First timer finds joy in being bad in Pequot Lakes play

PEQUOT LAKES — For Chad Hoefs, the prospect of joining the Pequot Lakes Community Theater production of "The Great Gatsby" was an opportunity to try something new.

"It was just something I've been interested in doing," Hoefs said. "I just thought I'd give it a try."

In the past, Hoefs has had a lot on his plate. He works as a food service worker and bus driver for the Pequot Lakes School District. His wife, Angie, also works full time, so when their two kids, Gus and Greta, were at an age where they required more supervision and assistance, theater wasn't in the cards.

Now, one is 16 and driving, the other is 12 and his wife has a position where she can work from home.

Other than semi mandatory theater when he was in school, Hoefs had never really been in any theatrical productions. He had played roles in a couple church school Christmas plays and a play in Merle Cunningham's class about tall tales.

His latest theatrical involvement was in middle school and high school.

"We were in sixth grade doing the Christmas program," Hoefs said. "Me and Susan Tulenchik played an elderly couple that had found our way to our grandkids' Christmas program and there were aliens and we had to explain to them what Christmas was about while all the different grades came through and did their program."

His latest theatrical type performance was an in-class demonstration of the assassination scene from "The Tragedy of Julius Caesar," where Hoefs was the titular victim.

With his relative inexperience, Hoefs thought he would enjoy playing a small part in "The Great Gatsby." Perhaps a character who appears once or twice and that's all.

"I've never read 'The Great Gatsby,' but I knew it was a classic that Fitzgerald wrote. But I've never seen the movies or read the books," Hoefs said. "I saw the description of the characters and I thought I could pull off the gangster character, Meyer Wolfsheim. It said he was a man in his 60s and I was thinking he's not a real main character. I thought I'd try that as a good way to dip my toe in the water with a smaller part."

Surprisingly, after his audition, Hoefs landed one of the four biggest parts in the show as Tom Buchanan, husband to the main character's cousin, Daisy, and Jay Gatsby's rival for Daisy's affection.

"They wanted you to try out for more than one person," Hoefs said. "I guess Tom Buchanan is a 40 year old, large man and I thought I'd try that. It was my second choice. Well, then they called me and asked me to play Tom."

Hoefs said he was somewhat intimidated by the role at first, but rehearsals made him realize what many actors come to learn. The villain can be the most fun role in a play.

"The guy's a jerk," Hoefs said. "He's a self-centered, snobby jerk. You basically get to sneer at everything. It's just kind of fun because that's not the way I naturally am. I'm not a jerk to people as far as I know, so playing a 'heavy,' as the director keeps calling it, is interesting."

As with many actors, being Tom allows Hoefs to get out of his comfort zone and act as if he's discarding the moral boundaries he maintains in real life. He's the type of character audiences love to hate, and one that Hoefs is finding fascinating to portray.

Travis Grimler / Echo Journal

Hoefs has specifically avoided any other potrayals of the show, hoping to avoid having his own performance influenced by a subconscious desire to reproduce another actor's mannerisms. Other actors may like to use famous productions as inspiration for their roles, but Hoefs said that inspiration comes from real life experience.

"There are people out there that are like Tom in certain ways," Hoefs said, "whether they are blatantly racist or cheating on their spouse. Humans have been like that forever. We all experience those people in real life."

Hoefs said that even though he is a new actor in a larger role, he hasn't had too much trouble memorizing his own lines.

However, that's not the only thing he has had to learn. There's also hitting your cues, avoiding blocking other characters, standing with an open stance, staying in character and projecting so the audience can hear you.

He's doing what he can to learn from the experience of his fellow actors. Other than that, Hoefs also had to learn a period dance.

"Learning to dance the Charleston is a bit of a challenge because I have two left feet, two left shoes and probably more lefts than even I'm aware of," Hoefs said. "It's coming along. I practice a bit every night."

Sometimes popular scenes in plays might not be the official climax of the production. Often the most popular scenes might be funny, or colorful or full of dancing and singing.

In "The Great Gatsby," Hoefs said the audience will enjoy either the climax or one of the book's famous party scenes.

"There are a couple of intense scenes where things get kind of physical and confrontational," Hoefs said. "People familiar with 'The Great Gatsby' know how it ends. For people who aren't, there could be a bit of a shock. It's not a comedy, obviously, but there are some laughs here and there. I don't know if I can pinpoint what will be the most popular scene, but maybe one of the party scenes."

Hoefs said the show is somewhat light on props and somewhat even costumes, but the crew does wonders with lighting. In one scene, Hoefs said the lights give it a surreal, dream-like feeling. In another scene he said lights will create a convincing illusion of a large amount of water on the stage.

Hoefs has to get through the show first to know exactly how he feels about being a part of theater, but so far he's had a positive experience.

"I'm afraid there's going to be a lot of sleep lost the week before opening night," he said. "If it goes well, maybe I will be doing it again. It's been fun. It's been quite an experience. So far I do enjoy it and a lot of people have told me once you get started you kind of get hooked on it. We'll see. I'm just having fun right now."

If nothing else, Hoefs still feels the experience reinforces the need to get out and try new things.

"I'm not necessarily saying, 'Do theater,'" Hoefs said," But you don't really regret experiences. It's just like a vacation, and vacations are more memorable than a physical thing you buy. So you get life experience when you try something new and out of your comfort zone."

• Who: Pequot Lakes Community Theater/Greater Lakes Area Performing Arts
• When: Fridays-Sundays, Feb. 17-19 and 24-26; 7 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays
• Where: Pequot Lakes High School auditorium
• Tickets: $15 for adults, $13 for seniors, $10 for students. Call 218-568-9200 or visit glapa.org

• Nick Carraway played by Ben Gordon
• Jay Gatsby played by Eddie Binda
• Daisy Buchanan played by Meredyth Anderson
• Tom Buchanan played by Chad Hoefs
• Jordan Baker played by Alayna Ostrowski
• Myrtle Wilson played by Karla Shepherd-Johnson
• George Wilson played by Zack McAllister
• Meyer Wolfsheim played by Gary Binda
• Chester McKee played by Miles DeSanto
• Mrs. McKee, Mrs. Michaelis played by Kailey Gerdes
• Police Sergeant played by Andrew Schiessl
• Policeman, Reporter played by Alex Prather
• Saxman splayed by Scott Sater

• C. J. Anderson, director.
• Lauren Nickisch, assistant director
• Ronnie Villa, stage manager
• Nancy Ryan, technical director
• Tim Leagjeld, set designer
• Deb Binda, wardrobe manager
• Ruthie Gmeinder, costume designer

Travis Grimler is a staff writer for the Pineandlakes Echo Journal weekly newspaper in Pequot Lakes/Pine River. He may be reached at 218-855-5853 or travis.grimler@pineandlakes.com.