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 Ray Olan beginning his 11th season as " Mr Ray's Musical Theater " Musical Theater director @ DFAC's “It’s a great time to focus attention on the contributions of people of all heritages in the U.S.,” he said. Olan, who is known as “Mr. Ray,” was born in Puerto Rico and raised in Brooklyn. He met Ms. Maria, a native of Venezuela, in Orlando Florida. While visiting family in her native country, he was hired as a producer for Warner Brothers International Television, in part because of his multi-lingual talents. He developed a series of short entertainment segments called “Inside the Series,” which gave him an opportunity to interview some of the biggest stars in Hollywood.
His current emphasis is on “Mr. Ray’s Advanced Teen Musical Theater, & his Latin Jazz Band JAZZ O'LE” but is presenting workshops for Children/ Teens and Adults. Classes run quarterly with the current session offering "Scenes from Broadway Musicals" Shows like" WICKED" "SOUND OF MUSIC" "ANNIE 'STOMP " and others...Enrollment is ongoing. “We are always recruiting,” he said.“Our program is unique in that our students are also given instruction in theater, drama, dance, visual arts, and music,” he said. Students explore historical musical styles, music theory and the elements of music (melody, rhythm, form and tone color) through a variety of vocal, instrumental, rhythmic and creative dramatic listening activities. Heritage and promoting multi-cultural understanding are important to Olan, whose first project in Safety Harbor was to create a multi-cultural musical theater program for children back in 1999. He then found his way to Dunedin and established Mr Ray's Musical Theater @ DFAC, 11 seasons later and still going strong. “Mr. Ray’s Musical Theater works to create an environment for training, which is based on trust, mutual respect and passion,” he said. “We believe that it is from within this environment that students will be secure enough to take huge creative risks. In addition, I believe that the individual performer learns best from within the group, and that the theatre ensemble grows from the pro-active input of every individual.” Olan began his musical journey when he was 11 years old, playing guitar with a Latin Rock band called the “Young Lads.” He said he was inspired by his father, who played with musical trios including Los Sancez and Daniel Santos. “They were the first Guaracha bands (trios) I ever heard,” he said. After moving to New York, Olan chaperoned his older sisters to Latin dances. “I was band boy for groups like Eddie & Charlie Palmeri, Tito Puente, Ray Barretto and Richie Ray.” He learned to play Latin piano — salsa music — and at age 15 formed his first band, “Ray Olan y su Sason,” which he said was known as “that Salsa Hippie band.” The band got a record deal with Alegre Records, a division of Roulette Records. “We were playing the New York area, but with a twist,” Olan said. “I brought in great rock guitar players to play the funky guitar solos along with the two trombones that were the signature of my band. It was fusion salsa rock in its infant stage — little did Santana know!” He attended Hofstra University in Long Island, NYU with studies in Musical Theater, but was focused on his music influences and Latin roots. He returned to Puerto Rico and studied in the University of Puerto Rico’s dramatic arts program, “Libertad” as a musical theater director. “I have traveled across the globe and met adults and their families living in remarkably different communities yet as I travel, it is not the differences that strike me, but rather the magnificent similarities that make us all very much alike,” he said. “We all have curiosity, fears, hopes and dreams as well as an extraordinary gift to open our hearts to each other." www.mrraysmusicaltheater.com For more information about the DFAC classes, call 727-298-DFAC (3322).
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