These are the plays that I participated in.
Click here for the plays that I produced and directed.
Ben Franklin Elementary School
Sherwood Forest
Ben Franklin Spring Concert
Thanksgiving Play
Parade!
Central Junior High School
Summer Stock Theater
Rochester Civic Theater
Pied Piper of Hamlin
Played one of the kids in this community production. Decided that acting is not for me.
The Pied Piper of Hamlin is a play based on a German legend about a mysterious musician who lures away the rats infesting a town with his magical pipe. However, when the townspeople refuse to pay him for his service, he exacts a terrible revenge by leading away their children as well. The play explores themes of greed, betrayal, and justice, and features songs, dances, and colorful costumes.
Mayo High School
Teahouse of the August Moon
In fifth grade my Sister recruited me for a non-speaking part as one of the kids in this play.
The Teahouse of the August Moon is a comedy-drama play by John Patrick, based on the novel by Vern Sneider. It depicts the American occupation of Okinawa during the aftermath of World War II, and the cultural clash between the locals and the invaders. The main characters are Captain Fisby, a naive officer assigned to implement a democracy program in a remote village, and Sakini, a witty interpreter who guides him through the customs and traditions of the Okinawans. The play explores themes such as colonialism, identity, and human nature, with humor and satire.
Enter Laughing
I was on the set construction crew in my first high school play.
Enter Laughing is a comedy play based on the semi-autobiographical novel by Carl Reiner. It tells the story of David Kolowitz, a young aspiring actor in 1930s New York, who juggles his family, his girlfriend, and his first theatrical role. The play is full of humorous situations and witty dialogue, as David learns about life, love, and show business.
Cyrano de Bergerac
Cyrano de Bergerac is a classic play by Edmond Rostand, first performed in 1897. It tells the story of Cyrano, a brilliant but insecure poet and swordsman, who loves his cousin Roxane but fears she will reject him because of his large nose. He agrees to help his rival, Christian, woo Roxane by writing love letters for him, unaware that Roxane also loves Cyrano for his words. The play is a tragicomedy that explores themes of love, courage, identity and self-sacrifice.
The Matchmaker
I was House Manager for this play.
The Matchmaker is a comedy play by Thornton Wilder that revolves around the matchmaking schemes of Dolly Levi, a widow who tries to find suitable partners for herself and others in late 19th century New York. The play is full of witty dialogue, humorous situations, and romantic subplots that explore the themes of love, marriage, and social class.
Anything Goes
I operated a parabolic microphone from the lighting bridge in a rather marginal attempt to amplify the actors voices over the orchestra in an acoustically dead theater.
Anything Goes is a musical comedy with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The story revolves around the madcap antics of a group of passengers aboard an ocean liner bound for London. The plot involves mistaken identities, romantic entanglements, and a public scandal. The show features some of Porter's most memorable songs, such as "I Get a Kick Out of You", "You're the Top", and "Anything Goes".
The Good Doctor
I ran sound for this play.
The Good Doctor is a comedy-drama play by Neil Simon, based on the short stories of Anton Chekhov. The play consists of 11 sketches that portray various aspects of human nature, such as love, grief, greed, and folly. The play is narrated by a writer who is suffering from writer's block and uses his imagination to create the characters and situations. The play premiered on Broadway in 1973 and received positive reviews from critics and audiences.
Round House Review 1978
I don’t think that I did anything on this show.
The Miracle Worker
My first play as Stage Manager.
The Miracle Worker is a play by William Gibson that dramatizes the life of Helen Keller, a blind and deaf girl, and her teacher Annie Sullivan, who helps her overcome her disabilities and learn to communicate. The play explores themes of perseverance, courage, and friendship, as well as the challenges and rewards of education.
The Imperial Nightingale
My second play as Stage Manager.
The Imperial Nightingale is a play by Nicholas Stuart Gray, adapted from the story by Hans Christian Andersen. It is a fantasy comedy that tells the story of how a magical nightingale saves the life of a tyrannical emperor who is threatened by a treacherous warlord. The play features a cast of colorful characters, such as a bungling magician, a dreamy court poet, and the evil Red Dragon. The play was performed with great success in England and is suitable for young audiences.
Don’t Drink the Water
My third play as Stage Manager.
The play was centered around an embassy that was under siege. In the final scene the embassy was barraged by machine gun shots, the detonation of a bomb and a smoldering actor. I created several special effects for this climatic scene.
I made miniature cannons from the stem of plastic champagne glass. A firecracker was placed in the bottom with the fuse coming out of a drilled hole which was attached to an electric rocket ignitor. The top was packed with flour and sealed shut with tape. The whole thing was wrapped in many layers of gaffer’s tape to prevent it from blowing apart. A series of about 25 holes were made in the embassy walls resembling a line of machine gun fire. A cannon was attached behind each of the holes and wired to a 25 pair telephone cable running to my stage manager desk. I made a klunker box out of a piece of wood with a line of 25 nails, a metal probe and a battery. To fire the cannons I just ran the probe across the row of nails to get the desired timing. Each cannon was loud and shot dust out of the wall to reveal a hole. I rigged up mouse traps with electro magnets. These were placed under vases, dishes and other things which were in the line of fire. The mouse traps were fired in sync with the cannons to flip and smash stuff from the gun fire.
I used theatrical flash powder to simulate a bomb going off outside the embassy window. The flash powder was contained in a four-inch steel pipe cap electrically connected with a rocket igniter back to the stage manager desk.
For the smoldering actor we bought two identical suit coats from Goodwill. One was worn before the explosion the other after the explosion. We ripped and burned the second coat and equipped it with a hidden pocket to hold a smoke pouch. The pouch was made from sheets of asbestos that we harvested from the abundant supply in the theater ceiling crawl space. We used a propane torch to heat lava rocks until they glowed red at about 1,800 degrees. Timing was critical as we dropped the hot rocks into the pouch, sprinkled on smoke powder and then inserted it into the suit coat pocket. When the actor exited the set I triggered the flash pot bomb, the actor swapped suit coats and stumbled back onto stage emerging from a huge explosion. As the scene continued it was quite humorous to see the growing plumes of smoke emerging from his destroyed clothes.
For onstage gunfire we used a .22 caliper stage gun and a .38 caliper starter pistol both, of course, loaded with blanks.
The special effects got a standing ovation yet nobody – teachers, directors, parents, principals – said anything to me. Let’s see… I used illegal fireworks, parts of a pipe bomb, incendiary devices, blanks, a 1,800 degree torch, asbestos, twenty times the allowed amount of flash power, and projectiles aimed toward the audience. The only oversight was by the school engineer who was glad to help when I had concerns about setting off fire alarms and the need to quickly ventilate copious amounts of smoke from the theater.
Times sure were different back then. How about the time I filmed a gun shoot out at a school, church, parking ramp and an airport? Read about it here.
Round House Review 1979
My fourth play as Stage Manager
International Square Dancing Convention
I was hired to coordinate a theatrical production over the summer which was part of a square dancing convention being held at the high school.
Rochester Community College
Oliver!
I was on the sound crew and recorded the performance using my own equipment.
Oliver is a musical adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic novel Oliver Twist. It tells the story of a young orphan boy who escapes from a workhouse and joins a gang of street urchins led by the charismatic Fagin. Along the way, he encounters various characters such as the kind-hearted Nancy, the ruthless Bill Sikes, and the benevolent Mr. Brownlow, who may hold the key to his true identity. The play explores themes of poverty, crime, social injustice, and the power of love and compassion.
The Prisoner of Second Avenue
The Prisoner of Second Avenue is a dark comedy by Neil Simon that premiered on Broadway in 1971. The play follows the misfortunes of Mel Edison, a middle-aged executive who loses his job, his apartment and his sanity in the chaotic New York City. Mel's wife Edna tries to support him, but she also struggles with the stress of their situation. The play explores the themes of urban alienation, marital crisis and mental breakdown with humor and compassion.
Collection of Grimm Brothers Stories and Aesop’s Fables
We had dozens for performances that were attended by elementary school classes including my nephew Tony. I ran the highly complex sound that was the common thread that tied the stories together.
Collection of Grimm Brothers Stories and Aesop's Fables is a play that adapts some of the most famous and beloved tales from these two sources of folklore. The play features a narrator who guides the audience through the stories, which are performed by a versatile cast of actors. The play explores the themes of morality, justice, courage, and wisdom that are present in both the Grimm Brothers and Aesop's works. The play is suitable for audiences of all ages and offers a delightful and educational experience.
All God’s Children church
Greater Tuna
Greater Tuna is a satirical comedy play that depicts the life and quirks of a small town in Texas. The play features two actors who play more than 20 different characters, switching costumes and accents with rapid speed. The play explores themes such as social issues, family dynamics, religion, politics, and media influence, often with a humorous and ironic twist.