Gary Catona - Career

Career

While researching the mechanics of voice production at University of Texas’ acclaimed voice department, Catona was introduced to Johnny Bush, a Texas-based country singer, who asked him to help recover his speaking and singing voice.

Bush had lost his voice to spasmodic dysphonia – a vocal disorder characterized by uncontrollable vocal cord movement.. He had struggled with spasmodic dysphonia for thirteen years. He tried various methods to treat his condition, including allergy medication, acupuncture, biofeedback, hypnosis and even psychological counseling - all to no avail.

Bush was considering two invasive techniques. One was an operation in which a recurrent nerve that controls the vocal cord movement is sectioned (severed), which neutralizes the spasming vocal cord. Another option involved injecting botox, a paralyzing toxin, into the same nerve. According to Catona: "It is generally believed that at present there is no effective long-lasting treatment for this condition, although surgery and botox injections] are sometimes used for temporary relief.”

After a week of voice building, Bush’s speaking voice experienced some weakness, while his singing voice became stronger. Within ten sessions over the course of a month, however, Bush experienced a simultaneous increase in volume, resonance, and control in both his speaking and singing voice. As a result of several months of voice building exercises, Bush’s voice eventually returned in full force.

In 1988, noted fusion jazz guitarist Larry Carlton was shot in the throat by an intruder on his property in Hollywood Hills. Rushed to the trauma center at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Burbank, California, he arrived in critical condition. Because the bullet passed through his jugular vein, doctors said he could have died instantly. In fact, he made a great recovery but for one problem: the bullet had severed a nerve in his larynx that paralyzed his left vocal cord and reduced his voice to a whisper. Catona’s strategy with Larry included overdeveloping the one healthy vocal cord to the point where it began to compensate for the paralyzed one. Carlton’s voice returned to normalcy within three months through Catona’s training.

Jack Klugman had one of his vocal cords removed because of throat cancer; his remaining vocal cord had to be radiated, which resulted in permanent scarring. The doctors saved a percentage of his speaking voice by inserting a prosthetic where the cancerous vocal cord had been. The procedure did little to bring back his voice, and Klugman was left with a raspy noise for a voice that could hardly be heard above a whisper. After three months working with Catona, Klugman’s voice was significantly stronger as vocal tone began replacing his breathy rasp. He returned to the stage with Tony Randall to do The Odd Couple in 1990 at the Belasco Theatre.

Soon after, Los Angeles Times film critic Michael Wilmington contacted Catona after revealing that he suffered from spasmodic dysphonia, as well. He underwent two months of rigorous exercises using Catona’s voice building system, at the end of which, his voice had returned to normal. In 1993, Wilmington chronicled the return of his voice in an article in the Calendar section of the L.A. Times. In the article, Wilmington also made note of widespread criticism by many of Catona’s peers at a medical conference for voice specialists. According to one of the nation’s best-known speech therapist-authors: “There’s nothing special about Gary’s work. He’s had beginner’s luck. In time, he will pass quickly from the scene.”

In 1991, celebrity publicist Dale Olsen, who knew of Michael Wilmington’s voice return, reached out to Catona on behalf of actress, Shirley MacLaine, who was preparing to go on tour and wanted to strengthen her singing voice. After eight months of advanced vocal training together, MacLaine devoted five pages of one of her books, Dance While You Can, to Catona and his dramatic influence on her singing success.

Other students have included Whitney Houston, Andrea Bocelli, Seal, Sade, Usher, Babyface, Tony Bennett, Andy Williams, Michael McDonald, Brian Wilson, Muhammad Ali, Gloria Estefan, Lionel Richie, Paul Stanley, Annie Lennox, Gino Vannelli, Liza Minnelli, Toni Braxton, Boyz II Men, Robin Thicke, and Shirley MacLaine.