Ben Agresti has been a professional actor and director for over thirty years. In that time, he has sung in opera and danced in ballet (both badly), and appeared in a flock of forgettable television movies, unsold pilots and barely noticeable turns in several major motion pictures - some that were so bad they weren't released - the escaped! But on the other hand, he has enjoyed a wide and varied variety of theatrical experiences - and some he will even talk about. He was featured in countless (it seems) productions of GODSPELL, the most notably a tour with Scott Bakula (the current Captain on the latest Star Trek) starring as Jesus. He has toured and toured and frankly always enjoyed not knowing what city he was in. Also among his favorites was a year long run in THE UNSINKABLE MOLLY BROWN - including a six month stay in Molly's city, Denver, and his New York City debut as Rueben, the oldest brother in JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT. The JOSEPH run introduced him to many fascinating things - very short famous snotty composers and extremely cruel Teamster dressers and stagehands, to name but a few. Things were looking up when he was asked to appear in KA BOOM!, a musical about the nuclear holocaust, saved by a great score and his director John Michael Tebelak, who created GODSPELL. Unfortunately, nothing remains of that show's lengthy off-Broadway run but a hard to find original cast album, well worth the search if you have a fondness for EBay. Ben Agresti's autograph will add absolutely nothing to its worth unfortunately. There were also many guest artist appearances at region theaters, most notably the starring role in LITTLE ME and a happy romp outdoors with STORY THEATRE. Guest directing assessments included an award winning production of THE MIRACLE WORKER at New York's St. John's University, and AGNES OF GOD for the Pennsylvania Theatre Festival, as well as an off-Broadway showcase production of EQUUS, starring the very talented Jon Cryer, now starring in "Two and a Half Men" with Charlie Sheen. Arts management assignments include stays at theatres hither and yon. And at the core of all this - a childhood spent on stage because he really couldn't do anything else, and his teen years as an apprentice to his mentor and friend Huy S. Little, Jr., of the LITTLE THEATRE - ON THE SQUARE - where he not only learned how to and became a professional, but had the great chance to work with show business legends like Betty Grable, Harvey Korman, Peter Palmer, Van Johnson, Giselle Mackenzie and even Bob Crane, who he is proud to say NEVER asked him to be in any of his movies. All in all, it's been a life in the theatre, the good, the bad, and the ugly, but always just exactly what he expected and wanted. And Brownsville's Camille Playhouse feels more like home every show, every day.
