Rumors- Meet cast member Michael Donahue

What do you find appealing about your character and this show? What I find appealing about my character Lenny is the language and words that Neil Simon has written, creating a easily followed roadmap on who Lenny is, his relationships with all of the other characters and the journey that Lenny travels by the end of the play. The same holds true on why I find the show appealing.

What have you learned about yourself in playing the role of “___”? The rhythm of life that the playwright built the character of Lenny upon fits naturally and taps into a core strength of mine as a comedic actor. What do you want the audience to experience/take away from this show? A moment in time to breathe and laugh and smile.  I guess you would call that a 2-hour moment of joy and happiness.

How does this show differ from other shows you have worked on? Every show has its own challenges for a performer to grasp and embrace and engage the audience in great story telling.

What is it like being back in the theater after the long Covid-19 hiatus? Did you do any theater during the Covid-19 shutdown? I believe that Theatre needs a live audience as it is an event of give and take between the performers and the audience, which makes theatre fresh and new every performance.  I directed two live plays in a parking lot in October of 2020, and most recently in spring of 2021.  We brought in live music for an hour before our show and even the musicians were excited like little kids since for most of them it was the first time performing live for at least a year.

How long have you been acting and what made you get involved in theatre? How did you get involved with LTA? I have a BFA in performing from VCU and MFA in directing from Memphis State (now Memphis University).  I worked professionally as an Artistic Director, director, Stage Combat choreographer and performer for 20 years mostly along the east coast.   I caught the theatre bug during my Sr. year of high school. As a football jock I took theatre thinking it was an easy grade, and when my drama teacher saw I could perform she literally black mailed me with my fake excuse notes to play Tom Wingfield in a production of “The Glass Menagerie” and now here I am at LTA. I was introduced to LTA by the director Matthew Randall who I worked with 12 years ago in Vpstart Crow’s production of “Tartuffe” in which Matthew played Tartuffe and I played Orgon.  We had a natural comedic rhythm together and now we get to collaborate again.

What advice would you give others who are interested in working in theatre? One of the many great aspects of theatre is that it is a confluence of all other artistic mediums, and so therefore for anyone with a need to create there is a place.  The added benefit is that you also increase your circle of life in terms of friends.