My First Acting Role in ‘The Man Who Came to Dinner’

Taking a Shot at Acting in Easthampton Theater Company’s June Production of The Man Who Came to Dinner

This week I’ve not been available much.  And this has to be the biggest takeaway from my first foray into the world of acting. There are a lot of rehearsals and you think you know it down cold and then…you do!

But these rehearsals have been dominating the calendar, and it’s all coming to a head on Thursday night, 7:30 pm when Easthampton Theater Company presents “The Man Who Came to Dinner.”

Not to be confused, by EVERYONE, with the movie called Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,’ starring Sidney Poitier as that guest.

Even the guy on TV got that one wrong!

No, this is an earlier play written in 1939 and set in that time, when associations with great writers, playwrights, and poets were the currency of the realm.

The star of our production is Larry Picard, who does look quite regal in his smoking jacket, and as he recites the lines his acid tongue is up to par.

It’s hard to judge and there won’t be a review of this play. My participation eliminated that option.

When I was growing up in rural New Jersey in the 1960s, my father was an actor. He was a local actor and a former TV actor, belonging to the medium in its very much infant days in the late 1940s.  But he always was writing a play or considering a role. For a few years, my dad joined a group of other comic actors in a cabaret where they wrote skits and did shows. It made me want to try it. out too!

So I’ve enjoyed doing my reviews of the local theater groups since 2014, getting to know most of the companies and appreciating the intricacies of the productions and the whole method of making a complicated show work.  This show is big…there are 24 actors and three long acts.

I enjoy the strict hierarchy of the play’s workings. The director, then the assistant director, and each department head like props, set, and costumes–nobody steers into anyone else’s lane. The team of people who want to work with this volunteer theater is a testament to the company…some talented people who will be up on the stage with me this week!

Preview: The Man Who Came to Dinner Easthampton Theater Company.