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- Born October 9th, 1975 in
Columbus, Ohio, Adam Kontras knew at a very early age
that he wanted to be an entertainer. His father,
Michael
Kontras, was the
first to influence his artistic side with music.
Michael played piano and sang in numerous professional
touring bands throughout Adam's childhood and into his
mid-twenties. Growing up in a musical household was
further cemented by his mother, Raelynne, who sang and
played the flute around Adam from the moment he was
born.
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- "I remember always
singing as a kid. Constantly. My mom always
encorporated music in everyday chores. I'd sing in the
bathtub, sing at school, sing myself to sleep...music
was everywhere. As well, I was tinkering on the
piano as soon as I could sit-up, even playing at
my pre-school when I was 3. It was very clear the
direction I was going."
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- Adam's gift for comedy was
apparent even in elementry school when he would retell
his favorite Bill Cosby jokes in class for crayons.
The teachers took notice of Adam's talents and his 6th
grade english teacher, Carolyn Barton, pulled him
aside and asked him to perform Spike Jonze's "Gloworm"
for the school talent show. A request that meant Adam
would dress in drag and lip-sync to an opera singer
while another student played the male role. It never
occured to Adam to be anything but enthusiastic about
the opportunity.
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- "Only now do I look
back on that moment and realize how unique it is for
an 11 year old boy to be willing to do that skit. At
the time, I was so excited to be able to surprise
the audience and the reaction was deafening.
I can't tell you how appreciative I am of
Mrs. Barton for supporting that. I'm not sure I'd have
the same confidence now, without her."
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After that debut, Adam always
jumped at the opportunity to be in the spotlight. Doing
other musical numbers in talent shows to even writing and
starring in a full length motion picture in 8th grade
entitled "Slick Tracy", his talent for creation and
performance was never in doubt. Choosing an area of
expertise however, always posed difficulty.
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