Episode 382 – Finding Your Unstoppable Voice with Amber Ba’th’s Story of Faith and Resilience
What does it mean to truly use your voice—to tell stories, bring words to life, and inspire others even when life throws challenge’s your way? My guest this week, Amber Ba’th, embodies that Unstoppable spirit. Amber is a professional voice actor, a Bible narrator for the Dwell app, and a functional nutritionist who turned a life-changing diagnosis into a deeper calling.
Amber opens up about performing on stage, finding her place in the booth, and learning resilience after being diagnosed with transverse myelitis. Her story reminds us that creativity and courage don’t fade—they evolve. I think you’ll be moved by her honesty, her strength, and her Unstoppable commitment to sharing her voice with the world.
Highlights:
00:10 – Hear how early curiosity in theater grew into a lifelong love for performance.
03:21 – Learn how family roots in the arts shaped a career in acting and voice.
07:21 – Discover why live theater creates a unique audience experience you can’t get in film.
14:03 – See how studying Theater Arts Administration opened doors beyond the stage.
17:24 – Find out what moving to LA taught her about auditions, hustle, and opportunity.
25:37 – Get the real entry point into voiceover and why COVID pushed her to record at home.
27:26 – Understand the scope and process of narrating the entire CSB Bible for the Dwell app.
32:07 – Learn how leaning into “villain” characters can expand your VO range.
35:06 – Take why acting classes matter for believable, persuasive voiceover reads.
38:05 – Hear her journey with transverse myelitis and how she reframed ability.
43:47 – See how diet changes and self-advocacy supported healing and daily function.
54:14 – Learn practical nutrition tips VO pros use to protect tone and clarity.
About the Guest:
Hi, I’m Amber Ba’th—pronounced By-ee-th! I’m a Philadelphia native with roots in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. I earned my BFA in Theatre Arts Administration from the legendary Howard University, and from the very beginning, storytelling and performance have been a huge part of my life. Whether through stage, screen, or sound, I believe creative expression has the ability to inspire, uplift, and connect people. That belief and my faith in Christ, has guided every step of my journey in the entertainment industry.
With over 20 years of experience in theater and film, I’ve worn many hats—actor, voice actor, producer, company manager, and coach. My early days at Philadelphia’s Freedom Theatre gave me the foundation to work on national tours and major productions, such as The Fabric of a Man (national stage and film), and the national tour of If This Hat Could Talk under Tony Award-winning director George Faison. I’ve also stepped in front of the camera, appearing in Ice Cube’s Friday After Next and national print campaigns for McDonald’s that landed me in Essence, O Magazine, and Woman’s World.
Voice acting has become one of my deepest passions. I’ve had the privilege of lending my voice to projects for Delorean, Holler Studios, Amazon, Make Originals, and most notably, narrating the greatest story ever told for the Dwell Bible App; just to name a few. I’m known for being versatile—able to bring warmth, humor, authority, and charisma into every read. Whether a character needs to feel animated, compassionate, bold, or simply relatable, I approach every project with creative precision and care.
I’ve been fortunate to learn from incredible mentors like Nick Omana, Art Evans, Queen Noveen, Linda Bearman, Al Woodley, Joyce Castellanos, JD Lawrence, and Rolonda Watts, and to collaborate with talent across every corner of this industry. I’m always growing, always listening, and always grateful. My goal is not only to entertain but also to reflect God’s grace through my work. Faith is my anchor—it’s the reason I’m able to keep showing up in this ever-changing field with joy and purpose.
Outside of my career, I’m a mother of two, and I live with a “different ability” that has only strengthened my walk and testimony. I believe that what God has for me is for me, and I want other artists to feel empowered to claim that same truth for themselves. As someone in the faith, You are royalty—act like it, speak like it, know it. I’m here to tell stories, give voice to vision, and ultimately to help others feel seen, heard, and deeply valued in this industry.
Ways to connect with Amber:
LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamamberbath/
IG- https://www.instagram.com/iamamberbath/
YouTube- YouTube.com/@iamamberbath
Website- www.iamamberbath.com
About the Host:
Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog.
Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children’s Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association’s 2012 Hero Dog Awards.
https://michaelhingson.com
https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/
https://twitter.com/mhingson
https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/
accessiBe Links
https://accessibe.com/
https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe
https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/
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Transcription Notes:
Michael Hingson ** 00:00
Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I’m Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that’s a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we’re happy to meet you and to have you here with us.
Michael Hingson ** 01:21
Well, hello everyone. Wherever you happen to be, I am Michael Hingson, and this is unstoppable mindset. We are really excited that you’re here with us today. And we have a fascinating guest who was referred to us by another fascinating guest who is coming on unstoppable mindset, and we’ll get to all that, I am sure. But Amber bath is how she pronounces her last name by eth. I’m saying that right. I assume that is correct. Oh, good. Never want to get it too wrong, you know. Anyway, Amber is a voice actor and does a lot of different things. And we learned about Amber from someone who we were referred to by Walden Hughes, that reps in yesterday USA, and Walden has been on unstoppable mindset a couple of times. Amber, do you know Walden? I know I don’t. Well, then we can spread all sorts of rumors and you’ll believe everyone, right, absolutely. Anyway. So anyway, what Linda Berryman, you know, so that works. Anyway, I want to welcome you to unstoppable mindset. It’s really a joy and a pleasure to have you, and thank you for being here.
Amber Ba’th ** 02:42
Thank you for having me. This is such an exciting moment. Well,
Michael Hingson ** 02:46
I’m anxious to learn all about voice acting and some of those things. But why don’t we start by maybe you telling us a little bit about kind of the early Amber growing up and all that sort of stuff. Well, always a good place to start. You know, a
Amber Ba’th ** 03:02
long time ago
Michael Hingson ** 03:03
in a galaxy, far, far away, yes,
Amber Ba’th ** 03:07
oh my gosh. Well, I I’m a suburbian girl here. I’m from the suburbs, actually Philadelphia. I was actually born in DC, raised in Philly, went back to DC, then moved all the way across country to La La Land. Is that where you are now, I’m not. I’m actually back in DC.
Michael Hingson ** 03:33
Go figure. Right now I’m, I’m really curious to hear the history of all these moves. But anyway, so you were raised in Philadelphia. Did you ever meet Rocky Balboa? Just checking,
Amber Ba’th ** 03:45
no, just ran the steps. You did run the steps. I did run the steps. Yeah, actually got a heat stroke. But I did. I was, I was young at the time, and it was super hot. And you know, it’s like, yeah, you know, I’m gonna run the steps. Ran the steps, and just shouldn’t have
Michael Hingson ** 04:04
done that, not in the middle of the day. No, when did he run them? It was in the morning, wasn’t it?
Amber Ba’th ** 04:11
Yeah, he always ran in the morning. So no, I was this was in the heat of the day.
Michael Hingson ** 04:16
So huh, we all have our growth issues that we have to deal with so so you but you were raised in Philadelphia, and you went to school there and so on, and what kind of were your interests and so on, growing up
Amber Ba’th ** 04:32
theater, I was really, I mean, I come from A family who has always been in the spotlight. I had two aunts who actually had a touring show titled The sisters, the Stuart sisters. And, you know, I’ve always been wanting either to dance, to sing, to act. That was just. Just my thing.
Michael Hingson ** 05:02
So they you came by, it pretty honestly. Then exactly anything else. They were actors in the show.
Amber Ba’th ** 05:10
They were, yeah, one was a singer and one was an actress.
Michael Hingson ** 05:12
Yes, oh, cool, yeah. Well, and what was the show about?
Amber Ba’th ** 05:18
Actually, it was about Harriet Tubman, Sojourner, Sojourner, truth. And it was it they actually toured different toward the country and talked about the Underground Railroad and and and how they were able to escape and free other, other slaves.
Michael Hingson ** 05:42
Now that show isn’t whether it’s your parents or not, but that show is not on now. It’s not running.
Amber Ba’th ** 05:50
This was a stage play. This was many, many years
Michael Hingson ** 05:52
ago, right, right, yeah, but they but no one has continued. I would think it would be a very valuable thing to keep around you.
Amber Ba’th ** 05:59
Would think it would be that, you know, the traditional way, but we kind of moved in different directions, you know. So
Michael Hingson ** 06:06
everything closes eventually. The fantastics eventually closed, and that was on for the longest time, yeah? Well, even cats was on for a long time. Oh, yeah. I, I think, although I don’t know, but the producers, I think, has closed,
Amber Ba’th ** 06:22
yeah. And I really wanted to see that. I saw the film, but I wanted to see the stage play.
Michael Hingson ** 06:28
Oh, the stage play was much better than the film, I’m sure. You know, I don’t know what it is about Matthew Broderick, but he just doesn’t sound natural in films. But we went to see it. It was in August of 2001 and we were living in New Jersey, and I was in New York, because that’s where we had our offices, on the 78th floor of Tower One of the World Trade Center. And on a Tuesday in 2001 in August, I went over to the theater where the producers was, and I figured, I’ll see if I can get tickets. Because my wife, Karen, who was now she’s my late wife. She and I were married for 40 years, and then she passed away. But anyway, we I decided that we would try to see it, and I went over to the theater, and I said, so I want to see if I can get two tickets to the producers. And I knew that the media had said all the news media said, you can’t get a ticket before March of 2002 and I said, well, but the deal is that my wife is in a wheelchair. Can we by any chance get a matinee to to go see it? And the guy said, I’m sorry, there’s just nothing until at least no December. And I said, Well, okay, is there any chance of any other time other than the weekend, or anything that we could get? And he said, Well, just wait a minute. And he goes away, and he comes back and he goes, What are you doing Saturday night? I went, I guess I’ll go see the producers, right? And we did. We got to see the original cast, of course, Matthew Broderick, Nathan Lane and Katie Huffman, who played Ulla. And was so wonderful to see that show. We had seen Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. And then we saw Nathan Lane, and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. So we had seen them all perform before, but that was so fun to see.
Amber Ba’th ** 08:27
That’s awesome, yeah, yeah.
Michael Hingson ** 08:29
And I think that the film wasn’t nearly as good as the play, but
Amber Ba’th ** 08:34
I’m sure it wasn’t. So my theater is so dear to me. I I don’t know, it’s something about the willingness, suspension of disbelief, of breaking out of reality and just, you know, getting away from it all, and just sitting and enjoying yourself, laughing at just sometimes it can be nonsensical. Sometimes it can be sort of reality, you know, whatever, whatever genre you like, and it’s nothing like being in the audience when you’re when you’re having when you’re in there as live theater. So it’s always a great opportunity to go and see a show, if you are able.
Michael Hingson ** 09:18
Why is it so much more fun, and so many people feel as you do about that, as opposed to going to a movie,
Amber Ba’th ** 09:29
it’s, it’s a it’s a cultural thing for me, and it’s immersing yourself in the culture of theater, seeing the different nuances. There’s sometimes there’s interaction, like, they’ll break the fourth wall. Sometimes in that, in every show, is not the same. That’s the great thing about theater, because you could go to a show on a Monday and then you go back to see it on a Friday, and it’s like, totally different. Yeah, you.
Michael Hingson ** 10:00
It was 93 or 94 whenever they had the big baseball strike. And I went to see Damn Yankees, which has always been one of my favorite movies, because I’ve always been a ray Walston fan anyway, but went to see it, and during the the and I don’t remember who was, who was in it, but at one point, Mr. Applegate, the devil, said, we’ve got to do something to to disrupt this whole baseball thing and get Joe Hardy back in line with what we want. He said, I got it. Let’s organize a baseball strike right there in the middle of the theater. I mean, you know that that had to be ad libbed and just done, but it was so funny to see.
Amber Ba’th ** 10:44
Yeah, you never know what you’re gonna get. You know, it’s always exciting to see. And
Michael Hingson ** 10:49
I think that the reason that I like theater over over movies is, in part, you’re hearing a lot more. Even though there’s still audio and electronics, you’re still hearing the PA system. You’re not hearing the PA system as much. You’re really hearing voices exactly you’re hearing and seeing so many things. We did go to see Damn Yankees again a few years later, we had moved to New Jersey by that time, and Jerry Lewis was playing Mr. Applegate. Wow. It was the only time he ever did anything on Broadway and and did such a wonderful job. It was incredible, really.
Amber Ba’th ** 11:26
You know, it’s the last show that I actually saw. Was Daniel at the sight and sound Oh and oh my goodness, I’m gonna go back. I’m gonna go see Noah. But I was literally sitting on the floor at the end aisle, and when the animals came out, I could actually reach out and touch them if I wanted to. But it was just so beautifully done. It was so amazing. It I can’t, I can’t even there are words that can’t describe the the acting, the set, set design, the sound, everything about that show was amazing.
Michael Hingson ** 12:12
We went to see the Lion King. Karen’s brother got us tickets. He was a certified ski guide in France, and he was coming back for the summer with his family, and got all of us tickets. So we went to see Lion King. It was a matinee on a Wednesday, and we got into the theater and the show started. And I knew kind of how it started, with the music and so on, but there’s still nothing like hearing it live. But we it live. But we, we, we were listening. And then at one point, of course, the hyenas come in, and they meet with scar but in the play, in the in the musical, they come in from the back of the theater, down the stairs, and Karen, of course, being in a wheelchair, sitting in her chair on the aisle, and the hyenas are growling and they’re coming by, and one of them gets right up next to her and goes, you’ve never seen a lady in a wheelchair jump out of her chair. Oh, it was so funny, but we were talking about it later, and she said, It wasn’t long before you got completely used to all these animals, these puppets, and you didn’t think of them as anything but the actual animals, wow, which, you know, you you you get in a theater, which you don’t get the same in the movies at all. But it was, it was a lot of fun. We actually did get to go backstage afterward and meet some of the actors, and I actually got a chance to look at one of the animals, which was kind of fun.
Amber Ba’th ** 13:47
That’s awesome, you know, I’m sorry. The other thing is that when you are in live theater, there’s an intermission, and you get to actually mix and mingle with other people, other theater goers. So that’s always another thing. I mean, you know, going to the movies. Yeah, you see other people walking back and forth, but they’re, you know, rushing for their seat, going to the restroom, getting, you know, and going to the concessions. But there are moments where they’re either taking pictures. Sometimes the cast members may come out during intermission, take pictures, and it’s more of an interaction with everybody.
Michael Hingson ** 14:24
We went to see God spell once in San Diego, and what we didn’t know was there was a guy out there who was coming up to people and wanting to clean their windshields and so on. And what we didn’t know until later was that was the actor who played John. He was in character. He was being a servant. It was, it was great. That was so clever. That’s awesome. So what did you do for college? Well, I went, as if we don’t know,
Amber Ba’th ** 14:55
and I know, right? I went to Howard University. Yeah, and I majored in theater arts administration, uh huh, yeah. So it’s the funny thing about that was I always, you know, was in the theater, and my mother told me, I am not paying for you to be an actor. I’m like, Well, I don’t know anything else. And this particular year, when I came in, they had just started the theater arts administration program, and I said, Well, I can’t do acting. I don’t know anything else. This is it. And I really didn’t know what that entailed until I got in and I said, Hmm, let’s see I get to know the behind the scenes aspects. I can also be a producer to director. I could, you know, basically tell people what to do. That is for me,
Michael Hingson ** 15:50
there you go. So you so you got your degree in that. How come your mother wouldn’t pay for you to be an actor?
Amber Ba’th ** 15:59
Because, I mean, back then it was just like, you know, that’s something that that’s not a real job, no. And even though she did it, they think like that, you know, that’s not a real job. You know, it’ll never amount to anything. You won’t you get, you won’t get where you want to be, you know. So I said, you know, I don’t know anything else but, but this so, you know, so thank God that that was something that was there when I did come in there.
Michael Hingson ** 16:27
Well, so you, you got your degree in theater arts, production, administration, administration, and so you, you learned how to tell everybody what to do, which sounds a good thing to do, right? And so then what happened after college?
Amber Ba’th ** 16:47
Well, after college, I was I had always been one of those types that said, Oh no, I just got out of college, and maybe two days later I don’t have a job, and I’m always worried about that, but I had someone, a classmate, say, You know what, I think you’d be a good fit for this. And what is she talking about? And I don’t know if you recall HBO taxicab confessions, uh huh. Okay, so they actually came to DC, and, you know, they chose me. I was chosen to be their production assistant, and I was in the follow vehicle with the cab, you know, all that kind of stuff. And it was like, Okay, this is a lot. This is a lot. They never aired it because a little too risque. But, I mean, they could air it now, but, you know, and they asked me to come to LA, you know, as, and that was a funny thing, because when, before then, I said, oh gosh, I’ll never go to LA. It’s like Sodom and Gomorrah. And so I wound up going to LA they said, you know, I’ll give you, you know, get you a round trip ticket, you know, you can either stay, you can go back, you know, giving me that option. And I took it. I took it, and it was the best thing that I’ve
Michael Hingson ** 18:14
ever done. What did you do when you got out here?
Amber Ba’th ** 18:17
When I got out there? I, of course, I was working with them for a little bit, and then I decided, You know what, I want to be an actress. This is what this is. I’m here. I am in Hollywood.
Michael Hingson ** 18:29
Mom, not withstanding.
Amber Ba’th ** 18:33
I said, Oh my gosh. And of course, what did I do? I got whatever most actors got was a waitress, a way a serving job, you know, just something enough that I could act flexible enough that I could actually go on auditions and things like that. And I did. I went on auditions. I met a lot of different celebrities. I was in McDonald’s had their quote, unquote, adult happy meal that I actually was the poster girl for. I was like, Oh my goodness. And I was in magazines, you know, things like that. And then one day, a friend of mine who graduated with me in theater arts administration, she was actually doing a production, a touring play as the company manager, which is like a tour manager. And she she got another invite to be the company manager on TD Jason’s TD Jakes show, and she really wanted to take that so the producer said, Well, you’re gonna have to find a replacement. So she called me up and I started working on a show with David Talbert called the fabric of a man who had starred Shamar Moore, and we toured for. Oh, wow. This is interesting, because I didn’t really think about this until I started talking. We toured until let’s see 910 and I remember because something happened in Houston, Texas, and we had to refund money to all of the audience members, and we’re leaving. And what I would do after each show is make sure that the hotel was was taken care of, everything was taken care of. And we went home. Everyone went to their destinations, and we went home. And that morning, I called the hotel, and he told me that different people were still there, and I’m and I just didn’t understand why, you know, at the time, because it was really early in the morning in LA and so I’m calling, and I’m like, Well, what’s happening? He said, You don’t know what’s going on. And I said, No. He said, planes are going down everywhere. And I’m like, What are you talking about? I turned on the TV, and that’s when I saw the second plane going into the tower. And I just Oh my gosh, this is kind of bringing back some stuff, because I am a woman of faith, and I actually prior to us leaving for seven days, prior to us going to to to Houston. I kept having these dreams about a plane going down in a field, you know, but it would be continuous things. And then the next night, there were planes. There were planes. Looks like two planes colliding. Then there was, I saw people falling out of the sky, and I was like that, this is not making any sense. I didn’t know anything. I mean, I was, I didn’t know what was going on. And I just kept dreaming these dreams. This is what’s happening. Then when we when we were leaving Houston, I had a dream prior to us leaving of the exact shape, color of this plane that went down in the field. And we were, I was at the airport, and I’m looking, and I’m like, okay, that’s not the plane that I saw. And so I get on the I get on the plane, and as I’m about to settle in, about to, you know, leave Houston, go to LA, there’s a man dressed in Arab garb with, you know, something on his head. And I don’t know why I said this, but I just said, I hope he doesn’t want to jack the plane. And I went to sleep, and i The dream that I had was that I really saw who was falling out of the sky, but they had on business suits. So when I called the hotel and he told me this, it, it just took over me. You know, I was in shambles. I was like, What? What did I just dream? What happened? Something is not right. I didn’t know what was wrong with me at the time. I thought there was something actually wrong with me. Like, why am I dreaming this? What is happening? So that was just something that you happened to ask me the question, and that brought it back. And then I’m thinking about you, you know, so,
Michael Hingson ** 23:44
ah, you know, so many people, many people that I’ve talked to who didn’t at first know what was happening, and they they either turn on their TV, or they were at an airport or something, and they saw the second plane hit the towers and they thought it was a movie. And I’ve heard so many people say that then, of course, they realized that it wasn’t a movie. But you know, a lot of people just thought it was a movie at first, because nobody could imagine it. And you know, that is true. How who would have thought that somebody would deliberately crash airplanes like that into the towers and into the Pentagon? And, of course, now the the one falling out of the sky was that flight 93 in Pennsylvania, Yes, uh huh. And eventually, when you saw the plane, or whatever that was, the plane that you dreamed about, exactly, yeah, uh huh, and that’s not surprising. Yeah, there are so many stories of of different things that people experienced that day. We didn’t know anything about what was going on until actually we got out of the. Towers, and both towers had collapsed, and my wife was the first one who told us that aircraft had been hijacked and so on. And of course, people say to me all the time, well, of course, you didn’t know because you couldn’t see it. Excuse me, the last time I checked as I tell people Superman and X ray vision are fiction, and the reality is the airplane hit about 18 floors above us on the other side of the building, no one knew all the way down the stairs, the hundreds of people that I interacted with going down the stairs didn’t know what happened. We figured, we figured an airplane hit the building because we were smelling burning jet fuel fumes as we were going down the stairs. So we figured an airplane hit the building. But we had no details. We had no information. Blindness. Didn’t have anything to do with it at all. But yeah, it’s, it’s just one of those things. Well, so you were in, you were still in the business of telling people what to do, which was really good. And how did you eventually, then get into voice acting?
Amber Ba’th ** 26:04
Well, I had always first, it’s funny because you people who get into voice acting, oh, I really want to get into voice acting, and they think it’s just this one thing that was me. I i always like to do voices. I like to play around with different things. My favorite is the villain. I don’t know what it is, but I like to play the villain. But what happened was,
Michael Hingson ** 26:30
you and Cruella de Vil, okay,
Amber Ba’th ** 26:34
it was actually covid. You know, it was. The thing was that I literally was a preschool teacher at the time. And, you know, because after I left, I left LA, I got married and I had kids, and, you know, that kind of thing. So I was back in DC, and so, you know, after that, I covid happened, and I don’t want to say it forced me, but it forced me. Nudged me, you know? And I said, you know, this would be great, because different things were happening. Where I was meeting people on on an on an app called clubhouse, and I said, Oh, this is cool. And I’ve always loved audio dramas too. So I actually about a $40 mic. I bought an eye rig, and I just hooked it up, and I just started talking. And I was in some acting workshops, some improv workshops. I was cast in an audio drama on clubhouse, you know? So it was, I was like, Oh, this is fun, you know, I like talking to myself anyway, so why not? So I created space in my walk in closet, and there you have it.
Michael Hingson ** 28:00
And the rest, as they say, is history. That’s right. So what kind of roles have you had, and what kinds of voices and so on, have you created and done?
Amber Ba’th ** 28:11
Well, I I actually, I did the Bible, you know. And whenever I tell the person I narrated the Bible, they’re like, the whole Bible, yeah, the whole Bible, technically, that would be 66 books that I narrate, yeah, you know. But yeah, I did the whole Bible for a Bible app, the CSB version for the dwell app, and it was just amazing, because just a little story behind that, I was someone wanted me to narrate their book, and they said that, you know, we want you to narrate it, but we don’t want to use your name. We want you to. We want to, we want to use your voice, but we want the narrow, the author to be the narrator. Is this like a ghost Narrator or something, really, that’s a
Michael Hingson ** 29:10
little strange, you know? And, oh, we’ll give you this
Amber Ba’th ** 29:13
amount of money. Like, okay? And then I actually was praying about it. And, you know, the Lord spoke to me, and he said, I gave you that voice. So I had to decline. And then someone else came to me to narrate a book, and they were taking forever. Oh, it’s not ready yet. It’s ready. It’s not ready yet. And I said, look, okay, I can’t do this. I had auditioned for the Bible. And normally it takes, it’s like a 2448 hour turnaround time to really know if you if this is for you. Yeah, and I didn’t hear anything for about maybe three weeks. And I was like, I guess they found their person. And. I get an email saying that we got good news. You just booked the CSV version. I think I dropped whatever I had in my hand and fell before and, you know, it was just, it was just amazing. So, you know, because what I what happened was I read the Bible every day, and this particular and I read it in a year. So this particular year, I decided to listen to it, and, you know? And I said, You know what, Lord, it would be cool if I could narrate this. And then I had this audition, and I was blessed to read the Bible, and I did it in less than a year.
Michael Hingson ** 30:41
Wow, yeah, it’s clearly, you know, it’s a long thing. Do you know who Carl Omari is? No. Carl Omari, well, he’s probably most known for having recreated the Twilight Zone radio broadcasts. So he, years ago, he took all the Twilight Zone episodes. He got permission from Rod Serling estate, and he created radio broadcasts of them, but he also did the Living Bible, and he got people like Michael York to to be involved in other actors and so on. So I know having, and I own a copy, and I didn’t even know about Carl doing it at the time, but it’s 98 hours long. It’s a long it’s a big one.
Amber Ba’th ** 31:22
It’s a long one. It is long. But, yeah, that was exciting. Also, I recently just narrated a book called heaven, not by Patricia Robinson, and it’s very Orwellian. I should say, you know, I, as I was renarrating it, I’m like, this stuff is happening now. And she wrote it years ago. And I’m talking about, as my children would say, in the 1900s you know. So it was, it was amazing. It was amazing to do that and and I love it, but I do love animated characters. So one of the characters that I never actually thought that I was someone to do impersonations. You know, it’s like I got my own voice. You don’t need to do anybody else voice. But I was in a workshop for with a good friend, Chris Woodsworth, and he’s over in the UK. And he said, Well, what do you like to do? And I said, I like villains. So he thought of a villain, and I never would have thought about Isma from the Emperor’s New Groove, and when I was researching, when I was going over the lines, I had to stop myself, because it scared me, because I said, Wait a minute, I really sound like her.
Michael Hingson ** 32:56
All right, really creepy. We need to hear you sound like a villain.
Amber Ba’th ** 33:00
Oh, my goodness, Isma. Okay, so Isma is Cronk. Why did I think that you got this one simple thing? It’s like you’re a dude, a really, really big stupid monkey named Cronk. And do you want to know something else? I never licked your spinach puffs, never Oh, oh, gosh, oh, goodness. And then, you know, I love, it’s the last the laugh that a villain does. I did that, you know, I, I did one. It’s called a micro animation called house in the Outlands, and I played a character named sathagawa. And it was one of those, you know, one of those. It was so cool. You know,
Michael Hingson ** 33:49
I’ve, I’ve always been impressed with listening to voices and so on, and voice acting, to a large degree, one of the things that I that really made me appreciate a lot of it was, of course, James Earl Jones playing Darth Vader on Star Wars. And then I had the opportunity, while I was in New York once, to go see James Earl Jones and Christopher Plummer in Othello. What an amazing performance, because at the end, when Othello falls on his sword, you know, you know what’s going to happen. People have read the play. It’s not like Othello is a secret, right, right? The whole crowd just went when he did that. I mean, they were so drawn in by the power of both of their voices and the acting, which is, I’ve just always loved the fact that people can do that.
Amber Ba’th ** 34:48
Yeah, it’s it’s amazing. Sometimes I listen to myself and I’m like, That’s me.
Michael Hingson ** 34:56
Well, your prejudice. So I. But still, it’s just amazing how people can can do so much with with voice collecting old radio shows, as I do, it’s really fascinating to to hear all the old shows and the different things that that people do, and the way they can sound so natural doing so many different kinds of voices and so on. And I think we’ve lost that art, to a degree, at least for a lot of people who try to go off and recreate radio shows, it sounds forced. And we’ve we’ve not been able to really train people, although I think one of the things that the radio enthusiast of Puget Sound wants to do is to actually start providing some acting classes to teach people how to use their voices in really doing radio shows, right.
Amber Ba’th ** 35:54
Yeah, yeah, you’re so right. I mean, when I was I was actually a a moderator and assistant to a improv workshop coach. I always told students it is so imperative to take acting classes. I mean, I know with voiceovers, it’s a lot of it’s commercial and things like that, but you have to understand that when you are conveying a message, you know, I don’t care how great your voice sounds, if the listener cannot feel, you cannot really get into what you’re saying. Or even, let’s just say it’s a commercial for food. If they can’t say, Okay, I gotta go and get some food. Now, you know, then you didn’t do your job, right? You know? And I tried to let I said, Listen, it’s not just people, you know. They will say, Oh, I’m selling burgers. No, you’re not. You’re not selling burgers. You know, it’s people are hungry. You know, you’re telling people this is what they should do because you’re hungry, it’s mouth watering, yeah, you know, describe what you’re eating, and you have to do it in such a way, in such in such a short amount of time, that it just leaves people salivating, you know? And that’s, that’s what they want, that’s what sells the food, the product, or or whatever, whatever it is that you are sharing. So I really tell students, please take acting classes. Yeah, you have to see it, envision it. Sometimes you got to get up and, you know, move around. Sometimes when you’re doing auditions, or when you’re actually doing a session or performances, you know, and nobody can see you.
Michael Hingson ** 37:50
And it’s about the voice. I know that the again, reps the radio enthusiast at Puget Sound does a number of radio recreations. I participated in a couple, but one of the things that I do, and a few of the actors who have been around for a long time, Margaret O’Brien and Beverly Washburn and other people like that, before they will undertake one of the parts that they’re they’re asked to do in recreating a radio show, they go back and listen to the original show because they want to get into the character.
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