Cincinnati Bible College Career at a Glance

 

Call this an effort to digitize some paper records and declutter my home office.

Memories of "The Inspector General"

 

The Inspector General was eventually turned into a movie musical starring Danny Kaye, but I was in First Presbyterian Theater's production of the original play by Nikolai Gogol...even though I DID have Danny Kaye's role, Ivan Alexandrovitch Hlestakov, a clerk from the Capital that everyone in town mistakenly believes is the Inspector General...come to town in order to clean up the place and get rid of the corrupt politicians.

This was one of the few non-musical shows I was ever in after high school, and the only time Fort Wayne had the opportunity to see me in a "starring" role. It was entirely appropriate for Denny Bechtelheimer to have been the one to direct me, as we had worked together several times before, not the least of which was when he was Jesus in Godspell with Beloved and me.

Strongest memory: With Denny's direction, I discovered that specific blocking really helped me memorize my lines for the lengthy scene in Act Three in which I became increasingly drunk. That scene also led to my castmates wanting me to over-imbibe at cast parties, but I didn't touch a drop.

"Next comes Dewey Roth as the clerk taken for the Inspector General. Roth has a wonderful role, the most usual of all the folks on stage but animated by a no-holds-barred ego that lets him fly high and free through the hilarious scene back at the Mayor's parlor after a banquet lunch. As he gets drunker and drunker, the stories get taller and taller, but the townspeople stick right with him, heightening the hilarity."  -  Connie Trexler, News-Sentinel

"Dewey Roth plays the opportunistic freeloader the townspeople mistake for the inspector general. His first appearance comes in the second act, an act which unfortunately is needed for introduction purposes, but which goes on interminably and, as staged by Bechtelheimer, rather dully despite Roth jumping over and under and around the small space. Escaping from that, however, Roth comes alive in the final two acts and makes them his. His drunken scene is a mindboggler."  -  Roxanne T. Mueller, Journal Gazette

"Roth is refreshing and bon vivant, as he charms the heart of everyone on stage."  -  Susan Horine, The Communicator

"His Royal 'Fakeness'  -  Dewey,
       Oh boy. Here I am, ready to tell you how much I appreciate you and what you've done for the show...I don't exactly know how...
       You have made this show a delight  -  I mean that. Hlestakov is everything I ever hoped he would be  -  and more.
       I am privileged to know you, to work with you again on a show, and to call you a good buddy. Thanks.
       Love, Denny"

Memories of "Winterthing"

 

This was a strange little play at First Presbyterian Theater, November 23-December 2, 1979. It was directed by Godspell's choreographer, Lynn Hillsamer Blosser, with whom, for some reason I can't remember, Beloved and I spent the night once and enjoyed a hash and eggs breakfast.

A piece of direction I received in this show sticks in my memory. I was putting a lot of volume and anger in a particular line and Lynn suggested I try the line again, but to hold all that emotion inside. It instantly made the whole scene feel better and actually gave that particular line MORE power.

The young gal (maybe 10 at the time?) who played my youngest sister, Melanie Wharton, was super smart and cute. She once spent the night with Beloved and me. It must have been that she came home with us after a Sunday matinee performance because she came to the little radio station in Decatur, IN where I did a Sunday night shift (kinda like a hobby I got paid for). We ordered a pizza from a little place across the street and when she brought it into the studio, she plopped it down on the turntable...that was currently playing a record on the air. I did a little "Augh! No!", she screamed and ran out and I may have traumatized her for life.

No, that's not me on the left, but I think we all know which part I'd play if I was doing the show NOW (2023)

"Dewey Roth as Jakin and Melanie Wharton as Carilan capitalize on the juiciest parts in the play and are thus able to establish definite characterizations which the other principals fall short of doing. Wharton could be called a modern Jane Withers. She's so insufferably whiney and snotty that you tend to cheer Roth on when he tells her to shut up." [Roxanne Mueller - Journal Gazette]

Just remembered...I supplied the wolf howl that ended each performance.

Memories of "Godspell"

 

This special show, retelling the parables of Matthew and Luke with vaudevillian humor and acoustic rock music, was my first show with First Presbyterian Theater, Fort Wayne, Indiana, and the means of Beloved and I meeting and "falling in love."

It was her first involvement in musical theater and my...umpteenth.

With performances May 12-21, 1978, it was just a few years after Godspell had been a hit on Broadway and only five years after the far-less-successful movie. A couple hundred people auditioned, but only 14 were cast (and also a couple mimes that mostly stayed on the sidelines...don't really remember WHAT they did). Because the show was originally written for a cast of 10, we played around with the parts and solos. I mostly did Jeffery's lines and had his solo, "We Beseech Thee".

Once the initial herd was whittled into a more-manageable 30 or so, the audition process, in addition to singing a song, was mostly a series of theater improvisational games, which I loved. Once cast, there was a high level of actor input for our costuming and clown makeup design. (It's not in the couple of early promo photos below, but I ended up wearing a colorful Walt Disney World hat that I borrowed from my "baby" sister.

This was, without a doubt, my favorite theatrical involvement of all time. Between the subject matter and the sheer FUN of it all, there is no competition.

Fun Fact: Opening night featured the opportunity for dinner and the show if you were willing to shell out $7.50 a ticket!

"Debbie Ann Brewer, with her doll-face makeup and outfit, is outstanding on what I think is the show's most beautiful song, 'By My Side'." - Roxanne T. Mueller, Journal Gazette

"Dew-Dew! It isn't difficult to allow freedom to an actor as disciplined as you. Your talent, your warmth and especially your supportive attitude carried me through several rough times in Godspell's life. I sincerely look forward to working with you again. Your head's in a grand place, Mr. Roth. You witness well! Love, JT" [Director]

"My special thanks. You do the nicest things in the nicest way! Love, Debbie [Given when she wasn't sure if we would ever see each other after the play was done.]

Memories of "Kiss Me Kate"

The musical was Kiss Me Kate, produced by Arena Dinner Theatre at the Chamber of Commerce, Fort Wayne, Indiana, October 14-29, 1977. I was awarded the Arena Theater Award for Best Actor in a Minor Role in a Musical for my work as Nate, Hortensio, and Dancer.

Strongest memories: trying to sing and dance on a tiny side-stage while wearing a mask and loaded down with a garden hose and 3 or 4 additional props; running down a hallway to make it to my next entrance; learning how to play a few notes on a mandolin for a scene.

My bio: Dewey Roth was last seen on the Arena stage in Lend an Ear, the musical revue for which he was nominated for a best acting award. He has appeared with Purdue Indiana Theatre in Ah, Wilderness and 1776, also with the Little Theatre of Northern Wells in Li'l Abner, The Boyfriend, and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. He is a graduate of Norwell High School where he was active in the theatre program and attended Indiana Purdue at Fort Wayne. He is currently a radio announcer for WFWR Radio here in Fort Wayne.

"Dearest Dewey, Thank you for being talented, dependable, professional, supportive, and a good friend. And a special thanks for the enjoyable dream!

Lynda [our choreographer]

"Dewey - I just want to say..."ABOUT TIME we did a show together!" Thanks for ALL (every single bit) your work and encouragement. Everything you do to make this show work is beautifully executed. Break a leg.

Love, Denny [the director]

Memories of "1776"

 

1776 is a musical about the signing of the Declaration of Independence and was the only musical I was involved in at Purdue-Indiana Theatre (PIT). I had just finished my freshman year of college at Indiana Purdue University - Fort Wayne as a Theater major.

Performances were June 4-20, 1976. Something I had totally forgotten is that we did TWO performances each Friday and Saturday, starting at 7 and 10 p.m. TEN PM??!?

The director, Larry Life, instructed the cast to approach their characters with the underlying thought that they are all sex-starved, having been in Philadelphia, away from their wives, for at least six months. Being the know-it-all freshman who had done the assigned research, I informed him that MY character, Secretary of Congress, Charles Thomson, actually lived in Philadelphia and so his instruction didn't apply to me.

Not that it really mattered. None of my lines consisted of my character actually talking. All I did was read letters from George Washington to the assembled congressmen. (And I didn't memorize them...which required a lot of faith in the "messenger boy" who brought the dispatches to me (High school classmate, Mark Ferrell). If he had handed me the wrong one, we all would have been sunk!)

Random Memories:

• "Other nice moments are contributed by...Dewey Roth as Congressional Secretary Charles Thomson." [Connie Trexler News-Sentinel]
• During one of the dress rehearsals, the actor portraying Benjamin Franklin cast his vote AGAINST the declaration. We were all dumbfounded: "What?!?"
• The day of our last performance was the last time I shaved for several years.
• The one lasting effect on my life from being in this show was the acquisition of the multi-useful phrase "hot tuna" from the man who played John Adams, Jan Swank. ("Hot tuna" can be used in place of "yippee"...either sincerely or sarcastically. It also stands in for something more vulgar when saying "He thinks he's hot tuna.")

Orthodontic Farewell

 

I got orthodontic braces at an older age than most...the summer between my junior and senior year of high school. It made for a different relationship than most patients had with the 20-something female assistants in Dr. Ingleman's office. (At least, my fantasy life told me it did.) But two years later, when those braces came off, I was given the following farewell "card" and it made it seem as if my daydreams were accurate after all.

[Editor's Note: The "black thing" mentioned in this poem was a rubber mold designed to fine-tune the placement of my teeth.]

Dewey, Dewey,

Blonde and blue, don't you know - we love you
With your sensuous mouth, braces and all
For such charms you made us fall,
OH, those tender lips we did touch,
We will miss them so very much.

From now on your mouth filled with black
Will no more do that famous "Dewey Smack"
The fun we shared for two years long,
To miss that now; it all seems wrong.

We'll say goodbye to those monthly visits
And farewell to those shiny rivets
Taking those bands apart
Has caused all of us to have broken hearts.

Don't forget in years to come,
Who made you cute and quite handsome.
Now you'll have to bite, bite, bite
On that black thing - oh, so tight.

Don't be sad, now that the time has come to say bye
Just think of all the times we've had to say hi!

Judy, Cindy, Jane