In Good Company

Summer 2007

Up until this production, every part I've had has been pretty solidly boring. They've not been bad parts, mind you... far from it! But let's take a look. Here's what I played to date:

Syndey explains to Azilee how "wrong" her association with Leonard.

Yelling at Katie in
'The Shape of Things to Come'

2002 - Turn the Washpot Down - Young Robert, the angst-ridden emotionally crippled psyche of another actor. It was intended for someone much younger, but I'm an expert on playing angst. This was the sort of part that if you had to play it on Broadway for six months straight you'd slit your own wrists. At least I got to yell at Katie Holden.
2003 - What Goes Around - Frank James, the put-upon theatre owner. Good part! But mostly it consisted of reacting to women screaming at me for my bad taste in stage acts. Except for a scene with Young Elvis, poor Frank spent most of his time getting walked on.
2004 - Comin' Up a Cloud - Raymond. I can't say I was fond of role. Raymond was a hen-pecked mamma's boy. He never actually gets the girl, and spends most of his time saying "Yes, Mother."
2005 - Mill Song - Harvey, the alcoholic wife-beater who dies at the hand of his father-in-law. On the plus side, I did get to yell at Katie again, and that's always fun. And I had the flu at the time, and this was the sort of character that sounds better with the flue An important part, to be sure, but people don't remember "important" parts. They remember the ones that made them feel good, not uncomfortable.
2006 - The Shape of Things to Come - I was the school councellor who's all around nice guy veneer covered an core of racist attitudes. Then found that my daughter (played by Katie) was dancing with a black man. Which means I got to yell at her.

So it's been one of two things: be a milquetoast or yell at Katie. Or be a milquetoast that yells at Katie. And nary any leeway to take the character in some different direction. Not at all like George, the stage carpenter from On Monday Next, who could be whatever is funniest. There's something to be said for bit character parts; they're rarely fleshed out, so if you're lucky enough to get one you can make it really memorable and yours.

So in the Spring of 2007 I find -- Oh Joy! Oh Joy! -- I've got a bit part. It's an old obnoxious gentleman named "Veston" who's described as being horribly obnoxious. He's the sort of fellow that, if you've got one of something, he had one once, but threw it away because it was rubbish. He crashes funerals so he can belly up to the buffet. He's dislikable. BUT... later in the play he winds up finding a woman every bit as dislikable as he, and together they prove that there's someone for everyone. I know, that sounds like a big part, not a bit part, but you have to remember... there are no small parts. The best thing about a small character part is that nobody tells you how to play him. So play him big!

This is a great character! You've got to make him believably obnoxious to the people on-stage, but you can't alienate the audience, since they've got to root for him at the end! It's tailor-made for comedy. So I died my hair grey, let my beard grow out, slouched about 4 inches shorter than normal, stuck out the belly, and got myself a distinctive cane. A lot of loud laughing and bad sight gags, and voila! Veston. I liked him, and the audience did, and there was a lot of leeway for some nice in-jokes for the cast, like using a different pet name for Nancy every performance... all of which were food. "Sweet pea", "Honey pot", "Apple Dumplin'", "Strawb'ry Shortcake"... they were headed for a funeral buffet. We know where his head's at.

He never yelled at Katie.

is a funny, funny play. Some story threads:

A visit to a relative results in one dead relative... one cremation... and a mysteriously disappearing box of ashes.
The Society for Elevated Learning For Intelligent Smart Husbands (S.E.L.F.I.S.H.)
How not to take driving lessons!
A recently divorced swinger dresses as a UFO to impress the local librarian. Huh?
Return of the Beauty Shop. Miss Conservative gets a makeover.
An undertaker wants to have his wedding in the mortuary. And the bride says....?
Old farts in love.
The most fun you can possibly have at a funeral!

Ooh, it sounds morbid when you put it that way! Just take my word for it, this is a hilarious play!

One aspect of it, though, was a bit poignant. In 2004's , Joe Chamberlain played the narrator, a cemetary caretaker who told the stories of the people whose graves he tended. Michael Smallwood played his apprentice, learning the stories and the importance of his own role. Shortly before production of In Good Company, Joe passed away from cancer. returns to the same scene, this time with Michael Smallwood as the Caretaker, breaking in his own apprentice. In real life, Michael was away for college, but he took time to come back to Union to reprise his role and tend the headstone of his mentor. If you had never seen the 2004 production, you'd have never known the significance of the casting, or of the name on the headstone. But we knew. In such ways do the stories on our stage reflect the stories of our lives.

Cast and Crew to be added