Dee Snider trades in rock ‘n roll for puppets

(Page 2 of 3)

“Baldwin is an average little town, it doesn’t really make a blip on anybody’s radar, but to me that’s its appeal,” he says. “Some of us celebrities are from London and New York City, but I think the vast majority of us come from little, out of the way places that nobody knows about, and that’s because the arts count. I was in a choir in Baldwin and it was my saving grace. I met my first musicians and friends and rocked there for the first time. I was in the drama club and I got my first introduction to the arts at a suburban high school [Baldwin Senior High], as did so many others.”

Though Snider can often be caught out and about on Long Island (“My wife says, ‘Hey, we need light bulbs. Go to Home Depot and get some f**ing light bulbs!’” he laughs of not having the expected entourage), this week marks his last as a resident. Snider has sold his house in Stony Brook to make his home base in Las Vegas where he will be closer to his children and grandchildren. However, he still considers New York his home, and looks forward to being here for the opening of “Titus Andronicus,” a Twisted Sister charity show, at Best Buy Theater on Sept. 5, and his 12th annual LI Cares Ride to Fight Hunger, on Sept. 7, at Lido Beach Park. That’s not to mention his aspiration to return to Broadway (where he starred in Rock of Ages in 2010) with a new comedic musical that he penned and will star in throughout its tryout in Chicago.

“‘Rock & Roll Christmas Tale’ opens in November, but our hope is that it’ll be coming to Broadway in 2015 and to have licensed casts all over the country as an alternate to the traditional holiday fare,” he says of the venture. “The show is about a heavy metal band that sells their soul to the devil, but finds the magic of Christmas instead. The Radio City Rockettes got nothing on me!”

Page 2 / 3