‘Theater … with a capital T’ … at its Best!Wiesenthraled

By Lynn Wexler

Were “history” to repeat itself, many of its most venerated � gures might resemble Tom Dugan-inspired performances. After all, the actor and his minions have elucidated a passel

of characters, who emerge from the mists of time to recount and reveal luminous, sometimes surprising pasts.

With more than 25 years of stage and screen experience, Dugan

has appeared in 50-plus � lms and TV shows. Now he celebrates a full decade of national acclaim as actor, playwright and director of one-person shows, performances that have provided insight into some of history’s most heroic � gures. His plays have been produced in more than two dozen North American cities, with four under way now simultaneously.

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�e Jewish Repertory �eatre of Nevada brings one of them, Wie-senthal, to the Smith Center’s Troesh Studio �eater on Nov. 9 and 10. Norma Morrow-Zuckerman, JRTN’s co-founder with Charlene Sher, and now JRTN’s sole principal, strives to bring Equity theater produc-tions that otherwise would be unavailable to Las Vegas audiences.

“In founding JRTN, I felt a responsibility to bring quality perfor-mance and content to Las Vegas that is timely and relevant to a post-9/11 world,” she says. “We need to know about and hear from history’s heroes, to remind us of who we are and from whence we came … and to inspire us to reach for the courage within. Wiesenthal is one of those productions. And Tom Dugan’s work here is simply outstanding.”

Dugan portrays Simon Wiesenthal circa 2003, near the end of the Nazi hunter’s 94th year (Wiesenthal died in Vienna in 2005, at age 96). As he packs up materials from his Jewish Documentation Center in Vienna for shipment to the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Ange-les, the audience serves as one �nal student group eager to hear the stories of “the Jewish James Bond.” �e play recounts how Wiesen-thal cheated death at the hands of Hitler’s brutal S.S., and devoted his life to bringing history’s most notorious war criminals to justice. 

“Wiesenthal,” as portrayed by Dugan, tells the audience in accent-ed English how he and his wife Cyla together lost 89 family mem-bers in the Holocaust. And he details his role in the capture of near-ly 1,100 fugitive Nazi war criminals, including: Adolf Eichmann, the architect of the “Final Solution”; Franz Murer, the “Butcher of Vilna”; and Karl Silberbauer, the S.S. o�cer who arrested Anne Frank and her family.

Dugan was the 2011 recipient of the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Solo Performance for his work in Wiesenthal. He received three 2011 Los Angeles Ovation Award nominations for the role. Backstage hailed Wiesenthal as “ … masterful.” LA Weekly deemed it “… most eloquent.” �e Los Angeles Times said: “… there are righteous stories told here that you will not forget.”

Perhaps Wiesenthal’s most riveting review came from Variety’s Bob Verini, who wrote: “�at Sunday afternoon taught me things about a historical �gure and event I thought I was already familiar with … touching me in a way I had not thought possible. To this day I get a chill up my spine when recalling the �nal heartbreaking ges-ture as Dugan retired from the stage. Now that is what �eater, with a capital T, can do at its best.”

In a telephone interview with DAVID, Dugan talked about shifting the focus of his theatrical career to this particular genre (writing, directing and acting), and the transcendence that occurs when tal-ent and know-how merge seamlessly.

DAVID: Are you Jewish?

TOM: No… I was raised Catholic. In fact, I’m from what was at the time the smallest town in New Jersey: Win�eld. It was all white and there were no Jews … very sheltered. My parents, however, raised me in an environment of tolerance. My father is a decorated WWII veteran. He liberated a concentration camp in Germany, where he witnessed the evils of prejudice, and (he) understood the values of tolerance. I grew up hearing his stories. I did marry a Jewish girl, though; and our two sons are being raised Jewish.

DAVID: What prompted your decision to write, perform in and di-rect one-person shows?

TOM: It was a practical decision … I wanted to ensure future roles for myself!

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DAVID: Why historical �gures?

TOM: Ah … that’s an interesting answer. First, I wanted to have an audience. I did lots of great theatrical work. But all too often, no one came. So I researched online what the most popular subjects are. Take a guess what number one is … surprise … porn. Next was reli-gion, followed by the Civil War.

DAVID: I see … so that’s why your �rst play is about Civil War Gen-eral Robert E. Lee?

TOM: Yes. �e play is called Robert E. Lee – Shades of Gray. It’s set on the day Lee is to surrender to U.S. General Ulysses S. Grant. Unlike history’s popular view, Lee was a commander who was against slav-ery and secession, and repulsed by war. Why did he reject Lincoln’s o�er to lead the Union Army and agree to �ght for �e Confedera-cy? It’s fascinating.

DAVID: Critics have called the show “a script for the ages.” How so?

TOM: Lee came from a poor and disgraced family to rise above his struggles. He went to West Point and eventually became the most respected �gure from the South in the post-Civil War era. He was a leader by all accounts. One story tells of his attending a church in Virginia after the war. Communion was o�ered to the whites in the front of the church and blacks in the back. Suddenly, a black man walked to the front and knelt to receive his communion. All present froze. Lee stood up and knelt beside the man, next in line to receive. Lee had courage and was a leader by example … a script for the ages.

DAVID: You next wrote Frederick Douglass – In the Shadow of Slavery. Tell me about that choice.

TOM: Douglass is another example of courage and triumph in the face of great adversity. He began in chains as a slave, and through his own initiative went on to become adviser to seven U.S. presi-dents. Lincoln counted him amongst his dearest of friends.

DAVID: Your newest work is about Mary Lincoln. Congratulations on its October premiere at West Georgia University.

TOM: �ank you. I wanted to write about Mary because she has been unfairly vili�ed through the lessons of history, often dismissed as a nasty, crazy lady who tormented her husband. What I reveal in the piece is an exceptional woman who su�ered from bipolar disease, which was un-known at the time. �roughout her life and her marriage to Abe Lincoln, she never gave up, even in the face of her own emotional turmoil. She never quit. She never stopped trying to do good and to help her husband. As a result, their marriage was strong despite the abuse she hurled at him; and despite the unthinkable loss of three of their children.

DAVID: What are you working on now?

TOM: I’m in the midst of researching Jackie Kennedy Onassis.

DAVID: How does that factor in with your theme? She came from great wealth and privilege.

TOM: Jackie came from a highly dysfunctional family. Her father was a philanderer; her parents got divorced. She was without emo-tional security growing up. Good luck with the rest of your life without that. She nonetheless came out of it with her head squarely

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on her shoulders. And even though she went through di�cult times with Jack, several miscarried pregnancies, and the death of their son Patrick, she continued to reinvest in her marriage and her fam-ily. She was an extraordinary mother and wife, and set an extraordi-nary example for the nation, both as a �rst lady and as she mourned the assassination (50 years ago this month) of her husband.

DAVID: �e historical characters you chose are exemplary, for sure. Critics have lauded your performances. To what do you attribute the success of your scripts?

TOM: I research and write the plays the way I would like to see them presented. I uncover the untold story, revealing what I would like to know, and thought I already knew. My intention is to clear up misunderstandings about relevant historical characters and to high-light their magni�cence and contributions. �ey are all heroes, each in their way. Lee, Douglas, Wiesenthal, Mary and Jackie lived their lives with optimism in the face of the opposite. �ey each worked incessantly to improve the lives of others, setting example after example on how to lead humanity to higher ground. �rough these characters’ lives, we can better understand the grander themes of life. Audiences leave each play feeling energized and uplifted from having spent an evening with the �gure on stage that they have now come to know and understand.

DAVID: You love to play to youth audiences, correct?

TOM: I can sum it up by the following … Of all the positive reviews I have been fortunate to receive, my best by far came from a teen-age boy during the Q&A after one of my shows. He approached the microphone with con�dence and enthusiasm. Without missing a beat, he said: ‘WOW! And I thought this was going to suck!’ Boy, did I laugh! If the kids like this stu� then they’ll understand it and learn the lessons. What more can I ask for?

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