I really have done too many, but I know how to do it and I enjoy doing it. So one-person shows were a good way to keep doing theater. So I always didn't have a lot of time to do ensemble rehearsals and things. I've done theater forever, and in my professional life I was in advertising and I traveled a lot. I've done a whole bunch of them, and I keep running into good stories. The thing is, if you take one glance at past production, you can tell I have done far too many one-person shows.
Tell me a little bit about what it's been like living in this story on your own and crafting these characters. This kid, in the short time he was in this town, had an incredible impact on all the people-but the message comes along with a really good story.Īs you mentioned, it's a one-man show. But this show does have a message of tolerance and understanding and acceptance of other people. I don't think it's our job to try to solve the world's problems like that. At The Midnight Company, we like to very outwardly say, “We don't do message plays.” We don't preach about racism or sexism or this or that. And in doing so, he talks to some different people in the town. The main one is a detective, and it's his job to find out where Leonard is. It’s a one-person show, and I play eight different characters in the play. And that's kind of where the things are happening. of course, he attends a drama school in this little town and they love him, but the high school bullies don't. The woman he lives with runs a beauty salon, and all the women there love him because he gives them fashion tips and makeup tips and really helps them out. So he's raised the attention of a lot of people in town. He dresses like he wants, does what he wants. It's a blue-collar town, and Leonard hasn't been in town long, and he's a real flamboyant, theatrical, in-your-face kid. When the play starts, he has been reported missing by the woman and teenage girl that he lives with in this small town on the New Jersey Shore.
And Leonard Pelkey is kind of the central character of the show, but you never see him. It's based on a novel by the playwright, Celeste Lecesne, and the play is called The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey. We caught up with Hanrahan ahead of the run to hear all about it.įor those who are unfamiliar, can you tell us a bit about this story? But for his latest one-person play, The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey, on stage at The Kranzberg Black Box Theatre May 4–20, he is breaking tradition a bit. For the artistic director and co-founder of The Midnight Company, tackling multiple characters and taking on an audience on his own is nothing new. Joe Hanrahan has done quite a few one-man shows in his time.
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