Mike Hall, 34, says he fell in love with theater at the age of 16 when he began attending
Loveland High School and knew he had to make friends.
He says he grew up as an “Army brat” who moved around a lot, though most of his family was based in or around the Cincinnati area; and when he moved to Loveland to finish high school, he first turned to “theater people,” who “are for the most part, pretty embracing.”
Hall started acting in school productions and never turned back. He attended
Northern Kentucky University as a theatre major, then went on to spend his time performing with various theatre companies in the area.
Acting, Hall says, was his primary endeavor. That is, until he had a conversation backstage with Josh Steele in 2009, as the two were waiting to begin the night’s production of “Angry Housewives” at
New Edgecliff Theatre.
“We both wanted to see ‘
Ghostbusters’ the musical happen,” Hall says. “We figured big budget movies and musicals like that are successful, and it’s usually the cult classics that make it, so we decided to try to write it.”
After talking to a copyright lawyer, however, the idea for “Ghostbusters” had to be scrapped, but all was not lost.
“He told us that was the worst idea ever, unless we wanted to be poor the rest of our lives,” says Hall. “But we still wanted to write something based around it, so we decided to turn it on its ear and write about what we know, which is the world of theater—so we decided to write about a group of actors who want to do ‘Ghostbusters’ the musical. They get told that they can’t and still decide to do it by changing the process around completely.”
So Hall and Steele did just that and became first-time playwrights with
“Don’t Cross the Streams: The Cease and Desist Musical,” which became a hit after its debut at both the
Cincinnati and
Indianapolis Fringe festivals last year.
The two writers didn’t want to stop there, however. According to Hall, they’re “kind of hooked,” so the two recently formed their production company,
Hugo West Theatricals; and the first major goal is to produce “Don’t Cross the Streams” as a two-act show, get it published and performed in cities across the country.
Hugo West Theatricals, in conjunction with
Falcon Theater, will start with a week-long run beginning Friday at
Monmouth Theatre.
Hall says he and Steele have added a few songs and expanded on the script to create a comedic piece they both feel good about.
“I think the audience will be entertained, and that’s probably the most important thing theater can teach—is that we’re really supposed to entertain people—we can’t get too much on our high horse and make it a message all the time,” Hall says. “We have to keep the audience in mind—and when the audience comes to see it, I think they’ll know that we’ve kept them at the forefront.”
Do Good:
• Support "Don't Cross the Streams" by
purchasing tickets to a performance at Monmouth Theatre, March 15-23.
• Join and share the
Facebook event page with your friends to spread word about the upcoming run of "Don't Cross the Streams."
• Like
"Don't Cross the Streams" on Facebook.
By Brittany York
Brittany York is a professor of English composition at the University of Cincinnati and a teacher at the Regional Institute of Torah and Secular Studies. She also edits the For Good section of SoapboxMedia.
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