By Rick Morwick
Kelly Keller is still relatively new to acting, but you’d never know it by his impressive resume.
Since appearing in his first play in 2014, the Fishers resident has acted in 20 productions at area theaters, including Mud Creek Players, Epilogue Players, The Belfy Theatre, Carmel Community Players, Civic Theatre, the Noblesville Shakespeare Festival and Westfield Playhouse, where he has the lead role in Main Street Productions’ presentation of “Over the River and Through the Woods.”
The eight-show run is Nov. 15 through Dec. 1 at Westfield Playhouse, 1836 Ind. 32 West, in Westfield.
Keller plays Nick, an ethnic Italian New Jersey bachelor who has dinner every Sunday afternoon with his two sets of grandparents – a tradition that turns his world, and his grandparents’, upside down when his employer promotes him and reassigns him to Seattle.
Not wanting the close family connection severed, the grandparents immediately plot ways to keep Nick in New Jersey.
Nick does not always react patiently to their schemes.
“I love the story because it is real. When I read it, I loved the characters and the story,” said Keller, who also occasionally directs shows. “The grandparents immediately reminded me of my own grandparents, and even my own parents who are now grandparents to my daughter. I love the balance of humor and sorrow.
“I love how the grandparents feel just like any grandparents who love without reservation but have no boundaries and feel that every part of your life should be shared with them.”
Main Street Productions’ presentation of “Over the River and Through the Woods,” written in 1998 by Joe DiPietro, is directed by Doug Davis. It has a six-person cast that includes Will Carlson (who plays Frank), Jean Adams (Aida), Joe Aiello (Nunzio), Jan McGill (Emma) and Elizabeth Wysong (Berg).
For more, visit westfieldplayhouse.org.
