It started with telling bedtime stories to his little brother. Today, Cold Spring”™s Jonathan Kruk, known as “the storyteller” throughout the mid-Hudson Valley, captivates hundreds of children.
He even teaches children to write their own stories. He can be heard spinning tales at a birthday party, in a classroom or at a river festival, often costumed to reflect the story”™s theme.
Raised in Katonah and a graduate of John Jay High School in Katonah, he earned a bachelor”™s degree from Holy Cross College in Worcester, Mass., and a master”™s degree in educational theater from New York University.
While in college, he told stories to children who, as he notes, were like “little hungry birds waiting to listen.” In this era of short attention spans, he incorporates sound effects and gestures to keep his audience fascinated. “In the early days I competed with television,” he says. “Now it”™s personal devices.”
An educational undertaking is for Kruk to tell a story, instruct children to retell the story and, finally, to write an original story featuring one of the characters. “Children have forgotten how to pretend,” he laments.
Kruk worked odd jobs while building his primary career. “I had a business caring for office plants. I was an interior horticulturalist for Henry Kissinger for ten years. He loves white gardenias,” Kruk says.
Finally, he was able to support himself as a storyteller. He became in demand for children”™s birthday parties. “Little girls of seven are the easiest audience,” he reports. “They sit still. The hardest are little boys of seven.” The nightmare of his career came with this age group when engaged to entertain at a sleepover party for nine boys. “It went well until they brought on the birthday cake,” he remembers. “The birthday boy blew out the candles and then pushed his face into the cake. The other boys followed suit while the two parents and I wrestled to restrain them.”
Adult audiences are captivated by Kruk”™s tales of the region, especially “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” his signature performance.
But it was a child who afforded him his most rewarding experience. “The little boy was dying of cancer and told me he loved pirate tales. I went to his home to revisit him, and he said, ”˜I love pirate stories, and I love you, too.”™”
Kruk met his soul mate, Andrea Sadler, while telling “The Tale of the Frog Prince” at a Clearwater Festival nearly a decade ago.
“I was showing a film of mine and volunteering at the environmental action tent,” recalls the Canadian-born Sadler, who married Kruk 7½ years ago.
“She was seated among the children and distracted me with her blue eyes and radiant smile,” he says. For her, “My jaw was dropping, and I wanted to kiss him.”
Today, they are creative collaborators. Costumed, he tells stories while she sings and plays the guitar or documents his performance. Sadler was an aspiring actress when she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Concordia University in Montreal, traveling to Japan to make films, including a documentary, “The Sacred Run, the Lotus and the Feather.” Recently she produced a DVD of her husband”™s retelling of “The Legend.”
His book, “Legends and Lore of Sleepy Hollow and the Hudson Valley,” is in its third printing. He plans to publish his children”™s stories, such as “Barkface and Rootnose.” His eight recordings include readings on Washington Irving and Rip Van Winkle.
The couple heads for a post-Valentine”™s Day performance in Oyster Bay, where he will portray the Mad Hatter and she, the Queen of Hearts.
Challenging Careers focuses on the exciting and unusual business lives of Hudson Valley residents. Comments or suggestions may be emailed to Catherine Portman-Laux at cplaux@optonline.net.
