Kathy and Michael

High School Drama Photo
“I’m in the back row with the girls - they trusted me”

I asked Michael if he'd always known he was going to be an actor. "Yes, at least from the time I was about two. We got our first television in 1955, and my grandmother always told how I pointed at the screen and said, 'Grandma, that's what I'm going to do!'" And he did, making his first big hit in front of a live audience in the third grade. "It was Dental Health Week. I was Mister Tooth Decay. The audience cheered and applauded me. They were supposed to boo and hiss me and cheer Mrs. Dental Hygiene, but they booed and hissed her instead. It wasn't a big success for dental health, but it was for me. I got smitten by the applause and went on in eighth grade to do a play called THE WAY-OUT CINDERELLA. I played Prince Charming - but as a beatnik. I modeled my performance on Maynard G. Krebbs, one of the characters on ‘The Adventures of Dobie Gillis.’"

After high school, then a theatre major at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, and then an apprenticeship at Berkeley Repertory Theater, Michael studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts/West in Los Angeles. "Once I had graduated, I was in a few plays at places like the Glendale Center Theatre, the Venture Theatre and the Hollywood Canteen. Kathy and I had been together since 1972, and we moved from Southern California to join a company called ‘Theatre for Your Mother’ in Santa Cruz. They focused on plays by Pinter and Beckett, but by the time I actually started working for them they went bankrupt - nothing to do with me. The reason they folded might be considered unprintable in a family newsletter.

THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR Shakespeare Santa Cruz

"So, it was back again to New York in 1979 to work at H.B. Studios - the initials stand for Herbert Berghof. I met his wife, Uta Hagen, but I decided she might not be the best teacher for me, so I studied with a wonderful teacher, Michael Beckett." Auditioning for about 150 New York productions, Michael was cast six times, but actually accepted only one role, in a H.B Studio venture called P.S. YOUR CAT IS DEAD. "It was more important for me to continue to audition just to get over my fear of auditioning and improve my auditioning skills than it was to accept roles that I couldn't afford, as they didn't pay me as much as I could earn as a waiter."

After three years of waiting tables while studying at H.B., Michael and Kathy decided it was time for a move back to Santa Cruz. Shakespeare Santa Cruz was just starting, and Michael did four years there under Audrey Stanley, playing character roles like Justice Shallow in THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR and Westmoreland in HENRY IV Part I. "I learned a lot from working with Royal Shakespeare Company actors like Tony Church and Patrick Stewart and Julian Curry, especially about vocal production.

"Then I auditioned for the magazine you work for - only it wasn't called Back Stage then; it was M.T.B.A., I think. They did a general audition for all the Monterey theatres. I was cast in a play at the GroveMont Theatre called THE NORMAL HEART directed by Roz Goodrich and went on to work for her husband, Nick Zanides at the York School in a play called SEA MARKS, about an Irish fisherman living on an island by himself. Then it was, well, a whole big list of plays. PHILADELPHIA STORY at MPC...CLOUD NINE back at GroveMont.

"That led to a couple of films, one called ‘The Dead Pit’ and the other called ‘The Chilling,’ which will give you an idea of the sort of low-budget horror flicks they were. In ‘The Dead Pit’ I got turned into a zombie, and in ‘The Chilling’ I was eaten by zombies. They put a lot of pigs' organs all over me for that one - and they were kind of old organs, so that wasn't too pleasant. In ‘The Dead Pit,’ the prosthesis they used to make it look like my eyeball had been drilled out, really did affect my sight. For a couple of days, I was virtually blind in one eye. They said it was just oxygen deprivation and I'd be fine in a few days. Fortunately, they were right.

"Finally - it was wonderful! - I got to play Groucho in ANIMAL CRACKERS at MPC, and that's when I started acting full time on the Monterey Peninsula. Looking back and counting up, I've done over 150 plays."

Michael's teaching career started during his time in Los Angeles. There he and Kathy both began to take on students for private acting clases, and they continued this tutoring work when they were in Santa Cruz. Public school teaching didn't start until 1995, when Michael began teaching a drama program at Seaside High School. The following year, he was hired by the Monterey Institute of International Studies, which utilized his expertise in dialects and phonetics in a course called "Accent Reduction." As Michael recalls, "It was a really great job! It not only provides a good salary but great benefits. The students are great, from all over the globe.

"A couple of years later they needed a drama teacher at Carmel High School, and I said I'd take it on as long as they could provide a good teacher to replace me at Seaside, so they hired Kathy. She's been there eight years, and I've been at Carmel for the same period. Kathy has done a remarkable job in creating a drama program at SHS. She has built a theatre and is getting lighting and sound equipment to provide professional experience for her students and the audiences." Recent draconian cuts in high school arts budgets haven't affected the drama programs at Carmel and Seaside. "We had no budget to begin with. Money comes entirely from ticket sales. We started with $250, and we now have $7,000 at CHS. We're considering taking a trip to New York so the kids can see some Broadway plays. It all comes from ticket sales.

NIXON’S NIXON Pacific Repertory Theatre

"Audiences are good, though it depends, of course, on the show. We just did one called MINE'S BIGGER THAN YOURS, written and directed by Eden Duveyoung, a student who graduated from Carmel High last year. We were sold out every night and extended the run to take care of the overflow. We grossed more than $2000...Kids at Carmel High School are very dedicated to theatre. We do an average of four productions a year.

"As a teacher, I owe such a lot to Peter DeBono at MPC. He suggested I should get a M.A. Equivalency Degree, which would allow me to teach for MPC, and that's something I'll always be thankful for. When it comes to acting, I'm indebted to Stephen Moorer for hiring me as a Pacific Rep Actor-in-Residence. And, of course, I give lifelong, heartfelt thanks to Kathy. Believe me, without her, I'd never have become an actor. I'm also extremely grateful to the Monterey Peninsula audiences who continue to come to the theatre and support the arts."

Is the Monterey Peninsula a good area for theatre? "Absolutely! It's the reason we've stayed for fifteen years. There's a rich history of theatre here, and that's very attractive for Kathy and me. Places like California's First Theatre, the Forest Theater and the Golden Bough have been in operation for a long time. And there's a good theatre-going public, one of the most advanced artistic communities you'll find anywhere. About 15 percent of the local population have seen at least one stage play - and that is way above the national average.

PICASSO AT THE LAPIN AGILE Pacific Repertory Theatre

"And Kathy and I love the weather, of course, and the social atmosphere. But we're not sure if we can afford to stay on indefinitely. We'd like to own a house someday. We've got no immediate intention of leaving, but I don't think you need to be told this is a very expensive place to live."

TARTUFFE MPC Theatre Company

I asked what would make Monterey area theatre better. "Well, money, of course. The theatre companies now in existence have done a terrific job, but more funding would be beneficial to every one of them. It would mean hiring more professionals and acquiring more technical equipment for sets and lights and sound. More Equity actors - they are a real plus - not always, but in general...And more publicity could generate bigger audiences.

"It's a shame, really, that people's attention spans have diminished over the years from watching a lot of TV and movies. The result is that they think they won't be as entertained by a play as they would be at a movie. But theatre is more life-changing; it has a much greater impact on audience members. Personally, I would encourage everyone to see at least one play a year - and not just some mindless musical (although they're fun too) - but something that might help you think...stimulate your brain...make you more aware of the human condition and what it means to be alive."