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And Fun it IsALTHOUGH THEY ARE never at aloss for words, Dyan and Hanzel workhard to create ten hours of lively conver-sation each week.“We do a lot of season-al things, highlighting Valentine’s Day orHalloween and we have some regularthemes such as, ‘Winning the War onFrumpiness.’” Dyan says. “Frumpiness”is a pet peeve for her and Hanzeland one that so many of their lis-teners can relate to as they drivearound wearing sweats in theirminivans. Dyan and Hanzeldelight in reminding them thereis always time to put on lipstick.The hosts go further and makefashion commentary. Dyan offersthe recent return of leggings as anexample. “I thought they were ugly thefirst time around and I don’t mind say-ing so.” Dyan and Hanzel have alsooffered their commentary on secondweddings, dating protocol and “what todo when you need to break up with yourhairdresser.” Other Chick Chats includecommentary on popular TV shows.“When Sex and the City was on, we cri-tiqued each episode on Monday. Now itis Desperate Housewives or guest appear-ances.” One very popular guest wasGreg Behrendt, the author of He’s JustNot That Into You. Other great guests arethe Miami Bombshells. “They are agroup of women who run a women’scamp,” Dyan recalls, thinking of her owntrip to the Bombshell’s camp. “We leftmen and makeup behind, spending aweekend drinking wine and eatingchocolate."

Where does she hope to be in a fewyears? Dyan acknowledges a strong desirefor Chick Chat to grow. She and Hanzelhope to be in more and bigger markets.They have found their dream job but atthis point, they are earning a lot less thanthey did in the corporate world. Dyan hasother thoughts for the future. “I thinkabout returning to Newton. New York Cityis great, but many of my closest friends arein Newton. My parents are nearby and mybrother, Jeremy (Solomon) is Director ofPolicy and Communications for the Cityof Newton.” Then she adds, “I won’t bedriving a minivan in sweats, but I would-n’t mind settling down and raising a fam-ily in Newton.

Chick Chat’s website is: www.chickchatradio.com

A S T A RA M O N G T H E S T A R S

DRESSED IN A LONG, DEEP GREEN FLOWING TUNIC withpuffy sleeves and a large white collar, black breeches with ties atthe knees, long socks and black shoes, physics fanatic and longtimeNewton resident Mike Francis is ready to go to work.

‘Gallileo’inspires

NewtonstudentsByColleenWalsh

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“If you learn to read the language ofmath you can learn to read the language ofthe universe,” he quipped recently in anItalian accent, clad in his 17th-centurygarb to a roomful of lively middle schoolstudents in Portsmouth, New Hamp-shire.

For almost an hour and a half Francisthrilled the close to 90 seventh graders per-forming as the Italian scientist andphilosopher Galileo Galilei in the one-manshow he developed 17 years ago.

Based on Galileo’s work Siderius Nun-cius, the Starry Messenger published in1610, Francis uses his talent as a skilledactor and his extensive knowledge of sci-ence and history to draw his listeners intoGalileo’s ancient world of invention anddiscovery. He takes them through hisadvancements to the telescope to hisfavorite constellation in the night sky to histheories that disproved some of Aristotle’steachings and his own discoveries aboutthe moon.

And he’s believable. To demonstrate thescientist’s principle of valleys and moun-tains on the moon Francis called on mem-bers of the young audience to help him.Instantly 20 hands shot skyward.“Pick meGalileo,”one desperate boy pleaded,already completely sold by Francis whohad transformed into the Italian scientistbefore his eyes.

His only prop, along with his costume,is an authentic wooden telescope like theone Galileo himself used to study the skies,crafted for him by his friends at the BostonUniversity Astronomy department.

Other than that, Francis relies on hissharp scientific mind, years of historicalstudy and research, and his lightening quicksense of humor to make the show work.

He hits his stride during the questionand answer session.

“What happened to Aristotle?”one boyasked.“Do you know Leonardo da Vinci?”another inquired. Francis was quick withhis replies, providing a rumored story thatwas circulating at the time about Aristotle’sdemise, and pointing out the da Vinci hadbeen dead for 60 years. The question,“What are your favorite inventions?” froma young girl, had him listing off three ofGalileo’s major creations without hesita-tion. A potentially tricky question abouthis full name didn’t come close to trippinghim up.“My father was a musician and hewanted a name that rhymed with our fam-ily name.”

Even the sillier questions, as the crowdgrew restless, were deflected with ease anda twinkle in his eye.

“Have you ever used the internet?”a boy

in the front row asked. “I don’t fish,” hereplied with a serious face. “What kind ofcar do you drive?”“Car, what is a car? Youhave to have a horse to pull you or youdon’t go anywhere,”Francis responded.“Do you have MacDonald’s”one boywanted to know. “MacDonald, I don’tknow him, is he Italian?” Francis imploredin earnest.

After the show he offered the key to therapid-fire question and answer phase ofhis program.

“The trick is to come up with answerthat’s right,”he said. “It also helps if it’sfunny.”

While Francis said it’s rare that he isstumped, he admitted there have beensome tough questions along the way. Herecalled one young boy who asked himabout sunspots.

“I thought this kid is really sharp,” hesaid. When the boy challenged his answerwith a line from his own great, great, great,great grandfather, Francis laughed andasked him if he was related to ChristophScheiner, a German contemporary ofGalileo’s who had argued the issue withhim. He said, “yes,’” Francis recalled withamazement. “I was literally talking tosomeone who was descended from some-one Galileo had had an argument with.”

Francis has been a fixture in the NewtonSchool system for years where he has per-formed his shows in countless class-

“This is a very different

experience for students

than reading about

Galileo in a book or

hearing a teacher

lecture about Galileo.

It really brings alive

this historic genius and

the students get to ask

him questions and he

stays in character.”

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rooms, gymnasiums and auditoriums tothe delight of students, parents and teach-ers alike.

“I think it’s fabulous, I think it’s a won-derful representation of Galileo, a veryinstructive living history lesson,”said

Cheryl Nelson, community coordinatorof creative arts and sciences for Newtonpublic schools, who helped bring Francison board as a regular presenter.

“This is a very different experience forstudents than reading about Galileo in abook or hearing a teacher lecture aboutGalileo. It really brings alive this historicgenius and the students get to ask himquestions and he stays in character.”

In addition to his Starry Messengershow, Francis travels the local school cir-cuit with two other programs, The Stargaz-

er’s Apprentice, using songs, games andpuppetry for younger children, and NightSkies, where he sets up a large inflatableplanetarium children can crawl inside toget a look at the stars with the help of ahigh tech projector.

Nationwide programHIS POPULAR GALILEO PROGRAM isnot limited to New England school chil-dren. Francis travels the country perform-ing his show for adults at colleges, muse-ums and conferences. In May he willperform in New Jersey at the MiddleAtlantic Planetarium Society’s annualconference.

Francis said his interest in sciencedeveloped in part from his own fascina-tion with how things worked. “I wasalways trying to figure out why things

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were doing what they were supposed to bedoing,” he said.

A high school physics class with a cur-mudgeon like teacher whom he couldn’tget enough of provided an added sourceof inspiration.“He was one of those teach-ers that everyone hated that I thought wasfantastic,” said Francis, who grew up andattended school in Westminster, MA.“He was just completely involved inphysics, he loved to do experiments. Hehad a real influence.”

Later at college at Worcester PolytechnicInstitute, Francis hit a roadblock in his sci-ence studies. Struggling to catch up withstudents who had taken the higher-levelmath courses not offered at his highschool, the institute’s officials took himaside for a chat.

“They told me I should take a semesteroff and rethink my goals in life,” he said,“Ithink it’s called academic suspension.”

Undaunted he persevered, receivinghis bachelor’s of science in education in1971 from Fitchburg State College. Heplanned to pursue a career in teachingbut the army intervened and he wasdrafted just after entering graduateschool.

Stationed in Virginia as a chaplain’sassistant, Francis quickly realized he need-ed something else to fill his time.

“By ten in the morning I had doneevery type of paperwork that they couldthink of.” Luckily his office was rightnext to the post’s theater where heinquired about helping out with thelighting and the sound equipment. Theytold him that in order to help he wouldneed to take an actual acting class. Hehappily obliged. Then came his first rolein Goodbye Charlie and an actor wasborn.

After the army he returned to school,receiving a masters in physics, and a mas-ters in interdisciplinary studies bothfrom Ohio University, all the while act-ing with the University’s Lancaster the-ater company.

In 1976 Francis and his wife Noreen,who he met on a blind date, moved backto Massachusetts to be closer to family.Later that year she took a position atBrandeis as a research scientist and thecouple moved to the Auburndale homethey still occupy today. Soon thereafterFrancis got a job at the Museum of Sci-ence where he worked for ten years aslecturer and instructor in astronomy forthe planetarium, taking acting jobs onthe side.

Stay at home dadTEN YEARS LATER WITH TWO youngchildren at home, Francis made the switchto stay at home dad, opting to take care ofthe kids while his wife worked full time. Hecontinued to pursue acting, mostly per-forming in plays in the evenings.

As his kids grew and headed off toschool, and he had more time, Francisdecided to develop a program on Galileo,a character he had voiced for a programon the moon he’d created while at theScience Museum, combining his threepassions.

“Part of the reason I chose Galileo isbecause I really wanted to combine all ofthe things I really like to do teach, act andphysics, I’ve got them all covered in onething. I found out that he was probablythe best person in the world you couldchoose from a science point of view.”

Seventeen years later and the show isstill going strong. Today Francis hasdevoted his life to acting, performing inseveral local companies, working in film,on stage and TV. His years of work at hiscraft has paid off. A master of accents, heis able to transform himself him from abelievable Texan to a frightening serialkiller with equal ease.

He recalled being cornered after a pro-duction by a couple from Texas who wereconvinced after hearing his Texas accent onstage that he was a native. The followingproduction, where he performed withoutan accent, the couple reappeared. “Theywere telling me about this actor from Texas[they’d previously seen] and they wishedI’d do a show with him.”

So adept and convincing is Francis, hewas even told once to tone one of his char-acters down. As part of a mystery trolleytour in Boston he portrayed the BostonStrangler to such effect, tour operators toldhim women were complaining aboutbeing truly frightened.

But frightening students as Galileo isthe last thing on his mind. Engaging kidsis the aim of the show. For Francis, help-ing them understand and begin toexplore the world of science and math isthe real payoff.

“I will be at a school and after the pro-gram the teacher will come up and say,“Youknow that student that asked you a ques-tion, they haven’t asked a question all year.’

“It’s very rewarding,”Francis said, liken-ing the experience to a standing ovation.“That is the whole goal of the program, toinspire kids to do something.”