VICKI CONSTANTINE CROKE RON DELLA CHIESA

CAST BIOS
Massasoit Radio Classics Live Late Additions
VICKI CONSTANTINE CROKE
Vicki Constantine Croke has been covering pets and wildlife for more than
two decades -- and, obviously, has been having a good time doing it.
Now reporting regularly on animal issues for NECN, she previously wrote
The Boston Globe's "Animal Beat" column for for 13 years. A former writer
and producer for CNN, she has been a contributing reporter for the
National Public Radio environment show Living on Earth covering everything
from gorilla conservation to a coyote vasectomy.
Croke consults on film and television projects, most recently a two-hour
documentary on gorillas for the A&E channel. Croke is also the author of
The Modern Ark: The Story of Zoos-Past, Present and Future and has also written
for Time, People, The Washington Post, Popular Science, O, The Oprah Magazine,
Gourmet, National Wildlife, Discover, International Wildlife, The London Sunday
Telegraph and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Since Focus Features bought the movie rights to THE LADY AND THE PANDA, Vicki has suffered a few delusions of grandeur. She is
working on a screenplay -- a thriller set in the animal world -- that needs a little more thrill.
RON DELLA CHIESA
Ron Della Chiesa is one of Boston’s most beloved radio personalities. Born
in 1938 in Quincy, Massachusetts, he was taken by his father to jazz shows as
well as Boston Symphony Orchestra concerts in the early 1950s, and so he
developed an ear for both genres. His mother, an educator in the South
Shore, gave him a love of learning, a curiosity for many cultures, and until
her recent passing, a tie to the last Golden Age of Opera.
Ron was an announcer for WBCN in the 1960s and joined WGBH-FM radio
in the mid-1970s.
In the 1980s Chiesa was host of WGBH FM’s Music America, an afternoon
program which featured the broad range of American jazz and musical
theater. On this program, he interviewed many visiting Broadway and jazz
performers, but devoted Friday afternoon programs to opera. He was also
host for the Boston Symphony Friday afternoon performances, broadcast on
WGBH for many years.
With the passing of Robert J. Lurtsema, Della Chiesa became the host of Classical Morning, but retained his Friday afternoon Boston
Symphony spot. Ron is now heard on WPLM-FM on a Saturday night program Strictly Sinatra.
Della Chiesa has also been the host of Cooking Around Town on WGBH-TV. In that capacity, he has visited many of the famous and
esoteric eateries and bistros in the Boston area, watching the owner/chefs turn their recipes into delicious dishes. His wife, Joyce, is an
accomplished chef de cuisine. Chiesa is now much in demand as a narrator for New England orchestras and social functions. He
occasionally hosts learning tours and lectures for opera, both on land and on cruise ships; most notably, the Queen Mary 2. A classical and
jazz scholar for being a steward of intergenerational music that binds society and elevates cultural integrity, Ron received the Courage of
Conscience award August 19, 1995.
SCOTT WAHLE
Popular TV personality Scott Wahle is delighted to be back
with his friends at “Radio Classics Live!” Most recently,
Scott played the role of the Beast in Disney’s Beauty and the
Beast for the Inly School in Scituate. Scott has also played
several leading roles with the Reagle Music Theatre of
Greater Boston, appearing in two musicals this past summer:
Into the Woods (Narrator/Mysterious Man) and The Music Man,
reprising his role as Harold Hill, for which he won the
Independent Reviewers of New England Best Actor award
for Reagle’s 2004 production.
Also with Reagle, he
performed in 1776 (John Adams - I.R.N.E. nomination, Best
Actor), Fiddler on the Roof (Tevye), The Will Rogers Follies (Will
Rogers), and Annie (F.D.R.) with Sally Struthers. Scott’s
other favorite roles have included The King and I (the King),
Oklahoma! (Curly), Man of La Mancha (Sancho), I Do! I Do!
(Michael) and Forever Plaid (Smudge).
Scott made his motion picture debut in this past summer’s
Knight and Day, starring Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz. He
was also a featured guest on The Rosie O’Donnell Show, he’s
performed twice with Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops
and has sung the National Anthem at Bruins, Celtics and
Patriots games.
Scott’s 30-year television career began in Portland, Maine,
with stops in Hartford and Detroit (including four seasons
of NHL play-by-play, and a stint with ESPN's Sportscenter)
before coming back home to Boston, where he spent ten
years anchoring the morning news on WBZ-TV. Scott is
currently Director of Strategic Marketing and Communications for the Royal Health Group and lives on the South Shore with his wife,
Maribeth, and their four children.