And on vocals — it's Bucks County's Pete DeMeo!
Rock star? In a way. But more to the point these days, DeMeo's de man when it comes to rocking out the voiceover industry.
Voice...over?
Far from it: This master voiceover artist is just getting started.
Indeed, the New Hope resident, who, as in-show announcer, gets the "Today" show started daily on NBC with his dulcet-toned welcome to the world, will be intoning his tutorial incantations for students of the Bucks County Playhouse, beginning Nov. 6, as part of its Fall 2023 educational offerings.
Sessions for intermediate students continue through Nov. 27; all classes for those interested in "Breaking Into the Voiceover World" are being held at Lambertville Hall, 57 Bridge St., Lambertville.
When it came to his own big break, DeMeo looks back these days on "Today," the long-running morning juggernaut that viewers jog to or wake up to that he joined 10 years ago.
"It's my plum gig," he says of the pick of the pack accrued over a 30-year career that has proved ever-so-fruitful.
During that time, DeMeo's done some nice niche networking: DeMeo can reel-off his documents like data just by citing the more than 400 documentaries he has narrated for such networks as HBO, The Discovery Channel, National Geographic, PBS, Animal Planet and The History Channel.
His impressive professional history has made DeMeo a familiar voice to those in a multitude of media. While his accomplishments are far-reaching, the verbal globetrotter and greeter feels greatest and most at home working at...home.
"I can do it all from here," he says of his studio situated in New Hope.
A native Long Islander, he doesn't long for the New York workdays he put in before his 2008 move to Bucks. Indeed, DeMeo had the perfect tour guide to map out his new home in New Hope: "My wife is from this area," he notes.
And over the past 15 years, he has made New Hope home plate.
"I've coached Little League, coached ball for both of my kids at their school, New Hope-Solebury," he said. "For years, my family hosted a holiday party inclusive of all in the community. The goal was to gather and enjoy generations of musical performers."
Here he is party to an environment he cherishes: "I love this area, it's such a wonderful arts community," says the music and theater major/graduate of the University of North Texas, who also holds dual masters degrees from the University of Southern California.
"When I did voiceover in New York, I was getting frustrated,” he recalled. “I felt I didn't have a firm grasp on what I was doing."
He certainly does now. Twice nominated for Emmy Awards, he also finds teaching an education unto itself, having taught at the New School, the Tisch School of the Arts and, of course, Bucks County Playhouse, where he just wrapped introductory sessions on voiceover.
As deeply involved as he has been in voiceover work, DeMeo nevertheless eschews the deep sonorous vocals stereotypically associated with others in his business. Indeed, this deeply likable voiceover artist can draw a verbal diagram without dipping deep into his diaphragm.
But dig a little deeper into his background and discover a connective cord/chord — vocal and musical — to someone who performs outside the box, where he is unbeatable. Yes, he notes with a laugh, one of his voiceover talents and skills involves beatboxing.
But then, DeMeo never skipped a beat as a member of a band known for its brotherly love and harmonic blends: Pete joined his brothers Dennis and Jerry in global gigs that got acclaim and attention for their derring-do, starting a decade ago, as the DeMeo Brothers Band.
Before that he got his percussion perks as a drummer for Pancho's Lament, familiar to fans of the WB and CW TV networks, which used the band's music.
These days, DeMeo is also giving voice to an ambition he's now activated. As a songwriter/singer, the New Hope notable is giving hope to anyone who's ever thought of life as more than just a song in their heart. Through his new company, SongConnect, he can "turn people's lives, their story, into song," which he can write and perform, giving permanence and pride for a life well lived.
The business, he claims, "has taken off like gangbusters."
And he ain't whistlin' Dixie — but DeMeo might whistle another area of the country for you. Yes, he loves to whistle, he tweets between his teeth, and which he is proud to point to as one of his skills.
Just how good is he? Is this voiceover artist the mother whistler of all whistlers?
No, he says. "I am ...
"Whistler's dad."
Michael Elkin is a playwright, theater critic and novelist who lives in Abington. He writes columns about theater and the arts.
If You Go
"Breaking Into the Voiceover World,": an intermediate course taught by voiceover artist Pete DeMeo of NBC's "Today," is just one of a number of offerings from the Bucks County Playhouse, as part of the its Fall 2023 educational opportunities. Sessions are being held at Lambertville Hall, in Lambertville NJ.
Classes available from other instructors are also scheduled in "Improv for Adults," "Beginning Adult Tap" and "Acting for the Camera."
For information, email Ellen Gallos, assistant director/Education, at ellen@buckscountyplayhouse.org.
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