Michele Strauss: ‘A ham is born’

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Fact Box

TO GO

What: "Butterflies Are Free" directed by Michele Strauss

When: 7:30 p.m. June 24-27, July 1-3, 8-11; 2 p.m. June 28, July 5, 12

Where: Lemon Bay Playhouse, 96 W. Dearborn St., Englewood

How: For tickets, call the Box Office, 475-6756, Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

Info: www.lemonbayplayhouse.com

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When Michele Strauss was three years old, her mom sent her to dancing school. For one particular show, she was picked from the group to go up to the front of the stage to perform.

"When I came up front, my father and grandfather came down to take pictures of me. I waved at them and winked and said, 'Hi, Dad.' The audience loved it. And that's when the ham in me was born. My mom always said that's where I got my start."

In high school at St. Joseph's in Tom's River, NJ, Strauss was in variety shows and played Emily in "Our Town" and one of the daughters in "Fiddler on the Roof." She also acted in community theater in Howell Township and remembers being in "Boeing Boeing."

"I definitely had the bug. No doubt about it."

From high school she went on to major in theater and minor in English at all-girl Albertus Magnus College in New Haven, Conn. There her roles ranged from "very serious dramatic pieces to the absolutest fluff of light comedy." She was April in "Company," Abigail Williams in "Crucible", Adella in "The House of Bernarda Alba," Joann in "Godspell" and Dora in "Night Must Fall" -- "I stole the show in that. I made Dora real funny. I was the only one who put any humor in their character."

Putting her own personal mark on a character or play has become a trademark for Strauss, both as an actress and as a director.

From college in Connecticut she went on to study acting in New York City with Julie Bovasso and took courses with the Whole Theater Company, which both Olympia and Apollo Dukakis are heavily involved with. Strauss took classes with Apollo and also took dance classes at the Phil Black Studios in New York.

After a while she got a job -- "you have to eat" -- but still did theater, but more community theater, dinner theater and repertoire theater. She did summer theater at Monmouth College, and that's where she did "Butterflies Are Free," the play she is currently directing at Lemon Bay Playhouse in Englewood. She was Jill.

"So I have a special attachment to this play, because I acted in it."

She continued doing theater, working in retail days with a jewelry store. In 1989 she was transferred to Florida and before long got involved with theater here, first acting and then directing.

"I knew I could direct," Strauss said. "I'd done so much acting. I had experienced a lot of directing techniques and styles. I knew I could take the best of all the directors I'd worked with, put it all together and become a really good director."

She got her chance 12 years ago with "Look Who's Laughing" at Lemon Bay Playhouse -- which got great reviews. After directing "Let's Murder Marsha" and Neil Simon's "Fools," Strauss decided to concentrate on acting for a while.

Quirky walks. Quirky talks.

"I love acting because I get to be really creative. I love to bring all kinds of odd things to the table. Quirky walks. Quirky talks. Silly things. I can go way to the edge, and if I go too far, the director can pull me back.

"If it's a serious part, the challenge is to gain that intensity with that character. It's a different way to look at things. The villain is the hero in their own story. You have to be likeable and despicable at the same time.

"I probably prefer acting but lately by just a smidge because that's where my heart lies."

Something else close to Strauss's heart is her love of animals, especially her cats and dogs. "My animals are my life," Strauss said. "They are my friend, my companion, my children, my family."

Next to theater, one of her biggest hobbies is judging cat shows as an international judge for the United Feline Organization. Besides Florida, she has traveled to Arizona, Washington state, Mexico City, Brazil and Germany (three times) to judge shows.

"There's very little down time for me going from one thing to another," she said.

Strauss got back into directing just recently with "Cliffhanger" at Lemon Bay, "Rainmaker" with the Charlotte Players, then "Wait Until Dark" at Lemon Bay in November and "A Bad Year For Tomatoes" at Glenn Ridge in Sarasota this last April. "Smell of the Kill" in March was the first show she directed here at Royal Palm Players. "I was thrilled to death that it was such a good hit."

She got called by Lemon Bay Playhouse again, asking her to do Leonard Gershe's "Butterflies Are Free," which opened last week. It's unusual for LBP to use the same director for more than one show during a season.

"One of the reasons I think people like me as a director is because I have an actor's perspective on directing. I give them an acting motivation for why they're doing a movement. I like to help my actors define their characters, to make each one distinctly different.

"I like directors that are very positive oriented. I believe if you make people feel good about what you're doing, they'll work harder for you. You can correct something that needs to be corrected in a very positive, motivating way.

"I consider myself a very strong director. I come in with a vision of what I want the play to be like. I study it and see it in my mind. I'm prepared when I go into the first rehearsal.

"I enjoy directing because it's a bigger focus. You have to think about the actors, the set, the set decorating. You have to worry about the music, the costumes, the makeup it's the A to Z of a play.

"Acting is the more creative side of it. Directing is the bigger picture. A director gets to be creative but not on quite as large a scale as an actor."

Stars come out

Next season Strauss will be directing "The Nerd" at Charlotte Players, which runs Oct. 2-10, and the Sam Bobrick comedy, "Annoyance," which opens on March 18 (her birthday) at Royal Palm Players.

She described "Annoyance" as an adult comedy with adult situations. "It pushes the envelope," Strauss said. "It's got a little bit of baudy language. We're going to temper it back some -- but not too much."

Royal Palm Players will be celebrating its 20th anniversary next season with the theme, "The Stars Come Out At Night," based on the Van Gogh painting, "Starry Nights." Strauss, who was named RPP managing artistic director last November, said she has 15 events planned for the six months of season.

"I really enjoy this job," Strauss said. "I feel it takes all of the things I'm best at and rolls them all into one. I'm very proud to be managing artistic director for Royal Palm Players. I'm pleased to have Melissa Cripps on board with me as our office manager and bookkeeper, and I'm also glad that Jackie York is on my team as our administrative assistant. I think with the three of us, for the 20th anniversary we're going to set things on fire and put Royal Palm Players back on the map."

Strauss took over as managing artistic director when Charlie Tyler stepped down last fall due to health reasons. One of her most memorable acting experiences was working with Tyler in "Educating Rita" a couple of years ago.

"I was touched with the audience response to that show. We touched people. It was the most incredible acting experience I've ever had."

Tyler, whose health has since improved, plays Ralph Austin in the current production of "Butterflies Are Free" at Lemon Bay Playhouse under Strauss's direction.

Judging by the reaction on opening night, Strauss is once again touching her audiences with "Butterflies."

For more information about "Butterflies Are Free," visit www.lemonbayplayhouse.com. For more about the 20th anniversary 2009-2010 season at Royal Palm Players, go to www.royalpalmplayers.com