{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Radio Chatskill","title":"From Cult Films to Folk Rock: Thomas Waites Brings Heartbreak Waites to The Colony ","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":701,"description":"Thomas G. Waites first made his mark as a young actor in cult classics like The Warriors and John Carpenter’s The Thing, earning early recognition for his intensity and screen presence. A Juilliard-trained performer with an MFA in playwriting from the University of Iowa, Waites has built a far-reaching career across Broadway, Off-Broadway, television, independent film, and teaching—founding his own acting studio in New York City.But beyond his work on stage and screen, Waites is also a singer-songwriter who blends storytelling, social commentary and Americana influences into his music. His band, Heartbreak Waites, delivers folk, rock and Americana songs that pair protest anthems with harmony-rich original material. The group performs Thursday night at The Colony in Woodstock.Speaking about the path that brought him from Juilliard to theater, film and now music, Waites said his early training shaped everything he does.“I came from basically down the street from the ghetto outside of Philadelphia, and Shakespeare is what got me out of there and into Juilliard,” he said. “You can imagine what a shock it was to my system to go from a lower middle-class, blue-collar family to this extraordinarily high-end culture at Lincoln Center — drama, dance, opera. That transition was formidable in forming my character.”Waites said being surrounded by talent left a lasting impression. “I was in the elevator with Rudolph Nureyev. Leonard Bernstein called us a class. I had really great influences as a young person,” he said. “All of that registers in your subconscious someplace. When you go to write a song, hopefully you have the capacity to draw from that beautiful and brilliant language to tell a story. And never have we needed stories more than we do now.”A Career Marked by Highs, Lows, and Hard LessonsWaites was cast in The Warriors in his early 20s and later appeared as Windows in The Thing. Both films became iconic, but their intensity on set was matched by intensity in his...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/q7XXsnSXT_u4mZLCn3chUorwDmUD_kWiB272D6emB18/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS80N2Uy/OGY5MWUwZThkYTEw/NDVkZGM2ZGZkZDIw/ZjliOS5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}