House Of Crouse

I go to the vault to hear a vintage interview I did with Wolverine himself, Hugh Jackman. We don’t talk superheroes, instead, the actor gets personal, talking about the projects that worked, the ones that didn’t and what drives him. “When I started acting I was the dunce of the class,” he says.

On the Saturday July 27, 2024 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we meet Natalie Shaw who stars as Cady Heron in the touring, musical production of the show that touches down in Toronto at The Royal Alexandra Theatre from July 30 - August 25, 2024. You remember the story… Cady Heron may have grown up on an African savanna, but nothing prepared her for the vicious ways of her strange new home: suburban Illinois. Soon, this naïve newbie falls prey to a trio of lionized frenemies led by the charming but ruthless Regina George. But when Cady devises a plan to end Regina’s reign, she learns the hard way that you can’t cross a Queen Bee without getting stung. Then, we’ll meet three-time Academy Award nominee for Best Actor Viggo Mortensen. From his film debut in 1985’s “Witness” to the “Lord of the Rings” movies that made him a superstar to his more recent work, like the Oscar winning “Green Book,” he has been a constant, welcome presence on screens for 40 years. Joins me today as the writer, director, star, and

Welcome to the Saturday July 13, 2024 edition of the Richard Crouse. On this episode we’ll meet New York Times bestselling author of The Authenticity Project, Clare Pooley. After working in advertising for twenty years it dawned on her that her daily ‘wine o’clock’ habit was out of control. She wrote the popular "Mummy was a Secret Drinker" blog and a memoir, "The Sober Diaries," published in 2017 to critical acclaim. Her latest book is “How to Age Disgracefully,” the story of a senior citizen with a shady past who bands together with her friends to save their beloved community center from closure by any means necessary. Then, we’ll meet Larry Gaudet, an award-winning novelist and writer of imaginative non-fiction. His corporate work over 25+ years spans branding, disinformation analysis, venture financing, IPOs, speechwriting, investor relations, and marketing strategy. The sum total of his experience is captured in his latest book, a novel called Eris, in which an anarchist online group sets out to assassi

On the Saturday Saturday July 20, 2024 edition of The Richard Crouse Show, we meet English-Canadian alternative comedian James Mullinger. Though primarily a stand-up comic, Mullinger has held a number of roles in other media including a presenter of Blimey! An Englishman in Atlantic Canada, co-writer and co-producer of The Comedian's Guide to Survival. In 2022, he published his memoir, Brit Happens: Or Living the Canadian Dream, with Goose Lane Editions. In 2016, Mullinger broke Jerry Seinfeld's record ticket sales at Harbour Station and outsold performances including Guns N' Roses, Iron Maiden, and Snoop Dogg. We’ll also get to know Gareth Reynolds. He’s a stand-up comedian, a podcaster with three very popular shows, The Dollop, which is a weekly comedy/ history podcast, with co-host Dave Anthony and The Past Times, a totally different weekly comedy/history podcast, with co-host Dave Anthony and We’re Here to Help, a bi-weekly advice podcast, with co-host Jake Johnson. He’s written for shows like Arrested D

On the Saturday July 6, 2024 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we’ll meet Amanda Marshall. You know the name, but could be forgiven if you wondered what happened to her. After hits like her 1996 single, "Birmingham", which reached number 3 in Canada and charted on the US, and diamond and certified 3× platinum albums, she disappeared from the charts and the music scene for more than 20 years. She says the legal battle with her former manager that kept her away from the spotlight for two decades “turned out to be the very best thing that ever happened to me.” We’ll find out why in this interview. Then, we’ll meet K.L. Armstrong is a pseudonym for bestselling author Kelley Armstrong. She has written over 40 books, including the bestselling young adult series the Darkest Powers and Darkness Rising, the YA book Aftermath, the middle-grade novel A Royal Guide to Monster Slaying and the adult thriller Alone in the Wild. Today we’ll talk about how and why she is so prolific, and her newest novel, Known To The V

On a very special Quirky Canada Travel edition of The Richard Crouse Show, we play travel agent, and suggest some cool roadside attractions to check out as you travel around this great country of ours this summer. You’ll hear about the monetary magnificence of the Giant $2 Coin in Campbellford, Ontario, the mysteries of Magnetic Hill in New Brunswick, the World’s Largest Kielbassa Sausage in Mundare, Alberta and we’ll boldly go where… well many have gone before… as we beam you to Vulcan, Alberta, the Official Star Trek Capital of Canada.

On the Saturday June 22, 2024 edition of The Richard Crouse Show, we meet Tamara Podemski. You know her from TV shows and movies like Reservation Dogs, Dance Me Outside, The Rez, Ready or Not, North of 60, Rabbit Fall, Heartland, Cracked, Four Sheets to the Wind and numerous theatre productions, most notably as a member of the Original Canadian Cast of Rent, as well as playing Maureen in the Broadway Company of Rent. Currently she stars, alongside Josh Brolin, on the hir Prime Video sci fi western “Outer Range.” Brolin plays Royal Abbott, a Wyoming rancher who discovers a mysterious black void in his pasture., a hole that can send people to other moments in time. The show combines a “Yellowstone” vibe with the twisty-turny plot of “Lost.” Tamara plays the time-travelling Deputy Sheriff Joy Hawk, the acting sheriff of the county where the show is situated. In this interview we talk about “Outer Range,” why she felt excited but intimidated to take on the role, Broadway musicals, martial arts and much more.

On the Saturday June 15, 2024 we get to know Olympian and World Champion Hurdler Perdita Felicien. These days you can see her as the host All-Round Champion, a competition show you can check out on TVO, TVOkids YouTube and TVOkids.com. Now in season six, the show, which sees young athletes come together to learn and compete in each other’s sports and earn enough points to become the All-Round Champion, is changing things up. This season the athletes will also have to compete as pairs in sports like Pickleball, Teqball, Roller Derby, Cricket, Synchronized Diving, MMA, Beach Volleyball, Canoe Sprint, Cheer, Ice Dance and Breaking. We’ll meet Haley McGee, the writer and performer of “Age is a Feeling,” a beautiful, funny and poignant one-woman show that follows a woman from the age of 25 until her death. The twist? It’s a choose-your-own-adventure show, where the audience dictates the general; direction of the play. It’s an impressive theatrical achievement that offers up 180 possible iterations of the material

On the Saturday June 8, 2024 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we’ll meet George Miller. He has made pigs talk and penguins tap dance. He’s been a doctor and a film director. Among the bold-faced names on his resume are the titles “Babe: A Pig in the City,” “The Witches of Eastwick,” “Happy Feet” and “Lorenzo’s Oil.” One name, however, looms larger than the rest. “Mad Max.” He returned to theatres recently with “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,” his fifth Mad Max inspired film in 45 years. A mix of Norse and Greek mythology set against an apocalyptic backdrop, and set 15 to 20 years before the events of “Mad Max: Fury Road,” “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” is a high-octane origin story. Kidnapped from the Place of Great Abundance by Warlord Dementus’s (Chris Hemsworth) henchmen, young Furiosa (played by Alyla Browne as a child, Anya Taylor-Joy as an adult) vows vengeance for the death of her mother as warlords Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme) and Dementus vie for supremacy of the Wasteland. It's a pedal-to-the-metal epic,

On the Saturday June 1, 2024 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we’ll meet Sharon Lewis. She is an award winning director for her documentary and feature work, and if you’ve been watching "Law and Order Toronto: Criminal Intent," “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” or the Netflix series “Ginny & Georgia,” you’ve seen her name in the credits as director. Then we’ll meet English author Sam Lloyd, the bestselling author of "The Memory Wood" and "The Rising Tide." Today we talk about his latest novel, a tense, mystery thriller called "The People Watcher." Today we’ll talk about the unusual visitation that inspired the book. We’ll also get to know New York City-based stand-up comedian Tina Friml. She has performed at the Just for Laughs Festival in Montreal, is a regular at the Comedy Cellar in New York City and has a large following on line for her unique take on her own physical disability, and fearless honesty about the social assumptions that come with living with cerebral palsy. Then, we’ll meet Willie Poll. S

On the Saturday May 18, 2024 edition of the Richard Crouse Show we’ll meet former Toronto Star reporter Mary Ormsby. In “World’s Fastest Man:* The Incredible Life of Ben Johnson,” the veteran sports reporter details the rise and fall of Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson, the once celebrated athlete whose career was halted when he was accused of doping at the 1988 Olympics, and stripped of his gold medal at the 1988 Summer Olympic Games in Seoul. It's a fascinating story, retold with in Ormsby’s in depth reporting and 30 hours of interview with Ben Johnson himself. Then we meet Indigenous Australian filmmaker, screenwriter and cinematographer, editor, composer and sound designer Ivan Sen. His latest film is “Limbo,” a study of damaged people, disguised as a police procedural. Shot in beautiful black and white, this outback noir tells the story of a drug addicted detective who goes to the Australian Outback to reopen a twenty year old cold case of a missing Indigenous girl, whose killer may still live locally. Th

On the September 18, 2024 edition of the Richard Crouse Show we meet Mary Badham. She had no acting experience before she auditioned for the role of the intelligent and unconventional girl Jean Louise Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird. Better known by the nickname Scout, the character is the daughter of Alabama lawyer, Atticus Finch, played by Gregory Peck in the classic film. Mary Badham, at just ten years of age, became the youngest actress to that date to be nominated for Best Supporting Actress. At age fourteen, after appearing in several other films and television show, including the final episode of the original Twilight Zone series, she retired from acting at age fourteen. She stayed close with Gregory Peck, who she always called Atticus, until his death in 2003. To Kill a Mockingbird has never completely left her life, however, Mary has traveled around the world recalling her experiences making the classic film, and praising the book's messages of tolerance and compassion, and now, in her debut as

On the Saturday May 11, 2024 edition of the Richard Crouse we meet General Roméo Dallaire. A celebrated global human rights advocate, he is also a highly respected author, public speaker, political advisor, and former Canadian senator. Throughout his distinguished military career, General Dallaire served most notably as Force Commander of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda during the 1994 genocide. He continues to work ceaselessly to bring international attention to situations too often ignored, whether the prevention of mass atrocities, ending the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict, the impact of post-traumatic stress disorder on veterans and their families, or strategic solutions for lasting peace. In his latest book “The Peace: A Warrior’s Journey,” general Dallaire shows us the past, present and future of war through the prism of his own life. Then, we’ll meet Rose Sutherland, author of “A Sweet Sting of Salt.” Based on the classic folktale The Selkie Wife, it is a piece of

On the Saturday May 4 edition of the Richard Crouse Show we’ll meet novelist and writing coach Heidi Reimer. Her front-row seat to the theater world of her debut novel, “The Mother Act,” began two decades ago when she met and married an actor, and her immersion in motherhood began when she adopted a toddler and discovered she was pregnant on the same day. Then, we’ll meet photographer-turned-film director, Caitlin Cronenberg. Her new movie “Humane” stars Jay Baruchel, Emily Hampshire and Enrico Colantoni is a wild story about a family dinner that erupts into chaos when a father's plan to enlist in the government's new euthanasia program goes sideways.

On the Saturday April 27 edition of the Richard Crouse Show we meet Ruth Reichl, the New York Times bestselling author of five memoirs, the novel “Delicious!,” and the cookbook “My Kitchen Year.” She was editor in chief of Gourmet magazine, and previously served as restaurant critic for The New York Times, as well as food editor and restaurant critic for the Los Angeles Times. She has been honored with six James Beard Awards. Today we’ll talk about her new book “The Paris Novel,” which follows Stella St. Vincent, an introverted thirtysomething, who finds purpose in a search for art, fashion and food on a 1983 Paris trip. We’ll also meet award-winning, former Toronto Star journalist Morgan Campbell. His new memoir “My Fighting Family: Borders and Bloodlines and the Battles That Made Us,” offers a history of his family’s multigenerational battles, a coming-of-age story, and a powerful reckoning with what it means to be Black in Canada when you have strong American roots. Then, we’ll meet Christian Sparkes, a

On the Saturday April 20, 2024 edition of the Richard Crouse Show we meet CJ Tudor. She is author of The Burning Girls, The Other People, The Hiding Place, and The Chalk Man, which won the International Thriller Writers Award for Best First Novel, the Barry Award, and the Strand Critics Award for Best Debut Novel. In her new novel, The Gathering, a detective investigating a grisly crime in rural Alaska finds herself caught up in the dark secrets and superstitions of a small town. We’ll also get to know best-selling author Susan Fletcher, author of “The Night in Question,” which is being described as a lyrical and emotionally engaging novel infused with mystery and wisdom about love, friendship, and the power of forgiveness. Then, I chat with Canadian business executive, entrepreneur, publisher, art collector, fundraiser, and philanthropist Salah Bachir, author of a new memoir, “First to the Leave the Party: My Life with Ordinary People Who Happen to Be Famous,” available wherever fine books are sold.

On the Saturday April 13, 2024 edition of the Richard Crouse Show we’ll meet Phil Heath. Fans of bodybuilding will recognize his name as a seven-time Mr. Olympia winner, having won the competition every year from 2011 to 2017. His incredible athletic career was slowed by health concerns, but his strength of character and intensity is captured in a new film co-produced by Dwayne Johnson, “Breaking Olympia: The Phil Heath Story,” which is now available on the SuperChannel. It’s the untold story of how he battled back from injury in his quest to become the greatest of all. Later on we’ll meet Tassie Cameron. Tassie is an award-winning screenwriter who was the head writer and executive producer on the series Rookie Blue and creator of the show Pretty Hard Cases. Today we’re talking about her latest gig, as the producer of “Law and Order Toronto: Criminal Intent.” We talk about the show, and what it takes to quote, unquote, play a dead body on the legendary franchise.

On the Saturday April 5, 2024 edition of the Richard Crouse Show we’ll meet Marlo Mckenzie and Jonathan Parker, the filmmakers behind a cool new documentary called “Carol Doda Topless at the Condor.” The documentary, now playing in theatres, paints a picture of an accidental trailblazer whose provocative performances transformed not only San Francisco’s North Bay neighborhood, but the national nightclub business. Then, we get to know Holly Gramazio. She is a writer, game designer and curator from Adelaide, currently based in London. Today we’ll talk about her debut novel, The Husbands, which is poised to be a best seller. It’s the story of Lauren, who returns home to her apartment one evening and finds her husband there. Problem is she is not married. While she is trying to figure out who this person is, he goes to the attic to change the light bulb. But what comes down is ANOTHER HUSBAND .

On this episode of The Richard Crouse Show we meet #1 New York Times bestselling novelist, Karen Kingsbury. She is North America’s favorite inspirational storyteller, with more than twenty-five million copies of her award-winning books in print. Her last dozen titles have topped bestseller lists and many of her novels are under development with Hallmark Films and as major motion pictures. Today we’ll talk about how she found her way from journalism to writing best-selling fiction and the new film, “Someone Like You,” which she produced, based on one of her books. Then, Roger Mooking stop[s by. As a celebrity chef, restaurateur, television host, author, and award-winning recording artist Roger has earned an international reputation as a multi-media artist and entertainer showcasing a globally inspired vision that reflects his rich family heritage, love for people and travel. He does lots of things… and has even won a special All-Star Chopped celebrity chef episode… today we talk about his career in food and m

On this edition of the Richard Crouse Show we meet Adam Growe. You may know him a standup comedian, a corporate entertainer or even a foster parent to seven children. But he's likely most recognized as being Canada’s favourite cab driver. He hosted the Canadian trivia-based game show "Cash Cab" for roughly eight years between 2008 and 2015, in which he'd quiz unsuspecting riders with general knowledge questions for their chance to collect money while he drove them from place to place. “Cash Cab” and Adam Growe return with a new spin on the old show… “Cash Cab Music.” Adam is back behind the wheel of a newly-renovated disco taxi, testing his cab customers on musical trivia. Get three wrong and you’re out but get the answers right and you can win cash and even sing some karaoke. Then, we get to know Shilpi Somaya Gowda is the New York Times bestselling, award-winning author whose novels have been translated into over 30 languages, been #1 international bestsellers in several countries and sold more than two