Wayne Powers has a lifetime of stories to share.
The singer/actor/comedian had a few appearances on “Laverne & Shirley” and starred in his own NBC hospital sitcom, “13 East,” for two seasons. He appeared in episodes of “ALF,” “Full House,” “Doogie Howser, M.D.” “Murder She Wrote” and “Simon and Simon,” among others. He also once worked for composer Henry Mancini as an administrator of his music publishing and worked in improv comedy clubs with Robin Williams in the 1970s.
Powers will perform with his All-Star Trio of Kevin Anker (piano), Fred Withrow (acoustic bass) and Mike Kessler (drums) at 7:30 p.m. July 22 at Feinstein’s at Hotel Carmichael in Carmel.
“I’m mostly singing. I’ll tell a few stories and there’s a little comedy,” Powers said. “I’m excited because that venue could have been built for me. It’s the old supper clubs that I first started singing in at age 16 in New York. Those supper clubs are gone now, but Michael (Feinstein) had the vision and knowledge to bring them back because he understood what makes them work.”
Powers will perform standards from the Great American Songbook. He recently released an album, “If Love Were All,” which also is the name of one of the songs on the album.
Last year, Powers performed a show at The Jazz Kitchen in Indianapolis and did some guest spots there this year. He lives in Muncie but plans to move.
“It was kind of a bucket-list thing,” he said. “I was looking for a historic mansion to live in and restore. I looked all over the country and found this incredible mansion in Muncie. I bought and restored it. It’s 10,000 to 12,000 square feet, built in 1902. I’ll never get out what I put into it, but life changes happen. I’m going to put it on the market.”
Powers did network television shows for approximately 15 years but decided to move to Charlotte, N.C., with his then-wife and two younger sons.
“I wanted a place where my kids could have a childhood,” he said.
He had already been contemplating a move when the car his sons were being transported from a private school in was hit by stray bullets by rival gangs in Los Angeles.
Then, an earthquake happened in the early 1990s. The family got out of the home in time, but it was destroyed.
“I looked up at God and said, ‘I hear you, we’re going now, don’t send me any more signs,’” he said.
Powers started on WBT, a radio station in Charlotte, as a guest host and in special programming. After 20-plus years, he hosted his own radio talk show at WKZO in Kalamazoo, Mich., for a few years before moving to Chicago.
He performed in one of the lead roles of ‘The Sunshine Boys” in Kankakee, Ill., in 2019.
“It’s one of my favorite shows. I want to do that show again,” he said. “That response was incredible. It’s so fresh. It’s Neil Simon and it’s hilariously funny.”
Five years before that, he had a different theater role at the request of his close friend, the late Paul Sorvino.
“He was like my brother,” Powers said. “He was the godfather to both of my sons.”
Powers wanted to learn the song “Mama” in Italian so he could sing to his mother, who was turning 90. So, Sorvino agreed to teach him but wanted a favor in return.
“(He said) ‘In a couple of months I’m doing ‘King Lear’ in New York and I’m directing and playing Lear and I want you to play the Fool opposite me,’” he said. “I hadn’t done Shakespeare since I was in college. I said, ‘I don’t know if I could do it,’ and he said, ‘Of course, you can.’”
Sorvino convinced Powers to join the cast with Shrunken Shakespeare Company because they already had a strong chemistry that was necessary for the role.
Sorvino died in 2022 at age 83.
“He was my mentor,” Powers said. “It’s still hard for me to get over losing him. I miss him a lot.”
For more, visit waynepowers.com.
