-time newscaster and classical music
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...

 host on NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...

 affiliates WSHU-FM
WSHU-FM
-External links:*...

 and WSHU-AM
WSHU (AM)
WSHU , is a National Public Radio-affiliated radio station operated by Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut. It primarily features news, talk and informational programming....

.

Voice over

While pregnant with her first child, Kaye began her voice-over career as a way to continue acting. She has voiced dozens of commercials and narrations, including for Burger King
Burger King
Burger King, often abbreviated as BK, is a global chain of hamburger fast food restaurants headquartered in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The company began in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida-based restaurant chain...

, Toshiba
Toshiba
is a multinational electronics and electrical equipment corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It is a diversified manufacturer and marketer of electrical products, spanning information & communications equipment and systems, Internet-based solutions and services, electronic components and...

, Kyocera
Kyocera
is a multinational manufacturer based in Kyoto, Japan. It was founded as in 1959 by Kazuo Inamori and renamed in 1982. The company has diversified its founding technology in ceramic materials through internal development as well as strategic mergers and acquisitions...

, Kohl's
Kohl's
Kohl's Corporation is an American department store chain headquartered in the Milwaukee suburb of Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, operating , 1,089 stores in 49 states. In 1998, it entered the S&P 500 list, and is also listed in the Fortune 500...

, Hilton
Hilton
-Companies:* Hilton Worldwide, a global hospitality company based in the United States** Hilton Hotels, an international chain of hotels trademarked by Hilton Worldwide** Hilton Garden Inn, a chain of hotels trademarked by Hilton Worldwide...

, Priceline
Priceline
Priceline may refer to:*Priceline.com, a commercial website which helps users obtain discount rates for travel-related items such as airline tickets and hotel stays*Priceline , a chain of health and beauty retail stores in Australia...

, Estee Lauder
Estée Lauder
Estée Lauder may refer to:* Estée Lauder * Estée Lauder Companies...

, Dove
Dove
Pigeons and doves constitute the bird family Columbidae within the order Columbiformes, which include some 300 species of near passerines. In general terms "dove" and "pigeon" are used somewhat interchangeably...

, Continental Airlines
Continental Airlines
Continental Airlines was a major American airline now merged with United Airlines. On May 3, 2010, Continental Airlines, Inc. and UAL, Inc. announced a merger via a stock swap, and on October 1, 2010, the merger closed and UAL changed its name to United Continental Holdings, Inc...

, Big Lots
Big Lots
Big Lots, Inc. is a Fortune 500 retail corporation with annual revenues well over $4 billion.Its department stores focus mainly on selling closeout and overstock merchandise. The company is based in Columbus, Ohio, USA and currently operates over 1,400 stores in 47 states...

, Curad
Curad
Curad is a brand of first aid supplies produced by Medline Industries, which acquired the brand from Beiersdorf in April 2007. The brand competes with Johnson & Johnson's Band-Aid brand in the adhesive bandage market...

, Dannon, Verizon, Kohls, Executone, MISTO, and promos for ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....

 and the Newborn Channel. She has also voiced medical scripts, websites, and telephony for clients such as hospitals, pharmaceuticals such as Seroquel and Savella, and patient care such as CVS and Medicare
Medicare (United States)
Medicare is a social insurance program administered by the United States government, providing health insurance coverage to people who are aged 65 and over; to those who are under 65 and are permanently physically disabled or who have a congenital physical disability; or to those who meet other...

. Her voice can also be heard in video games and in live events such as the Effie Awards, Echo Awards, and Connecticut Press Club. She is a member of SAVOA (Society of Accredited Voice Over Artists).

In 2011 she narrated the 40-minute, National Science Foundation
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...

 founded documentary Ease the Quiet Storm.

AudioBooks

Since the early 1990s Kaye has narrated dozens of children's books for several well-known authors, including the 1991 children's book Zoo by Gail Gibbons
Gail Gibbons
Gail Gibbons is an author and illustrator of children's books. With over 120 titles to her credit, Gibbons is a leader in the field of nonfiction, educational picture books....

, Walter the Farting Dog
Walter the Farting Dog
Walter the Farting Dog is a series of children's books by William Kotzwinkle and Glenn Murray, and illustrated by Audrey Colman. All the books in the series star Walter and his many flatulent adventures. In 2007 the fifth book in the series, Walter the Farting Dog: Banned From the Beach, was released...

 by William Kotzwinkle
William Kotzwinkle
William Kotzwinkle is an American novelist, children's writer, and screenwriter. He was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania. He has won the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel for Doctor Rat in 1977, and has also won the National Magazine Award for fiction. Kotzwinkle wrote the novelization of the...

, the 1994 version of David Small
David Small
David Small is an American author and illustrator. He was only 2 years old when he began drawing, health problems having kept him home for much of his childhood.-Life:...

's Imogene's Antler, the 1997 audiobook of A Picture Book of Eleanor Roosevelt by David A. Adler
David A. Adler
David Abraham Adler is an American author of nearly 200 books for children and young adults, most notably the Cam Jansen mystery series, the "Picture Book of..." series, and several acclaimed works about the Holocaust for young readers....

, the 2001 book Hedgie's Surprise by award-winner Jan Brett
Jan Brett
Jan Brett is a best-selling American author/illustrator of childrens' books. Her books are known for colorful, detailed depictions of a wide variety of animals and human cultures ranging from Scandinavia to Africa...

, and 2007's The Library by Sarah Stewart
Sarah Stewart (author)
Sarah Stewart is an award-winning author of children's books. She is married to David Small.-Works :*The Gardener with David Small , Trumpet Club, New York 1998*'The Library with David Small , Farrar, Straus and Giroux...

. She has narrated numerous books for the Soundprints Wild Habitats series of children's books, starting in the mid-1990s.

Randye Kaye is also the audiobook narrator of Past Perfect, the 2007 novel by Susan Isaacs
Susan Isaacs
Susan Isaacs is an American novelist and screenwriter. She was born in Brooklyn, New York, educated at Queens College, and worked as a senior editor at Seventeen magazine. She married Elkan Abramowitz, a lawyer, in 1968 and in 1970 left work to stay at home with her newborn son, Andrew. Three...

.

Teaching, lecturing

Kaye has taught acting, improvisation, and media awareness to children and adults, Kaye also contributes articles and blog posts to the publication Voice-Over Xtra, Technorati
Technorati
Technorati is an Internet search engine for searching blogs. By June 2008, Technorati was indexing 112.8 million blogs and over 250 million pieces of tagged social media...

, NAMI Advocate, and Holly Pinafore Magazine. She served as the main producer for the VIP interview department at Film Industry Mixer, a group of video production professionals in Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...

.

Kaye is also a Connecticut state trainer for NAMI
National Alliance on Mental Illness
The National Alliance on Mental Illness was founded in 1979 as the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill. NAMI is a nation-wide American advocacy group, representing families and people affected by mental illness as a non-profit grass roots organization and has affiliates in every American state...

 (National Alliance on Mental Illness), and a diversity trainer/facilitator for the Anti-Defamation League
Anti-Defamation League
The Anti-Defamation League is an international non-governmental organization based in the United States. Describing itself as "the nation's premier civil rights/human relations agency", the ADL states that it "fights anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry, defends democratic ideals and protects...

. She has been interviewed by both BlogTalkRadio
Blogtalkradio
BlogTalkRadio is a web-based platform that allows callers to host a live call-in Internet broadcast using a computer and a phone.BlogTalkRadio is entirely web-based and requires no client download.-Service:...

 and Healthy Place.

Edge Studio
Kaye is a voice-over coach and teacher for Edge Studio, an audio production studio and voice-over training company based in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 and Fairfield, Connecticut
Fairfield, Connecticut
Fairfield is a town located in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It is bordered by the towns of Bridgeport, Trumbull, Easton, Redding and Westport along the Gold Coast of Connecticut. As of the 2010 census, the town had a population of 59,404...

. Owned by David Goldberg, the company produces for Disney, VW, Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...

, and National Geographic, and has trained clients from NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...

, Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...

, ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....

, Discovery
Discovery
Discovery may refer to:* Discovery , observing or finding something unknown* Discovery , a character's learning something unknown* Discovery , a process in courts of law relating to evidence- Devices :...

, Lifetime
Lifetime
Lifetime may refer to:*Life expectancy, the length of time a person is expected to remain alive*Mean lifetime, a certain number that characterizes the rate of reduction of a particle of an assembly...

, and radio stations such as CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

 and Bloomberg Radio.

Ben Behind His Voices

Randye Kaye has announced that her first book, Ben Behind His Voices: One Family's Journey from the Chaos of Schizophrenia to Hope, will be published by Rowman and Littlefield on August 16, 2011. Represented by Claire Gerus, and currently available for pre-order, it is a memoir of her experiences with the onset, development and recovery of her son Ben's schizophrenia
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social...

. Ben, who developed schizophrenia in his late teens and was hospitalized multiple times, now has proper treatment. Kaye claims her goal with the memoir is to help other families with resources and reduce the stigma of schizophrenia. She frequently speaks to medical providers, legislators, and families on the experiences of mental illnesses.

Personal life

Kaye lives with her husband in Trumbull, Connecticut
Trumbull, Connecticut
Trumbull, a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut in the New England region of the United States, is bordered by the towns of Monroe, Shelton, Stratford, Bridgeport, Fairfield and Easton along Connecticut's Gold Coast. The population was 36,018 according to the 2010 census.Family Circle magazine...

, and has a son and a daughter. She is a member of MENSA
Mensa
Mensa meaning table in Latin, may refer to:*Mensa International, an organization for people with high IQs*Mensa , a southern star constellation*Mensa , a term used by geologists to refer to an extraterrestrial mesa...

.

External links

  • Randye Kaye on Twitter
    Twitter
    Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...

  • Randye Kaye on Amazon.com
    Amazon.com
    Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...

  • Randye Kaye on Technorati
    Technorati
    Technorati is an Internet search engine for searching blogs. By June 2008, Technorati was indexing 112.8 million blogs and over 250 million pieces of tagged social media...

  • Randye Kaye on the National Speaker's Association
  • Ben Behind His Voices official site
  • Blog for Ben Behind His Voices
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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