Just can't escape the theater's pull

David Kolowitz (Ben Reeves) gets a lecture from his boss, Mr. Foreman (John I. Carney), in the Community Playhouse production of "Enter Laughing," which opens Friday at the South Jackson Civic Center in Tullahoma. (T-G Photo by Mary Reeves) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

I had a blast, and tried out for another production a few months later -- but that one, somewhat bizarrely, got cancelled before it had even been cast when the director had a personal crisis.

It was some years before I tried out over there again, which is just as well -- because of some of the evening meetings I normally cover for the newspaper, I'm probably not in a position to constantly be involved in one play after another. Every two or three years, though, I love getting involved. I've played the sheriff in "To Kill A Mockingbird," a minor crew member in "Mister Roberts" and one of the leads in "My Three Angels" (which is based on the same source material as the movie "We're No Angels," with Humphrey Bogart and Peter Ustinov).

Back when I first went to Tullahoma, we were without a community theater group here in Shelbyville. Now, we have one, and whenever I've turned up in Tullahoma since that time I've had local people ask me why. There's nothing intentional about it, and no disrespect intended; it was just that in the last few years, when there's been a play that I wanted to do at a time of year when it was convenient for me to participate, it happened to be in Tullahoma. As I said, I have to sort of pick and choose which plays I participate in. I'm sure I'll try out for something here at some point, and I urge you to support "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" this weekend at the Fly Arts Center.

Of course, it's also fun, once you've gotten to know people, to work with them again, and that may also play a part. Esprit de corps is half the fun of being involved with a play.

Anyway, I will open Friday night in "Enter Laughing," a very funny comedy by Joseph Stein based on a semi-autobiographical novel by Carl Reiner. The play is about David Kolowitz (played by Ben Reeves, the son of my Times-Gazette co-worker Mary Reeves), a young man being pulled in three different directions. His boss at the machine shop, Mr. Foreman (that would be me), wants him to take over the business, while his stereotypical-Jewish parents want him to become a pharmacist. He, however, wants something different out of life -- and finds it when he hooks up with a low-budget theatrical troupe run by ham actor Harrison Marlowe. Meanwhile, he's got a girlfriend, but is easily distracted by other women and not sure what to do about it.

Mr. Foreman isn't as big as my last part but I'm really enjoying it. I get the first lines in the play, and several other fun moments.

The last week of rehearsals before a play begins is called "Hell Week," and that's where we're at right now, with full rehearsals and late nights every day this week. I'm writing this on Tuesday, and I'm already dog-tired.

But on Friday, when the lights come up, hopefully the crowd will respond and it will all be worth it.

-- John I. Carney is city editor of the Times-Gazette and covers county government. He is also the author of the self-published novel "Soapstone." His personal web site is lakeneuron.com.

If you go

"Enter Laughing" will be presented Friday and Saturday, and again April 10-11, at 7:30 p.m. at the South Jackson Civic Center in Tullahoma, with a matinee performance Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets can be reserved by calling (931) 581-7767.