Meet the Cast: Mike Dodge

1) Where are you from? How did you end up here (or why did you stay)?

I’m from Jackson, Michigan. After various peregrinations around the United States mostly west of the Mississippi (Ann Arbor, Chicago, Philadelphia, Indianapolis, and Dallas) my family landed in GR nine years ago. Nancy, my wife, is a developmental pediatrician at the children’s hospital. She loves her job, we enjoy the city, and I’ve been able to find part-time teaching opportunities at various colleges in the area. Grand Rapids may be our last stop.

2) Where did you study acting?

I’ve never studied acting in a formal sense except for occasional one-day workshops on voice, movement, and the like. I have been involved in theater (backstage and onstage) for more than 45 years, and would like to think I have paid attention to the numerous competent directors and actors with whom I’ve worked. One of the wonderful things about acting is the ability to do it for one’s entire life and, if part of an actor’s job is to observe the world around him/her and incorporate it into various roles and situations, I could say that I’ve been studying most of my adult life…

3) What theaters have you worked with? Describe a favorite role/production:

I have participated in shows at Civic, Circle, Heritage, Aquinas College, and Master Arts. My favorite roles (to date – this is not an obituary…) would include Horace VanderGelder in Hello, Dolly (Civic Theatre), Donny Dubrow in David Mamet’s American Buffalo (Heritage Theatre), and the title role in Cyrano de Bergerac (Aquinas College).

4) What do you do in your free time?

In my free time (time, that is, not spent in the theater) I teach humanities at Aquinas College and other schools in the area, read, bike, and enjoy marital bliss with my wife, Nancy.

5) Share three “fun facts” about yourself:

Fun facts: I went to junior high and high school in The Hague, The Netherlands; I’m afraid of heights, but began my theatrical career many years ago hanging lights; playing a lady-in-waiting in The Winter’s Tale allows me to cross “appearing onstage as a woman” off my bucket list.