Felicia and Gary

Yeah, I don’t think Gary really had a chance with her.

A scene from I Hate Hamlet (Muncie Civic Theatre, March 2020) with Katy Wolfe as Felicia and myself as Gary Peter Lefkowitz.

Photograph by ace photographer, Chelsea Kleeberg.

Good Night, Sweet Prince

Muncie Civic Theatre’s production of I Hate Hamlet closed this past Sunday after a limited run. Unfortunately with precautions concerning the coronavirus taking effect, the performances for our second weekend had to be cancelled. We had a wonderful opening weekend and it’s a shame we couldn’t share the show with our second weekend’s audiences, but, as a great author once wrote, so it goes.

Being part of the cast of I Hate Hamlet has been an extremely fun experience and I truly treasure the opportunity I had to bring to life this fantastic comedy with a group of amazing, talented people. It is always a joy to share a stage with Debby Girtman, Sean Orlosky and Katy Wolfe! It was also a great pleasure to meet and work with Cameron Bowen and Ashley Pilmore for the first time!

Thank you to Michael Kleeberg, Pat Kleeberg, and Maude Jennings for their excellent direction and guidance! More thanks to Larry Beck for setting the standard for what a great stage manager does and thank you to Donna McFadden for being our one woman crew!

Hopefully, there will be many more opportunities to work with you dear people again and again and again!

Finally a big thank you to all the folks who attended our three shows and to all the folks who wanted to see our final three. We appreciate your support and your patronage!

I Hate Hamlet

The Muncie Civic Theatre’s production of I Hate Hamlet opens March 13, 2020 at the Casazza Family Studio Theatre! Under the direction of Michael Kleeberg, the cast stars Cameron Bowen, Debby Girtman, Sean Orlosky, Ashley Pilmore, Katy Wolfe and Tom Cherry as Gary Peter Lefkowitz.
The production runs March 13-15 and March 20-22 with evening shows starting at 7:30 pm and Sunday matinees at 2:30 pm. Tickets are $15.00 and $12.00 for students. For tickets and more information, call 765.288.7529 or go to www.munciecivic.org

Coming Soon to the Muncie Civic Theatre!

Good news, comedy lovers! In two weeks, the Muncie Civic Theatre’s production of I Hate Hamlet opens March 13, 2020 at the Casazza Family Studio Theatre! Under the direction of Michael Kleeberg, the cast stars Cameron Bowen, Debby Girtman, Sean Orlosky, Ashley Pilmore, Katy Wolfe and Tom Cherry as Gary Peter Lefkowitz.
The production runs March 13-15 and March 20-22 with evening shows starting at 7:30 pm and Sunday matinees at 2:30 pm. Tickets are $15.00 and $12.00 for students. For tickets and more information, call 765.288.7529 or go to www.munciecivic.org

Blast from the Past: Back Again to Lapin Agile

Here's a blast from the recent past courtesy of a sketch book from last year. I was in Muncie Civic Theatre's production of Picasso at the Lapin Agile in 2016 and I was asked by the director, Lysa Frankin to make a cast drawing. Here's a section of that drawing, based on a sketch by Lysa.

Theatre from the Past: God's Favorite (2008)

Picasso at the Lapin Agile opens TONIGHT (8:00 pm!) at the Muncie Civic Studio Theatre ($11.00! Get your tickets now)! Back in 2008, I had the honor to play Sidney Lipton to Jeff Shull's Joe Benjamin in Neil Simon's God's Favorite. Not only can you make great shows at the Muncie Civic, you can also make great friends! Thanks for being my pal, on stage and off, Mr. B!

Theatre from the Past: A Midsummer Night's Dream (2006)

Picasso at the Lapin Agile opens in five days (June 17! 8:00 pm!) at the Muncie Civic Studio Theatre (Get your tickets now!). In Picasso, I play Sagot, Picasso's art dealer. In 2006, I played a wall in the Muncie Civic's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream.
In this same interlude, it doth befall
That I, one Snout by name, present a wall;
And such a wall as I would have you think
That had in it a crannied hole or chink,
Through which the lovers, Pyramus and Thisbe,
Did whisper often, very secretly.
This loam, this rough-cast, and this stone doth show
That I am that same wall; the truth is so.
And this the cranny is, right and sinister,
Through which the fearful lovers are to whisper.
~ William Shakespeare
A Midsummer Night's Dream

Theatre from the Past: Moon Over Buffalo (2007)

Picasso at the Lapin Agile opens this Friday (June 17!) at the Muncie Civic Studio Theatre (Get your tickets now!). It's been three years since I've been in a Muncie Civic production and, to mark the occasion, I'll be posting some pictures from past shows I was fortunate to be in.
First off is a photograph with the enchanting Helen Graves. I was lucky to have Helen play my wife in Moon Over Buffalo in 2007. It was my first show playing a lead character and I was blessed to have Helen by my side. She is lovely, smart and dynamic! Everything you want in an acting partner! She was and is truly the best!
Photograph by W. Sierra Hoffman.

At This Moment

I’m pet sitting for my friends, Jerry and Judy, so the weight of responsibilty falls on my meager shoulders again. Must keep the animals alive! I'm such a weak man.

I'm eating a piece of colby jack cheese.

S.P.A.C.E. is this weekend. I’m sorry I won’t be able to attend this year. Still frustrated with myself for not writing about my last S.P.A.C.E. experience a couple years back. One of these days I’ll get my act together!

Got tickets to see Cabaret at the Muncie Civic next Saturday. Looking forward to seeing my friend, Rita Wessel, back on the big stage again!

Might see a movie today. Haven’t braved a multiplex in a couple years.

Mad Men returns tonight. Game of Thrones is on, too. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to see Games. Sigh.

Got scripts to write. Radio show in a couple weeks. We'll be performing an episode of Dragnet. At least, I have one script I don't have to worry about! Thanks, genericradio.com!

Have I mentioned I'm a weak man?

Ten Years on Stage

  I’m lousy with anniversaries. I rarely acknowledge them. I never celebrate them, but last Monday marked a special event that changed my life for the better. On February 24, 2004 I received an e-mail that notified me that I got cast as “Little Harp” in The Robber Bridegroom at the Muncie Civic Theatre. I couldn’t believe it. After years of trying and failing at assorted auditions, I actually got a part in a show! And a musical at that! This was a big deal for me, but little did I know at the time just how big a deal it was.

By getting cast in that one show, my journey into the realm of community theater soon began and for the past ten years this wonderful journey continues to enrich my life in numerous ways. I have been blessed to be part of so many great productions and have had the pleasure of working with so many talented and creative people. Even better I have become good friends with most of these fine folks and, as much as I love to perform on stage, I treasure these precious friendships even more.

So I want to take a moment to thank Darrin Murriel and Julie Lyn Barber for taking a chance on a fat cartoonist ten years ago and giving me the opportunity to become part of a creative community that strengthens my imagination, challenges my meager talents, and connects me to some incredible people. It is truly a gift that I hope I can be part of until the end of my days. Thank you to all my friends, my collaborators, and fellow travelers who made these past ten years, on stage and off, so rich and meaningful for me. You all mean more to me than I can truly express. I just hope the next ten years of my journey continues to be as rich and as full as the first.

The poster drawing for The Robber Bridegroom was by Eugene Mumaw.

Final Carnage

  The final two performances of God of Carnage starts tonight! Meet the Novaks (Tom Cherry and Lisa Wade) and the Raleighs (Jeff Shull and Antoinette Heard) and fall in love with these delightful characters! You'll laugh! You'll cry! You'll learn to love clafouti! But hurry! You just have two more chances before your opportunity goes down the drain quicker than a liberated hamster! The show starts at 8:00pm tonight and Saturday at the Muncie Civic Studio Theatre! Tickets are $10 for adults and students. Seating is general admission.   Directed by Michael Kleeberg. Photo by Pat Kleeberg.

Weekend of Carnage

  The second weekend of Muncie Civic Studio Theatre's production of God of Carnage wrapped up yesterday. It was an interesting run of shows. Friday night was our smallest audience with just four brave souls. Well, maybe "brave" isn't the right word because two of them walked out during the show's climax. On Saturday, things got pretty rocky when we skipped over a page or two. It wasn't a complete train wreck. We stayed on the tracks, but the engineer was slightly shaken. However, Sunday's performance rebounded with our best show of the weekend! I still think our show on the previous Saturday was our best one yet, but Sunday was a close runner-up.   We close next weekend and hopefully the momentum from Sunday's show will continue into this upcoming Friday and Saturday. We shall see!

Four Days

Some brief thoughts about the past four days...

October 25: After weeks of rehearsal, God of Carnage opened at the Muncie Civic Studio Theatre! It actually felt more like a dress rehearsal than an opening night for some reason. I thought my performance felt wobbly and uncertain. Afterwards, I deemed it a "Lumpy Rutherford" and vowed to myself to aim for a "Ward Cleaver" the next night.

October 26: It was a super, busy, fun day! The radio gang knocked this month's episode of Tom Cherry's Old Time Radio Show out of the ballpark! It was our Halloween show that featured the classic "Chicken Heart" episode of Lights Out. Our soundman and soundwoman, Jerry and Judy Cole, out did themselves with the sound effects and everyone in the cast (Bob Green, Sean Heline, Linda Gilchrist, Wendy Carpenter, Missy Donahue, Jim Banta, and Rita Wessel) brought their "A" game to create a wonderful show for an enthusiastic audience! Already looking forward to recreating that magic for November's show!

As for Saturday night's performance of God of Carnage, we nailed it! It was a great show and a vast improvement over Friday night methinks. Hopefully we'll continue to grow as the run continues!

October 27: It was Sunday and I rested.

October 28: I auditioned for a radio version of Miracle on 34th Street that Indiana Public Radio will be producing in December. I thought it went rather well! Of course, I won't know that for a fact until the cast list is posted.

And that brings us up to date!

Coming Soon to a Theatre (or Library) Near You!

  It's been a busy few weeks for the fat cartoonist with play rehearsal (Hey, I got a part in a play! More info on that in a moment) and working some overtime (Extra money! Yay!) and some other stuff, but I wanted to take a moment to share some upcoming events for yours truly. First off, Tom Cherry's Old Time Radio Show is hitting the road this Saturday (10/19) to perform at the New Castle-Henry County Public Library! We'll be featuring some classic comedy bits from The Red Skelton Show as well as our usual fun features with our usual fun folks! The show is at 2:00pm and it's free!   And then next Friday (10/25), God of Carnage opens at the Muncie Civic Studio Theatre at 8:00pm! Tickets are only ten dollars! I'll be playing the guy who really hates hamsters. Come one, come all!

The Year in Review (So Far)

Hey, let’s recap the last couple months!

January

This January wasn’t a great month to start the new year on. Things at work were slow and uncertain. Six hour days and often working four days a week meant I used up most of my PTO time (Paid Time Off, natch) to cover for my missing hours. Since my chances for working more hours rested on me remaining on second shift, I had to reluctantly drop out of the cast for The Odd Couple at the Muncie Civic. On the plus side, I did work on my first full length show, Swann Song, all through January with help from my friends, Jerry and Judy Cole. By the end of the month, Swann Song was completed.

February

Work has gradually picked up and things felt more hopeful for some reason. With Swann Song done, I have to admit I slacked off creatively with no minor or major project attempted. Fortunately, bad winter weather has spared us so far in East Central Indiana. I did get sick for a couple days just recently, but I feel fine at the moment.

March

Here’s some good things to look forward to: 1) Swann Song opens March 8 at the Farmland Center for a three week run and 2) Tom Cherry’s Old Time Radio Show returns on March 23! Now I just need to get started on some new radio scripts!

Link-a-Dink

  Hey, I just got cast as Murray the cop for the Muncie Civic Theatre's upcoming production of The Odd Couple! Should be fun!   Well, "Draw Hiram Lodge Day" has come and gone and I think I can safely deem it a success! Thanks to the following talented gentlemen who made the day so fun: Dale Martin, Keith O'Brien, Jack Bertram, and Jim and Jake Fields!   Just recently I transcribed an episode of the radio show, The Damon Runyon Theater, so we could perform it for November's Tom Cherry's Old Time Radio Show. I became a fan of The Damon Runyon Theater when it occasionally aired on When Radio Was and, when the idea came about to do an old time radio show in Farmland, I knew TDRT would be one of the shows we would feature. If anybody is curious to read the transcribed script for the story, "Princess O'Hara", you can now find it at The Generic Radio Workshop, an invaluable website that heroically maintains a massive library of Old-Time Radio scripts. If you're a fan of OTR, check it out!   And if you're ever curious about the little radio show I'm involved in, more information can be found at www.farmlandindiana.org

Hare Today, Gone Tomorrow

Haven't seen Harvey at the Muncie Civic Theatre yet? Curiouser and curiouser! It's not too late! Harvey concludes its run today, Friday, and Saturday @ 7:30pm! Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students. More info @ www.munciecivic.org

In Local Community Theatre Awards News...

Can you spell "unbelievable"? I won a Civie for "Best Actor in a Musical" for The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee! Yowza! A good night surrounded by good people! Congratulations to all the winners and all the nominees!

What's Up, Doc?

Harvey debuts on stage at the Muncie Civic Theatre a week from today. Good thing I have my lines memorized.

The Return of the Bee

Yesterday The Star Press ran a story about the Muncie Civic Theatre's 80th anniversary and used a photo of the cast of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee on the front page. It's funny that they used an image from the 79th season to celebrate the 80th season, but that's Muncie's newspaper for you! I was just happy to see the Putnam County class of 2011 back in action once again! Yay us!