The Imagination Blog

We asked John Mallonee to kick off our “Playhouse Tales” by telling the story of how he came to Hershey Area Playhouse. An excerpt from his tale was in the Winter 2009 issue of Bravo! The Magazine of Hershey Area Playhouse. His complete story is below – enjoy reading it, then share yours. Simply register, then click to add a comment, and let our community know how your journey led you to Hershey Area Playhouse.

My Playhouse Tale
By John Mallonee

I’d like to welcome all of you readers to a personal story about getting involved with the theatre. Hopefully this story shows that it’s possible to turn an interest into an avocation and that you don’t have to be a professional to be a performer.

First, let me introduce myself. My name is John Mallonee and I’ve lived in Hershey for the past 20 years. I grew up locally and became more of a fixture in Hershey after taking a summer job at Hersheypark during my college years. It was there that I met my lovely wife Kelly to whom I’ve been married for over 23 years now. I’m a member of the Hershey Lions Club and for the past two and a half years have been a member of the Hershey Area Playhouse family.

My journey into theatre was a long time coming as I temporarily became involved with the drama club in 9th grade. However, the acting bug didn’t find fertile soil and I wouldn’t be close to the stage for some time to come. My next opportunity to perform for an audience came years later in the strangest of places. While working in an office environment, my area started a tradition of having a Christmas Pageant each year.  We had portrayals of various classics including Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, A Charlie Brown Christmas, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and many others. I found out how much of a ham I was as I played many characters in a small lunch room in front of coworkers and some of their children. I even took many turns as a director and producer and have been the holiday coordinator for many years now.

Fast forward to 2002 and an inspiration that got me started on the final stretch to an involvement in community theatre. My father, whom I love and admire, took on a few small roles in The Music Man with the Twin Valley Players. Watching my Dad and seeing my first Broadway show (Beauty and the Beast) really stirred the performing bug in me to the point where I decided to try out for a Hershey Area Playhouse musical.

It was 2004 and the summer show was to be The Wizard of Oz. Director and Hershey Area Playhouse founder Skip Becker had recently talked to our Lions Club about the Playhouse and I took the plunge and tried out. It was my first attempt to land a role in any show and I could tell that many others were regulars. I did the singing and dancing (or something resembling it) and finally did some improvisation for Skip. It went well enough that I got a call back the next day for the role of “The Tin Man”, and as I pictured an emerging dream coming true … I didn’t get the part.

Well, although I had tried not to get my hopes up, I was nonetheless very disappointed. When 2005 rolled around, I took the plunge again with Oliver! and this time … I still didn’t get a part. So in 2006 when I tried out for Cinderella, I wasn’t expecting much. It seems that destiny intervened as this time I got “the call” and found that I had been cast as “The Herald” and my career had begun. It was one of the most exciting personal experiences I’ve ever had and it helped me to realize a thrill that stays with me to this day. A little over two years later, I’ve had the good fortune to act and sing in 5 productions at the Playhouse and look forward to many more.

Getting a breakthrough part in Cinderella gave me continued confidence and desire to try out for other parts. It didn’t take long when I saw one of my childhood favorites scheduled for the Fall of 2006: A Christmas Story. This is certainly an overall family favorite, but it was also a personal one for me. The heartwarming, comical nature of this piece of Americana struck me from the first time I saw the movie, and I knew that I just had to be part of Hershey Area Playhouse’s production.

During the volunteer appreciation event, I tracked down the director, Tom Curry. I knew that I would be out of town for the scheduled auditions, and Tom was gracious enough to give me a personal audition prior to departing. While I was out of town, I got the great news that I had been cast as “Ralph” who was the narrator of the show, and the mature persona of the younger “Ralphie.” It wasn’t until I got started with rehearsals that I realized how big a chunk I had bitten off, as there were very intricate and verbose lines for me to memorize. However, it was also then that I got to work with the wonderful cast and crew, both young and young at heart. I’ve formed some Playhouse friendships which I continue to maintain to this day.

A Christmas Story was to be the last show for Hershey Area Playhouse prior to the new and wonderful venue, as we performed at the old Mikasa store (now The Disney Store) at The Outlets at Hershey. With some loving care from the crew, we transformed the vacant store into the house on Cleveland Street. I relished every night and afternoon of being able to be such a big part of a production with such a great team. I love the feeling of being in our permanent home, but I still reminisce each time I stroll past those windows and think about the lights and the official Red Ryder 200-shot carbine action range model air rifle with a compass and this thing which tells time built right into the stock.

So, now you know a little more about me, but more importantly, I hope that I’ve shown that having a dream can be the first step to being a part of local theatre. Even if you don’t have a theatrical background, it’s never too late to take a chance.  I was a mature adult (okay, maybe not quite the right term) before I ever got started and my inspiration and father proved it even more so to me.  So, what are you doing hanging out in the shadows? The spotlight and audience is waiting…