Go to the mobile version of this Web site.

Login | Contact Us | Site Map | Paid archives | Electronic edition | Subscription Questions | Extras

Here's how Haggard expose moved to stage

By Lisa Bornstein, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published March 8, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

Text size  

Related Stories

More Theater

More stories »

Chris Johnson heard Mike Jones read from his book and thought there was something there.

The owner of Pepper Tree Bookstore in Palm Springs, Calif., Johnson had brought Jones in for a book-signing.

"After listening to him go on about his book, we sat on it for a couple of months and we thought, 'This might really be an important message to turn into theater,' " Johnson says now. "That's what got us thinking, 'How can we turn this into a stage performance?' "

Johnson, who sold his bookstore in January, is a co-founder of PoliMedia Entertainment, which sponsors book festivals and also has put together a one-woman show starring Cloris Leachman. He commissioned Neal Davis to turn Jones' book into a 75-minute performance piece.

"It moves into the realm of a national debate, really, touching on the topics of religious hypocrisy, the culture that breeds such secrecy," Johnson says.

"News stories are kind of ADD, where they move on to the next biggest headline and yesterday's headline is kind of forgotten about. I wanted to bring this story back to life to not necessarily preach to folks but to maintain that dialogue."

Jones' persona outweighed his lack of an acting resume.

"There's some hesitancy with going with a non-actor for anything theater-related. It's a very big risk, but it's one we're willing to try," Johnson says.

"We took some test footage of him, and he has a personality and he has some presence onstage. Director Mike Dempsey worked really hard with him to make sure he was able to not only connect with the material, but also to connect with the character."

Johnson stands to make a profit from the show but says he's motivated more by a mission.

"One of the things I'm trying to get out there is, unfortunately, a lot of people see this story and because of the labels that are involved - prostitution, sex, drugs, religion - they think they understand the story based on stereotypes.

"For Mike, this was a very difficult decision. It's adding insight to the story."