In September 2022, I lamented missing a one-week performance run that was “not to be missed.”
I was with my editor and pals for our annual Labor Day getaway to Kalamazoo, Michigan, a celebrated holiday tradition of 15-plus years built around seeing summer stock theatre in nearby Augusta, Michigan, at The Barn Theatre.
In operation for 78 years, the Barn Theatre’s production in September 2022 was a production of the play adaptation of Stephen King’s “Misery,” with soap opera actress Kim Zimmer playing obsessed fan Annie Wilkes.
Zimmer, 70, and a resident of Grand Rapids, Michigan, spent decades on the CBS soap opera “Guiding Light.” A famed alum of Barn Theatre from her early career days, I did catch Zimmer in September 2011 playing Norma Desmond in “Sunset Boulevard” at Barn Theatre.
In May, I’ll have my chance to once again see what’s sure to be a not-to-be-missed new production of “Misery” and at an even closer stage space.
Dunes Summer Theatre, 288 Shady Oak Drive in Michigan City, a rustic and woodsy oasis of arts and culture established in 1941, is producing a new run of “Misery” which will star Chicago TV news personality Janet Davies as Annie Wilkes opposite Kevin Giese as tortured novelist Paul Sheldon, who is help captive by “his biggest fan.”
The production, May 30 to June 15, is being directed by John Hancock, our noted filmmaker and Oscar-nominated movie director who hails from LaPorte and did the filming for his 1989 holiday classic “Prancer” at his family’s farm in LaPorte.
Also in this “Misery” cast are Jim Lampl and Emmie Reigel. Creative wiz Michael Lasswell is already hard at work on the set design, and of course, iconic stage talent Steve Scott is the artistic director at Dunes Summer Theatre.
Davies was the TV entertainment reporter for Chicago’s ABC 7 News for more than 30 years and the host of the award-winning “190 North” Chicago entertainment, dining and lifestyle TV series. A world-traveled, seasoned broadcast journalist and winner of 18 Emmy awards for producing, writing and reporting, Davies has covered the British Royal Family, reported live from the red carpets of the Oscars and the Primetime Emmy Awards, as well as the American Music Awards.
In February 2021, Davies announced via social media she was parting ways with ABC-owned WLS Channel 7 after a 37-year history. As reported by media columnist Robert Feder, Davies had changed her status as a full-time employee to a freelance contracted TV personality with ABC-7 in 2013. She joined the Chicago television station in 1984, coming from her previous TV gig at WPVI, the ABC-owned affiliate in Philadelphia. In addition to her feature news segments on ABC-7 Chicago, Davies was also a frequent host and broadcast commentator for Chicago’s biggest events like the annual parades for St. Patrick’s Day, Columbus Day and Pride Day, as well as co-hosting count-down duties on New Year’s Eve with sports broadcast colleague Mark Giangreco, the latter who also left ABC-7 Chicago in 2021.
Davies now divides her time between her beloved Chicago, world travels and her home in Galien, Michigan. She is also the board chair of the tiny but mighty stage at The Acorn Theatre in quaint Three Oaks, Michigan. Billing and branding for the venue changed to The Acorn Center for the Performing Arts in 2015 when it became a non-profit 501 (c) (3). Previously, Davies served on the Children’s Memorial (now Lurie Children’s Hospital) Corporate Board of Directors.
Davies was born in Richmond, Virginia, and raised in Fairfield, Ohio, before she earned a BA from Miami University in Ohio, majoring in communications and theater.
Davies’ “Misery” co-star Giese is a graduate of Portage High School and trained at Second City in Chicago. He is familiar to audiences at both Dunes Summer Theatre and Memorial Opera House in Valparaiso.
Stephen King’s 1987 novel “Misery” was adapted for the stage as a play by Simon Moore and William Goldman, the latter of whom wrote the screenplay for the 1990 film version starring Kathy Bates and James Caan.
Actress Sharon Gless was the first to step into the stage shoes of stalker Annie Wilkes during a 1993 test-out of the script adaptation in London. It opened on Broadway in 2015 starring Laurie Metcalf as Annie and Bruce Willis as novelist Paul. Metcalf was nominated for the Best Actress in a Play Tony at the 70th Tony Awards telecast. Willis was having trouble remembering his lines and his use of an earpiece to aid with his lines to be fed was met with criticism in some reviews. Later, Willis’ family acknowledged the actor was having memory and cognitive issues.
The Dunes Summer Theatre run of “Misery” directed by John Hancock and starring Janet Davies and Kevin Giese is May 30 to June 1,5 with tickets $30 to $35 and available at www.dunesarts.org or call 219-879-7509.
Philip Potempa is a journalist, published author and radio show host on WJOB 1230 AM. He can be reached at PhilPotempa@gmail.com.
