Back in late Nov, I got a call from Peter Ellenstein asking if I’d be interested in auditioning to cover the great John Rubinstein in a one man show called Eisenhower: This Piece of Ground. I said, “That sounds really interesting, count me in,” and it started what has turned out to be a crazy journey.
I went down to North Coast Rep to see the show, and meet Peter. He’s the director of the show, and one of its co-creators, along with Richard Helleson, the playwright, and John, who has been with it since the very first reading of it a few years ago.
Eisenhower died when I was a child but of course I knew something about him: he was a great general who helped win WW2, he ended the Korean War, he got the interstate highways built, warned against the military-industrial complex, and was a moderate Republican during a kinda boring time in our history. That’s basically it. We did a fly-by of his presidency in school jumping from the wartime presidents to the one who was assassinated.
But the show was great, and shockingly timely. Peter told me that much of it was taken from Eisenhower’s first book At Ease (which I’ve started reading and is really interesting), and his public speeches and comments. He warned against domestic tyranny, fascism, and nuclear war. He spoke about balancing the budget and ending discrimination. His ‘middle of the road’ way sounds a lot like what I was taught growing up. And the Orange County crowd interrupted the show with applause and vocal encouragement many times. It was crazy.
So I learned three short bits of the show and auditioned for Peter and Denys Baker, the GM of the Laguna Playhouse where the show was going to run from Jan 14-Feb 1. And I got the gig.
Part of the reason I was keen to do it is that I’ve never done a one-man show and wondered if I could. I’ve thought about it, but the show I wanted to create seemed too ambitious and I’ve never had an opportunity to join another. Plus, being a cover to a real pro like John…I figured I’d learn a lot. I also figured I should never have to go on…which is a blessing when trying to learn a 34 page monologue. 
And it’s proven to be all that and more.
I started reading the play over the holidays and really working to learn it between Christmas and the New Year, then I came down to Laguna. Since John has been doing the show for years, and just finished a run at North Coast, they didn’t have rehearsals. And the State of CA slow-rolled my background check so I couldn’t even enter the theatre for a day or two after I got here. So I kept learning the lines on my own in my apartment…and watching a reference video they sent so I could learn the blocking. Crazy.
Anyway…the long and short of it is that I did learn it. I’ve now had a few runs on the stage and I could do it if necessary, but as I tell people, I’m the “break glass in case of emergency’ guy and I don’t want there to be any. John is marvelous in the show, and even though I could split after the second act starts, I enjoy his work…and our backstage chats…too much to leave.
So…we’re here until Feb 1. I’ve been heading home after the show on Sunday and coming back down before the next rehearsal or performance. The theatre is fantastic, and the people who work there have all been so supportive and kind. It’s been a great gig.
Maybe some day I’ll do the show. Perhaps some smaller theatre somewhere won’t be able to pay whatever they pay John and will want to go for the second stringer. We’ll see. If not, I suppose it’ll be like when I did Passion at Boston Court which was supposed to open on March 14, 2020. 
Only a handful of people will ever have gotten to see me do it, but I did it. And had a great time.
So thank you John Allee, for recommending me to Peter.