How and when did you first get involved with Island Players?
It was about 2005. I got recruited by Mary Gearen to be in a Christmas show. Marlene Mann had heard me singing in church and told Mary that I had a good voice. She cast me in the role of Captain on the Christmas tree ship. I was horrible, compared to some of the other great singers in the show, like Phil Green, Steve O’Conner, Patti Herschberger, people like that.
Had you ever been on stage before?
No, never. I had been too busy as a physician.
What were some of your favorite plays to be in?
I really liked being in ‘Salute to Broadway’. I got to sing and dance with Tommy Noonan. He was so great to be on stage with.
I liked ‘The Good Doctor’, I had a scene with Cindra [Hokkanen]. Any time you can share a stage with Cindra you are lucky.
‘Oliver’ was a lot of work. I helped build the set. I sang a duet with Barbara Greenfeldt, I forgot the second verse, and she ended up singing a surprise solo.
I liked ‘The Dining Room’, because I didn’t have a lot of lines. I liked ‘Seascape’, where I was dressed up as a giant lizard.
I was in a lot of Center Stage things which were fun, because I didn’t have to worry about forgetting my lines.
Other favorites?
Well, there were lots of plays that I liked. I remember Gayle Johnson’s play, ‘Iron Men and Stalwart Women’, that one really impressed me. I thought ‘Of Mice and Men’ in the Red Barn was well done. ‘Moon Over Buffalo’ was really fun to watch. ‘Pygmalian’ I really liked. ‘Painting Churches’ I helped build the set, and I thought Joyce [Morehouse] and Ham [Rutledge] were really good together.
There have been a lot.
