There will be plenty of actors on stage when “Harvey” debuts April 17 at the Mielke Arts Center, but the runaway star could be what the audience doesn’t see.
The play, written by Mary Chase in 1944, follows an eccentric man named Elwood P. Dowd who claims to have a friend named Harvey. The 6-foot, 3½-inch púca, a benign yet mischievous creature based in Celtic lore, takes on the form of an anthropomorphic rabbit that nobody can see — except for Elwood.
His friends are accepting of Harvey’s existence, but his family members are not — including his older sister, Veta Louise Simmons, and niece, Myrtle Mae Simmons, who have become social outcasts due to Elwood’s oddities.
After a high society party is ruined by Elwood’s insistence on introducing Harvey to everyone, Veta and Myrtle Mae decide to have Elwood committed to a sanitarium because, after all, what sane person would claim there’s an invisible rabbit that’s as tall as a human?
However, the commitment becomes more difficult than anticipated when Veta claims that she has seen Harvey, too, and is committed in lieu of Elwood, who wanders off to drink with his friends in town.
First-time director Jennifer Maglio said the classic tale was a perfect one for her to direct, and the last time the Box in the Wood Theater Guild brought “Harvey” to life was back in 2012.
“They wanted to do ‘Harvey’ because, obviously, a play with a giant invisible rabbit seems a little bit Easter-y,” Maglio said. “It was a good choice for spring.”
However, “Harvey” was also pitched by Maglio to the guild because it’s one of her favorite plays. She noted that she’s read the play several hundred times and seen the 1950 film starring Jimmy Stewart dozens of times.
“It felt like it was time to bring it back,” Maglio said. “It seemed something that the Mielke was already very well suited to put on, and for my first play, it felt comfortable but also wonderful.”
Maglio walks into the director’s spot after being the assistant director last fall for “Mr. Burns: A Post Electric Play.” Even though she has acted in a number of Box in the Wood productions, her perspective shifted when she became director.
“Stepping up to the next level adds a whole new set of things that I’m learning as I go,” Maglio said. “As an actor, I’m looking at my role and how it affects everyone else. As an assistant director, I was looking more at how to help the director, but now I have to see how I want to put it all together. It’s more of a bigger picture as opposed to a smaller picture.”
Maglio described Elwood as the nicest person imaginable.
“He is warm and friendly and treats everyone great, but his best friend is a 6-foot invisible rabbit who is driving his family crazy,” she said. “The decision has to be made — do you institutionalize him because of it, despite the fact that he’s a wonderful person?”
An interesting piece of trivia that Maglio noted was that Jimmy Stewart played Elwood four times. He wasn’t Elwood when the play first debuted on Broadway in 1944, but he filled in for the original actor for six weeks. After his film portrayal in 1950, he played Elwood in the Broadway revival in the 1970s, as well as a made-for-television movie in 1972.
“It’s really pretty funny, because you can see pictures of him playing Elwood from a young man to an older, gray-haired man so many times over the years,” Maglio said.
It’s the whimsy of the show that makes it a favorite for the director, who was wearing rabbit ears at one rehearsal.
“It’s very much a warm cocoa play,” Maglio said. “It’s very comforting, it’s very fun, but it’s also touching. It’s also surprisingly deep. There are things that we had debated for this play that we just don’t think about, like is Elwood the main character of the play? I have argued he is not.”
Maglio said the play, in her view, is more of a critique on Elwood’s sister, Veta. She noted that Veta goes through more a change over the course of the show, while Elwood remains very much the same.
Alex Konen, who is portraying Elwood for Box in the Wood, has a slightly different take on who the main character is. He believes it’s Harvey himself, even though there’s no stage time or lines for Elwood’s buddy.
“I’ve gone and seen other productions, and I’ve directed the show once myself,” Konen said. “Harvey is the main character, but no one actually sees or hears Harvey. It’s more of a catalyst with all of the other problems. All of Veta’s problems are because of my association with my friend, and all of Myrtle Mae’s problems are because of my association with my friend, and then the doctors have problems because of Elwood’s association with Harvey.”
Konen said his mother worked as a stage manager when he was in elementary school, and the performance “Harvey” gave him a lot of time backstage to be able to experience what theater was like. Today, the English teacher also teaches theater and produces shows at Shawano Community High School.
“My principal was actually Elwood P. Dowd, which was a really cool thing in the sense of, ‘Hey, there’s a guy you wouldn’t think did theater, but he’s up there doing a part and doing a decent job of it,’” Konen said. “I think part of it was the magic of theater, as well. Even though I was backstage, I saw how it all unfolded and creates that story. It’s something that’s always stuck with me.”
AT A GLANCE
WHAT: “Harvey”
WHEN: 7 p.m. April 17-18 and April 24-25; 2 p.m. April 19 and April 26
WHERE: Mielke Arts Center, N5649 Airport Road, Shawano
TICKETS: $15 adults, $10 children. Tickets can be purchased at shawanoarts.ludus.com.
Wilson, played by Taylor Pederson, left, helps Dr. Lyman Sanderson, played by Jacob Grignon, move some books into the office for the sanitarium in a scene from “Harvey.” (Lee Pulaski | NEW Media)
Wilson, played by Taylor Pederson, left, has had enough of the antics of Elwood P. Dowd, played by Alex Konen, and tries to push him back to his room at the sanitarium in a scene from “Harvey.” (Lee Pulaski | NEW Media)
Ruth Kelly, played by Leslie Lemerond, reacts to a phone call received at the sanitarium in a scene from “Harvey.” (Lee Pulaski | NEW Media)
Dr. Lyman Sanderson, played by Jacob Grignon, sits at his desk in a scene from “Harvey” and wonders where everything went wrong with committing Elwood P. Dowd. (Lee Pulaski | NEW Media)
Dr. William Chumley, played by Bob Wilkinson, right, returns to the sanitarium after a harrowing experience with Harvey, the invisible rabbit, while orderly Wilson, played by Taylor Pederson, looks on in a scene from “Harvey.” (Lee Pulaski | NEW Media)
Judge Omar Gaffney, played by David Woosencraft, talks about what is being done in regard to Elwood’s commitment in a scene from “Harvey.” (Lee Pulaski | NEW Media)
Veta Louise Simmons, played by Julie Bonnin, looks around to make sure there are only humans in the sanitarium office before walking inside during a scene from “Harvey.” (Lee Pulaski | NEW Media)
Wilson, played by Taylor Pederson, and Myrtle Mae Simmons, played by Laci Sperberg, converse on their own while the fate of Elwood is being determined in a scene from “Harvey.” (Lee Pulaski | NEW Media)
Veta Louise Simmons, played by Julie Bonnin, left, reacts in dismay when it’s suggested that her brother, Elwood, doesn’t need to be committed because he sees and talks to a 6-foot invisible rabbit while Myrtle Mae Simmons, Veta’s niece played by Laci Sperberg, looks on in a scene from “Harvey.”
(Lee Pulaski | NEW Media)
Elwood P. Dowd, played by Alex Konen, is eager to spend a night out on the town in a scene from “Harvey,” but his sister, Veta Louise Simmons, played by Julie Bonnin, has other plans for her brother’s future. (Lee Pulaski | NEW Media)
Ruth Kelly, played by Leslie Lemerond, and Dr. Lyman Sanderson, played by Jacob Grignon, are very concerned about the disappearance of one of their sanitarium colleagues in a scene from “Harvey.” (Lee Pulaski | NEW Media)
Wilson, played by Taylor Pederson, left, and Myrtle Mae Simmons, played by Laci Sperberg, can only sit and watch as Elwood P. Dowd, played by Alex Konen, talks on and on about Harvey, a 6-foot invisible rabbit that he proclaims is his best friend. (Lee Pulaski | NEW Media)
Dr. William Chumley, played by Bob Wilkinson, right, sits down with Elwood P. Dowd, played by Alex Konen, to try and get to the roots of Harvey’s existence in a scene from “Harvey.” (Lee Pulaski | NEW Media)
