Biography John Busbee
John Busbee is a freelance artist with more than 30 years of experience as a production professional, stage and film actor, writer and development expert. He currently resides in the Greater Des Moines area with his wife, Kimberly, and their college age daughter, Kaitlyn. Raised on a farm in SE Iowa near Winfield, his youth was filled with countless activities, achievements and memorable events, as he savored his childhood and young adulthood growing up in rural Iowa and attending a small high school, Winfield-Mt. Union.
After attending the University of Iowa, studying arts management and theatre design, and having met his future soul mate, Kimberly, there, he and his wife formed Music/Theatre Artists, a theatre/show band company. M/TA established itself as a professional company, with Kim as the Artistic Director, and John as the Managing Director. After anchoring Adventureland Amusement Park's summer season one year, performing daily up to 11 shows, the company began touring nationally. Performing for four years from Las Vegas (the Sands and Maxim's, including sharing the bill with Doris Day and Jermaine Jackson), to Chicago to New York, a company highlight was their highly praised USO Tour in the Caribbean, where for several weeks they entertained the troops at dozens of bases and hospitals, from Panama to Guantanamo to Puerto Rico.
John has more than 200 performing credits in regional theatres, independent films, commercials, training films, voice-overs and one-man shows. Lead stage roles include: Tevye in A Fiddler on the Roof, Johnnypatteenmike in The Cripple of Inishmaan, Angus in The Drawer Boy, Nick Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream, John Adams in 1776, Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls, the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz, Pseudolus in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and Cogsworth in Beauty and the Beast. John portrayed the philandering Senator Harrison Tate in the critically acclaimed world premiere of Caucus! The Musical, which was featured in more than 200 international, national and regional media stories. Films include The Blues Brothers and Haunting Villisca.
He served as Managing Director and company member of Music/Theatre Artists, a national theatre company which toured for more than 4 years, including to Las Vegas, Chicago and New York, and to the Caribbean on a highly acclaimed U.S.O. Tour. John has more than 200 credits in regional theatres, independent films, commercials, training films, voice-overs and presentations. Lead stage roles include: Johnnypatteenmike in The Cripple of Inishmaan, Angus in The Drawer Boy, Nick Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Tevye in A Fiddler on the Roof, John Adams in 1776, Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls, the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz, Pseudolus in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and Cogsworth in Beauty and the Beast. Films include Haunting Villisca and The Blues Brothers.
John has established several successful arts and culture projects and has vast experience in entertainment sales and tourism. As Group Sales Director at the Ingersoll Dinner Theatre, he increased group sales by 40%. Projects and fund-raisers which he developed include: the Iowa Arts Jam at the Iowa State Fair, Shakespeare On The Loose, Des Moines Art District, I'll Make Me a World in Iowa, Iowa's Diversity Conference, the Heartland Brew Fest, Bobby Hansen Pro-Am Golf Tournament, the Easter Seals Telethon and a Doobie Brothers Veterans' Benefit Concert. John serves on numerous boards including Iowans for the Arts and Heritage Art Gallery and is a Certified Festival Manager. Since 2001, John has served as a delegate for the Department of Cultural Affair's Imagine Iowa 2010, serves as a District Leader for Iowa's tourism advocacy efforts at the Iowa State Capitol and at the State Legislative level on behalf of Iowa's culture, arts and tourism industries.
As Managing Editor and Senior Feature Writer for Art Scene Magazine, he penned more than 50 feature stories bringing new insights and visibility for Iowa's artistic, cultural and historical people and entities. John was instrumental in developing Art Scene as an important statewide publication, establishing the magazine during its first 3-1/2 years as an important independent voice promoting Iowa's cultural assets. John also is a regular contributor to DSM Magaine, Greater Des Moines' premier quarterly publication about Central Iowa. One of John's greatest brags is having performed in multiple plays with his daughter, Kaitlyn, who is also a part of Haunting Villisca. He wants to thank his family for their love and support.
About The Culture Buzz
The Culture Buzz - Your gateway to Greater Des Moines and Iowa arts & culture
Informative, entertaining, insightful
Since March of 2007, when the "Voice of the Community," KFMG 99.1 FM, began broadcasting, The Culture Buzz has delivered week after week of introspective and informative interviews, information, reviews and critiques of our community's arts world. Based on the decades-proven musical foundation of blues, jazz, rock and world music that made KFMG a respected name throughout Iowa, the new non-profit format gives added dimensions of value to a much broader listenership. John Busbee, the host and producer of The Culture Buzz, parlays more than three decades of active involvement in Iowa's arts scene into an enticing, casual and often humorous dialogue with movers and shakers in the worlds of arts, theatre, film, literature, history, entertainment, and much more - the Cultural Catalysts, as he calls them. Layered with his experiences and personal perspectives, the conversations on The Culture Buzz give listeners the opportunity to "peek behind the curtains" to see what makes our culturally vibrant community tick, and how to connect with these cultural opportunities.
About John Busbee's Film Production work
Better achieve your film production goals by adding John Busbee to your project's crew
Very involved in Iowa's motion picture industry, John Busbee has an appealing mix of both experience, knowledge and networks of the resources Iowa has to offer, coupled with experience and understanding of what film producers need to make their project best succeed when shooting in Iowa. From national commercials to music videos to feature films, producers want to leverage Iowa's film tax incentives through a qualified local professional such as Busbee, whose comprehensive knowledge of not only the resources Iowa has to offer, but how best to access them, allows producers to focus on developing their project.
Triskelion
The triskelion is based on a millennia-old Grecian symbol of three interlocked spirals or protrusions. The Isle of Man, located in the Irish Sea, is the Celtic homeland of my family, so the use of a variation of its emblem is fitting. So, too, is the meaning behind this Manx symbol, which includes the Latin inscription, Quocunque Jeceris Stabit, or, "Withersoever you throw it, it will stand." Such is the creative and cultural spirit I trust will be conveyed through the interviews, writings, reviews and connections provided to you through The Culture Buzz, the anchor element of this Web site.
The emblem of the Isle of Man. Within a rim containing the Latin inscription Quocunque Jeceris Stabit is a triskelion. The Latin inscription translates as 'Wherever you throw, it will stand' (also seen as "Withersoever you throw it, it will stand" and "Whichever way you throw it, it will stand") and it refers specifically to the triskelion. The triskelion is a three-legged symbol that has been associated with the Isle of Man since the thirteenth or fourteenth century. The triskelion is alternatively known in English as the 'triskeles', as the 'triquêtre' in French, and the 'tre cassyn' in Manx.
