MOUNT VERNON — Although Micky Dolenz readily confesses to having a short attention span, there is one long thread that runs through all his work over the years in the entertainment industry: He’s a born storyteller.
“I pick the songs with a story,” Dolenz said Tuesday via phone from Los Angeles.
The former drummer and singer for The Monkees is appearing Saturday night in Mount Vernon as part of the 2008 Dan Emmett Music & Arts Festival, but live concerts are merely one of the numerous hats worn by this showbiz professional.
“That’s one thing I learned with the help of my parents, who were in the business,” Dolenz said. “You cannot wait around for the phone to ring.”
And he hasn’t. From starring as “Circus Boy” on television in the mid-’50s to directing “Boy Meets World” for ABC, from writing the children’s book “Gakky Two-Feet,” to recently starring on Broadway and touring as Charlemagne in the musical “Pippin,” Dolenz has challenged himself to a wide range of activities.
Dolenz relies on his theatrical training to keep him focused during live shows. Unlike some performers, Dolenz isn’t plagued with stage fright. Instead, he said, performing is where he has the most fun.
“It’s like having a birthday party every night,” Dolenz said.
He said the hard part of performing live shows is traveling, which has gotten worse in recent years. That’s the work, in his estimation.
“They pay me to travel, I sing for free,” Dolenz said.
His show Saturday night will feature the hits which first made The Monkees famous, including such favorites as “Last Train to Clarksville,” “Daydream Believer,” and “(I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone.”
How well did such pop fare mesh with Dolenz’s own musical tastes when he was selected to be a member of the made-for-television band?
“Quite frankly, not at all,” Dolenz said, citing his favorites at the time as being edgy rockers like Van Morrison, The Rolling Stones, The Animals and Chuck Berry.
He auditioned for the job with a Chuck Berry song — which he promises to perform Saturday night during his show — along with a Jimi Hendrix song as a nod to the live concert tour where Hendrix opened for The Monkees. Today, Dolenz enjoys playing the range of songs from screaming rockers to the polished pop of The Monkees’ hits, which he tries to perform in their original style and spirit.
“I try to be honest to the record,” Dolenz said. “It’s real important to fulfill that unspoken contract with the audience. I know they’re there to hear The Monkees hits.”
His sister, Coco, will join him, as she often does, for this concert. They pick songs with stories and tell a number of stories along the way, too. Outside of musical projects, Dolenz doesn’t listen to music much, opting for standards, Michael Bublé or classical music when he and his wife are around the house, or news radio when he’s in the car.
Dolenz has plenty of future projects taking shape. He hopes to write more children’s books, as “Gakky Two-Feet” is one of the projects of which he’s most proud. He undertook that after directing children’s television shows in England. He has considered returning full circle by developing an animated version of the book for TV. Dolenz also hopes to indulge his love of performing in Broadway musicals, something he only discovered a few years ago, to great acclaim in “Grease” and “Aïda.”
All of these projects, he said, allow him to entertain people with different kinds of storytelling.
Dolenz will perform Saturday at 9:30 p.m. on the First-Knox Main Stage on Public Square.
