John N. Frank, co-founder of the 2nd Act Players, will be portraying the local habadasher in the 1950s’ classic Inherit the Wind at Deerfield’s Theater D this April. Frank also has been cast as the dean of the Sanford Medical School in the Oakton College February staged reading of Let Me Down Easy, a contemporary play by Anna Deavere Smith.
“I’m finally going to play a doctor, although not on Chicago Med just yet,” jokes Frank, who has an acting headshot dressed like a doctor to send in for any medical parts that come up.
“Inherit the Wind is such a classic, and so relevant in light of the mob mentality we deal with these days in politics and online,” says Frank. “My part is small, so I’m going to enjoy seeing everyone else act in this immense work of the stage.”
Ironically, both productions have casts of roughly 20, highly unusual in a post-Covid theater world that has tended to stage small-cast plays the past two years.
Let Me Down Easy has performances Feb. 25 and Feb. 26. Inherit the Wind runs Fridays through Sundays from April 7 through April 16, with no show on Easter Sunday, April 9.