Lucie Blodgette

Paula Deen put on a cooking demonstration.

On Sunday, September 25, 2011, Paula Deen, the “butter queen” charmed 450 luncheon patrons at Horseshoe Casino in Southern Indiana to benefit Stan Curtis’ Blessings in a Backpack organization.

Chef Dean Corbett, owner of Equus and Corbett’s, was the master of ceremonies.

Chef Matthew of Mozz restaurant on East Market Street assisted Paula in a cooking demonstration on stage.

Guests had their pictures taken in front of a display of Paula’s cookbooks, awards and colorful scenes of her life and family.

We all posed beside a life-sized poster of Paula in a beautiful coral and white outfit inscribed with a big “Thank You.”

The casino’s main ballroom was beautiful with white tablecloths covered with red crisscrossed satin sashes and fresh flowers with a red and white theme.

Paula  talked about her sons, Jamie and Bobby, as well as her husband, Michael. She apologized that Michael could not be present because he was working as a river boat captain. He told her he was sure the women would be crying because he couldn’t make it. Paula asked everyone to start crying so she could go home and tell him they did.

“Boo hoo,” we all cried, shedding crocodile tears.

Dean Corbett took questions from the audience. One woman from Paula’s hometown of Albany, Ga., told her how much Paula meant to her when she was battling cancer.

A special needs child, Morgan Dorsey, and her mother, Kim, came from Bullitt County. The child cheered while sitting  in her wheelchair.

Paula left the stage, came to her table, kissed her, posed for a picture and then removed her rhinestone bracelet from her wrist and put it on Morgan’s wrist for her to keep.

Paula Deen and Dean Corbett.

There wasn’t a dry eye in the room.

Dean Corbett then brought the mic to me and said, “This is Lucie Blodgett. There is so much to say about her. Let me just say, she is a legend.”

I addressed Paula and said, “I love your Southern accent, as I am from Jackson, Miss. I just read your recipe for black-eyed peas  in your cookbook.

“Do you throw a dime or quarter in the pot when you cook black-eyed peas for New Year’s Day for good luck?”

Paula paused, gave thought, and said, “No, I’ve  never heard of that custom. I never said that in my cookbook, but from now on, for New Year’s, I will.”

She then complimented me on my “lavender suit, pink scarf and lovely silver hair.”

I also told her that her collard greens recipe was brilliant.

“When I cook collards for New Year’s, I ruin everything by boiling the greens, bacon, garlic cloves and onion all at once,” I said. “The bacon is half raw and the greens are limp and wilted.

“You roll the collard greens in a tobacco-like roll, cut crosswise into thin slices and cook them quickly.”

Seated at our table was Nikki Kinselton the weekly morning newscaster from Jacksonville, Fla. Her mother worked for years with Stan Curtis to develop a local Blessings in a Backpack program.

Her mother is leaving her estate to benefit Blessings in a Backpack.

Also, at our table was Dr. Bruce Hibbard and his lovely wife, Rhonda. He has established a motto for the Floyd County School system that “No Child Will Go Hungry” and has worked with Blessings in a Backpack to see that goal is reached.

Paula Deen was on hand for the check presentation to Blessings in a Backpack.

A magnificent check was presented to Stan, Paula, Dr. Hibbard and all those who have given so unselfishly to this wonderful organization. It costs $80 to feed one child for an entire school year. Each child takes a backpack home with them every Friday with enough food for the weekend until they can return to school and have breakfast and lunch provided.

Research has shown that since the inception of the program, school performance has increased especially on Mondays. Hilary Duff is the national spokesperson and has worked closely with Curtis to make this difference in the lives of so many children.

Curtis also established the Kentucky Harvest Program.

Paula was vibrant and sexy in her hot pink sweater set, white pants and black flip flops.

Her shining hair, darling smile, and flirty repartee with male guests was a riot.

She pulled out a wispy hair extension and boldly “glued” it on a male diner’s semi-bald head creating a Betty Boop cowlick!

“Bald men are sexy” she said in that outrageously teasing voice.

photos by LUCIE BLODGETT | contributing photographer

Playing a washboard with some new friends.

Mrs. W.L. Lyons “Sally” Brown was honored at the National Jug Band Jubilee held at the Brown-Forman Amphitheater in Waterfront Park on Sept. 17.

Sally enjoyed jug band music and was a faithful patron of the jubilee until her death earlier this year. David Karem, executive director of the Waterfront Development Corp., read a citation to Sally Brown, and the band played “Chicken Tree,” one of Sally’s favorites.

Louisville is the home of jug music, which blends jazz, blues, ragtime, swing and other music. Instruments such as jugs, washboards, kazoos, mandolins and guitars are used.

Jug bands are made up of accomplished musicians who insist on having fun even while doing pretty complicated things. Nine of the country’s best jug bands, including Louisville’s The Juggernaut Jug Band, performed at the jubilee.
At one point during the jubilee, anyone who wished to play with the band was invited to join them, and I volunteered to play the washboard. The music started, and I was transformed.

All of a sudden, I did not feel like a person anymore, but more like a part of a whole – a part of a “throbbing heart” – totally as one with the band. After that experience I’ll never feel lonely again.

Sacred Air

I just received my Sacred Air toolkit for the 2011 Festival of Faiths, and I’m anxious to share information on what promises to be an exhilarating experience. This will be the 16th annual Festival of Faiths in Louisville, and the theme explored this year, Sacred Air, will continue the series on sacred elements. Sacred Water and Sacred Soil were celebrated in 2009 and 2010, and Sacred Fire will complete this series in 2012.

The toolkit, which includes a marvelous booklet and a CD of an award winning film, “AIR: Search for One Clean Breath,” provides a broad range of resources that are sure to raise awareness of the sacredness of nature. With such consciousness, we will be inspired to direct our efforts to caring for creation in a way that protects the quality of sacred air and promotes the health and well-being of all things in nature. Hopefully, this inspiration will be a lasting thing.

The Festival of Faiths offers a wide variety of programs over a six-day period, Nov. 2-7, and there is something of interest for everyone from middle school age on up. Presenters are all experts in the areas they address. There will be a number of films shown and much more.

The Night of a Thousand Stars gala will kick off the festival. This year local musicians/entertainers will perform throughout the evening, and dress for the occasion is festive cocktail attire (not black tie). Reservations are required for this event.

Toolkits are available for $10. Please call 502.583.3100 or email Kathleen@interfaithrelations.org to get a toolkit.
You will be hearing more about the festival of Faiths from me, as I plan to put updates in my column.  Remember to save the dates, Nov. 2-7, 2011.

I was at home in Prospect watching for 36 hours over three days as the tragedy unfolded.  Later, I attended the Cathedral of Assumption’snoon mass on Wednesday attended by 2,000 grief-stricken people.

Muhammad Ali, the world’s best known Muslim sent us a message that he is an American whose Islamic religion condemns murder.

On Sunday, I attended St. Clements House Church at the home of the Rev. Alfred Shands and his wife Mary, a dear friend.  A member told me, “Lucie, you look sad.”  I was proud I looked sad after 36 hours of watching constant TV coverage that was dramatically and courageously photographed and narrated.

One instance stood out on TV. Five firemen were caught on camera early September 11 carrying the body of Father Mychal Judge, a New York City Fire Department priest at Hook and Ladder Co. #24.

Father Mychal was a handsome and spirited Franciscan who worked for 25 years on fire runs, helping the injured, homeless, the poor and AIDS victims.  Bill and Hillary Clinton attended his funeral and Hillary spoke at nearby St. Francis of Assissi Church.

His death was bizarre:  He had taken off his helmet to give the Last Sacrament to a fellow fireman who had been killed by a man jumping to his certain death.  Father Mychal was killed by falling debris. The falling debris probably would not have killed him had he had his helmet on.  The five firemen were caught by a news photographer for this picture.  They refused to be interviewed at first, then realized their error.

“Wait,” said one of the Irish firemen, his ruddy face covered in white dust and streaked by tears. “We just lost Father Mychal Judge,” he choked out.  “He was our chaplain for 25 years.  He gave his all to everybody and loved everybody.

They carried their beloved priest back to the firehouse wrapped in a blanket and laid him in his bunk..  Later they placed his body on the altar of St. Francis of Assisi nearby where they prayed the prayer Father Mychal had taught the firemen. He said it every morning to be guided by the Holy Spirit, one of the firemen said.

 “Lord, send me where you want me to go.
Show me the people you want me to meet.
Tell me the words you want me to say
And please, Lord, keep me out of your way.”

To get a photograph of  Father Mychal, I immediately called The Associated Press, United Press, and finally Reuters.
Eventually, a lovely female voice at Reuters answered the phone.  I told her I was a society writer in Louisville. She said, “I have fond memories. When I was nine years old, attending camp in Indiana across the river from Louisville, I won first prize for catching the biggest fish.”

I talked about her camp and then asked if she knew the photographer who took Father Mychal’s picture with the firemen. She said she knew the photographer and I told her I wanted to buy it.  “He can’t sell it to you but I can give it to you if you promise never to tell my name.”  The picture was e-mailed to The Voice from Reuters.  I sent her red roses to Washington, D.C. a week later.

Why did she talk about camp when she was a child I wondered in the middle of all that death and tragedy?

Over the past week, I finally learned the answer while watching the coverage of the 10th anniversary. The woman was one of the many victims who have post-traumatic stress disorder. They cannot bear to think of the horrors of 9/11 and often only remember pleasant things.

All we have to do is follow Father Mychal’s prayer and be vigilant to show love, pardon, light, and compassion in our everyday lives.  I told my St. Clement’s House Church we all have a gift to give others.  We must be vigilant to give our gifts today, beacuse, as Father Mychal used to say, “Remember to do it today because if you want to make God laugh tell him you will do something tomorrow.”

courtesy photo
The Old Southern Jug Blowers from Kansai, Japan, played a special concert at Sally Brown’s home during their first visit to the United States in 2009.

The National Jug Band Jubilee is returning to the Brown-Forman Amphitheater in Waterfront Park on Saturday, Sept. 17.

This year’s free jubilee will pay special tribute to Mrs. W.L. Lyons “Sally” Brown, an early and enthusiastic supporter of the jubilee who remained a steadfast patron until her death earlier this year.

Jubilee board member and friend, David Wood, said, “Sally Brown always enjoyed attending the jug band festivals, but when she was no longer physically able, we would get jug bands to go play at her house.”

He went on to say that in 2009 he brought The Old Southern Jug Blowers, a unique ensemble from Kansai, Japan, to her home in Harrods Creek to play for her. The band was formed in 2000, inspired by Louisville-based jug blowing icon Earl McDonald, whose music the group continues to perform.

National Jug Band Jubilee board member David Wood, NJBJ President Heather Leoncini and David Karem, executive director of the Waterfront Development Corp.

The Old Southern Jug Blowers were such huge fans of McDonald that they raised money on their own to come and play in the U.S. for the first time at the National Jug Band Jubilee.

Sally Brown was pleased to hear that there are more than 60 jug bands in Japan and she was thrilled to meet The Old Southern Jug Blowers. Dressed as river boat captains, the band came with their signature whiskey jugs in hand, reminiscent of Old Forester, produced by Sally’s late husband W.L. Lyons Brown’s distillery.

“Sally, the perfect hostess, served them Japanese tea with chocolate chip cookies for refreshments. A great time was had by all, listening to jug band favorites “Chicken Tree” and “Tear it Down (slats & all)” in her beautiful yellow drawing room,” Wood said.

The tribute to Sally Brown will take place at 4:45 p.m. at this year’s jubilee and will include some of her favorite jug band tunes, including a few special requests. In addition to the tribute, the jubilee will be headlined by jug band legend Jim Kweskin, as well as eight more of the country’s best jug bands:

• The Barbecue Orchestra – Portland, Ore.
• The Juggernaut Jug Band – Louisville
• Blind Boy Chocolate & The Milk Sheiks – Asheville, N.C.
• The Roe Family Singers – Minneapolis
• The Barehand Jugband – Chicago
• The Cincinnati Dancing Pigs – Cincinnati
• Boo Bradley – Madison, Wis.
• Andrew Francis & Pamela Maurer – Chicago

The National Jug Band Jubilee remains committed to educating young people on the historic ties that jug band music has here. A new partnership with Jefferson County Public Schools means that on Friday, Sept. 16, jubilee jug bands will be doing shows in local elementary schools, providing an exciting way to start the weekend with a unique local and cultural experience for the students.

The historical maker for jug band pioneer Earl McDonald.

The jubilee will once again be doing the very popular jug band workshops at 3 p.m., including a special one just for kids where they can make and play their own instruments.

“We want to keep this unique form of Americana music going by getting your children interested, involved and educated,” said Heather Leoncini, jubilee president.

The seventh annual National Jug Band Jubilee is grateful and proud to celebrate the legacy of jug band music and its Louisville origins.

Festival gates open at noon on Saturday, Sept. 17, and bands play from 1 to 11 p.m. The Brown-Forman Amphitheater is located immediately east of the Tumbleweed Restaurant on River Road.

Admission is free, but no pets, coolers or outside alcohol is permitted inside the festival.

Lucie Blodgett with friends at last year’s Dancing by the River.

Surrounded by the majesty of the Ohio River, under a canopy of stars and moonlight, River Fields will hold its annual Dancing by the River on Friday, Sept. 9.

If you believe in land preservation and river conservation, join River Fields in a beautiful tent in a “river field” at River Road and Lime Kiln Lane. This delightful and fun evening includes cocktails, dinner, dessert, live and silent auctions and dancing.

The gala begins with hors d’oeuvres at 7 p.m. and a buffet dinner at 8 p.m. A live auction and elegant “Dessert by Helen” begins about 9 p.m., followed by dancing until midnight to the Rob Nickerson Band.

Stevens & Stevens will cater the event, featuring foods from local farms, including tomatoes from Gettelfinger Farms, free-range chicken, grass-fed beef and all produce comes from farms within 250 miles of Louisville. Much of the 2,200 acres preserved by River Fields is farmland.

Outstanding live auction highlights include a stay at The House of Mirador Cruz de la Rauda, which has a historic address in the Albayzín neighborhood of Granada, Spain. This part “cave house,” typical of the Arab Quarter in Granada, is included on UNESCO’s World Heritage list, along with the fabled Alhambra Palace. This exciting package is for three nights in the three-bedroom rental, which includes a loft that sleeps up to six guests.

A fabulous auction item that is a little closer to home: is a week in a beautiful four-bedroom, four-bathroom cottage in popular Leland, Mich. On a bluff overlooking the lake featuring magnificent views of the Leland Harbor, the Manitou Islands and spectacular sunsets, this cottage has a gourmet kitchen, a terrace with a fire pit on the bluff and two working fireplaces. A seven-minute walk takes you to the center of the historic fishing village with restaurants, art galleries and shops.

Guests danced the night away at last year’s Dancing by the River.

Also on offer is fine French Burgundy wine. The mixed-case of Chassagne-Montrachet Premier Cru bottled in 2005 by Bernard Morey comes from a limited supply sent to the United States. The 2005 vintage was rated a 93 percent by The Wine Spectator. Another rare treat available to a lucky bidder is one bottle of 1982 Chateau Margaux.

Silent auction items donated by well-known local artists who believe in conservation and preservation include a painting by Laurie Doctor, calligraphy by Steven Skaggs, sculpture by Mary Dennis Kannapell, a discarded-quilt painting by Denise Furnish, a painting by Rodney Hatfield, a print by Brian Jones, and works by Teri Dryden and Keith Auerbach. Stylish necklaces by Sara Simpson Designs are always in-demand auction items, as are the elegant evening purses donated by H.J. Redmon.

River Fields’ longtime sponsors are Brown-Forman Corp., Stites and Harbison LLC and Commonwealth Bank & Trust. Brown-Forman exclusively supports land conservation and educational programs.

Inez Segell and Ann Wells are event co-chairs of their stellar committee: Janice Blythe, Marea Clark, Lee Cory, Kelli Dawson, Laurie Doctor, Arnita Gadson, Louise Farnsley Gardner, Mary Celeste Lerman, Kathy Melvin, Jane Ramsey, Bea Rosenberg, Peggy Mudd, Amelia Runyon, Rosalind Streeter, Jane Townsend, Michael Weber and me. The Social Side has written about Dancing by the River every year from day one, so they made me an honorary committee member! I am looking forward to sitting at Inez Segell’s table full of sunflowers.

Honorary hosts and hostesses will greet guests as they arrive: Dr. Keith Auerbach, Dr. Sy Auerbach, Charles and Lisa Barr, Betsy Bennet and Bruce Hart, Deana and John Booker, Nina and Preston Claytor, Ulla Marie and Allen Dodd, Shaun and Foster Duncan, Dr. Robert Ellis, Louise Farnsley Gardner, Mary Moss Greenebaum, Mary and Bob Griffith, Sandy Gulick, David Klein and Jill Mangold, Dr. and Mrs. Allan Lansing, Jessica Loving and Sheryl Snyder,and Dough and Preston Stough.

Tickets for dinner and dancing are $200 per person; dancing and dessert, beginning at 9 p.m., are $75 per person. Contact River Fields at 502.583.3060 or at rosalindstreeter@riverfields.org. Reservations close Sept. 6.

The event funds River Fields’ mission to save the natural, historical and cultural resources of the Ohio River from Westport to West Point, Ky. The largest and oldest river conservancy along the 981-mile Ohio River, River Fields has protected, preserved, and enhanced the natural and cultural resources of our land and water for more than 50 years.

River Fields has more than 2,100 members from 104 zip codes and owns land or holds conservation easements on 34 properties, totaling more than 2,200 acres – most of which is preserved forever. It is one of the nation’s few land trusts tackling regional advocacy work and land conservation.

Mary Gwen Wheeler will receive the Spirit of Excellence Award.

Lincoln Foundation will host its 16th annual Evening of Jazz at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 27, at The Kentucky Center.

This year’s concert will feature jazz vocalist Vanessa Rubin. Some critics compare Rubin’s vocal range and talent to jazz legends like Nancy Wilson, Sarah Vaughn and Ella Fitzgerald.

Also, during the event The Spirit of Excellence Award will be presented to Mary Gwen Wheeler.

She is the interim executive director of 55,000 Degrees, a newly-formed multi-sector public-private partnership dedicated to increasing education attainment in the Louisville region.

Previously, she served as Mayor Jerry Abramson’s senior adviser for education and youth, leading policy development and implementation of education and youth initiatives. She is also on the Kentucky Board of Education.

Proceeds from the event will benefit Lincoln Foundation’s Whitney M. Young Scholars Program, which helps talented and deserving students obtain scholarship awards and provides financial assistance throughout their college years.

Vanessa Rubin will perform at the Evening of Jazz.

“Lincoln Foundation’s job is that of saving young people by providing educational enrichment programs.  At the end of the day, Lincoln Foundation is committed to the holistic development of students,” said Larry McDonald, Lincoln Foundation president. “The Whitney M. Young Scholars are prepared over a six-year period from seventh grade through high school graduation to be successful in completing their college education.”

The River City Drum Corps will be featured at a 5:30 reception that precedes the concert.

Tickets are $50 and can be purchased at the Kentucky Center box office at 502.584.7777 or www.kentuckycenter.org.

For more information, visit www.lincolnfdn.org

Ann Lyons, Louise Cecil and Kathleen Lyons on opening night for “The Help.”

“My prime reason to see it reflects on my friendship with Sarah Green,” Louise said.
According to the movie’s tagline: “ ‘The Help’  follows three very different, extraordinary women in Mississippi during the 1960s,  who build an unlikely friendship around a secret writing project that breaks societal rules and puts them all at risk.”

Louise met Sarah working for a mutual friend, and later Sarah also worked in her costume shop and helped with her annual Christmas parties.

Being a divorced mother of three, Louise always allowed the children to spend holidays with their father, freeing her to accept invitations to join Sarah and her family for some of the finest cooking in town.

Sarah Green with a Commodore.

Louise also was invited to attend Sarah’s family reunions where she tossed horseshoes with the men and promptly defeated them. They demanded a rematch.

Always thinking of how she could do things for Sarah, Louise later drove her to see the Commodores at the Executive Inn in Owensboro. Here are some photos of Sarah with each of the Commodores.

At “The Help,” from left, front row: Louise Cecil, Ruth Devine, Lucie Blodgett and Joyce Jennings; middle: Carolyn Diener and Carlita Canfield; back: Andy Perry, John Sistarenik, Nancy Fitch, Cindy Moxley and Tom Diener.

Sarah proudly shows them to her friends and family and has wonderful memories of that trip.
Sarah could not attend the movie because she was not feeling well, but she promised to see it with Louise soon.

Louise (and the whole audience clapping and cheering) felt the chocolate pie scene was the highlight of the movie.

However, Louise came away glad she doesn’t like to eat chocolate pie.

Mississippi home
Brookhaven, Miss., is my hometown. It is 60 miles south of Jackson.

My mother’s maid when I was born was Bettie Bee Brown, who made me a dress out of a flour sack printed with tiny roses, let me cut out cookies with a thimble for my Shirley Temple doll and took me (for my sixth birthday) out to a field where a barnstorming pilot named Foxy Kent took us on our first airplane ride.

I remember peeping through a dime-size hole in the metal floor and seeing tiny cotton fields, pine trees and little houses below.

Years later, Bettie Bee made a fortune in Chicago after patenting an X-ray machine.

I looked her up and took her to tea in the brand new Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Chicago.

She named her son William Henry Becker Brown Jr. (after my father). He drove me to the airport to catch a flight for Texas.

I left Old Miss and graduated from Missouri Journalism School in 1950.

My first job was reporting for the Jackson Daily News, which was portrayed in “The Help” as the Jackson Daily Journal.

The only difference was my editor did not know how to dance a comic jig as the editor in “The Help” did.

My first assignment was the Nelson Eddy fan club meeting.

“Mr. Eddy,” I asked after his talk to the old ladies. “Do you eat fried chick with your hands?”

“Yes, my mother is from Atlanta, and we ate fried chicken with our hands,” he said.

“Is movie star kissing any different,” I went on, “from well, just kissing?”

He answered that by giving me the most tender passionate kiss I have ever had in my life.

I wrote a two-inch story beginning, “I was kissed by Nelson Eddy” printed in bold type on the front page of the Daily News, and after that, everybody in town knew my name.

Drew Cash posed with a horse at Churchill Downs.

I’m breaking ALL THE RULES today, Dear Readers, so please bear with me.

This is the first and only time in 30 years I have ever used two of the exact same pictures two weeks straight in The Social Side.

Here they are, from the Bunbury Theatre’s recent production of the famous play “Equus” at The Henry Clay.

Not only does each picture tell a story, there’s a story behind them.

Program photographer Mike McKinney wanted to shoot actor Drew Cash, who played “Allan” with a real horse, as opposed to the play’s prop and costume horse. He found the owner of a thoroughbred at Churchill Downs who agreed to let his horse be part of the shoot on the strict condition that his name not be mentioned. Cash, who had never before been on a horse, posed for 56 photos, which included the one used on the program, which captures a haunting image of the horse’s eye.

Mike, who shares a home with actor Roger Fristoe, got the intense program portrait of Fristoe as Dr. Martin Dysart with no reflection on his glasses by taking it through their kitchen window.

Roger Fristoe’s photo was taken through a kitchen window.

“Lucie, we sold tickets at the door on Thursday (the day The Voice came out), Friday, Saturday and closing day Sunday performances to who came to the door and said they read about ‘Equus’ in your column,” director Mike Seely told me Sunday night. Fristoe said, “We got standing ovations that shook the theater.”

In the audience for the packed Sunday matinee were financial backers Steve and Kay Harrell of Nashville, who came with fellow Rotarians Henry Heuser and John Bush, both past presidents of the Louisville Rotary Club.

The Harrells had missed opening night because of the death at age 96 of his father earlier the same week.

Other out-of-town playgoers were Mike McKinnon’s nephew Tony Brown and Tony’s companion Diane Montgomery, both of whom are members of the faculty at Oklahoma State University at Stillwater. Muggy as Louisville has been, the weather was no hardship to them. Tony reported that it was 115 degrees when they left Stillwater.

Also in the audience Sunday was Susan Lynch, who played Martha to Fristoe’s George in “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf.” Susan is married to Brown-Forman executive Steve Lynch.

The Harrells took Bob and Mary Anne Richardson of Louisville to lunch Sunday at Proof On Main, part of 21c Museum Hotel where the Harrells stayed. Both couples and yours truly have been guests at Mike and Roger’s lake house “Back of the Moon” – the Harrells go so often that they have their own key.

The Harrells plan to spend 32 days in Spain beginning in September. Mike McKinnon will join them for nine days in Seville while Roger rehearses the role “Charles” in Noel Coward’s “Blithe Spirit.”

Drew Cash plays Alan.

What do Anthony Perkins, Richard Burton, Anthony Hopkins, Alec Baldwin and Louisville’s own Roger Fristoe have in common? They all starred in the role of Dr. Martin Dysart, the psychiatrist in Peter Shaffer’s shattering 1973 play, “Equus.”

The current production, mounted in The Henry Clay by the Actors Choice company in conjunction with the Bunbury Theatre, gives Fristoe a long-awaited chance to take on the storied role, that of a court-appointed psychiatrist trying to unravel the deep-seated problems of Alan, a volatile young stable boy, while dealing with issues of his own.

Fristoe told me in an interview that he had waited more than 30 years for the part. Fristoe saw Anthony Perkins, as Dysart in the play’s first Broadway run in the 1970s. Perkins had taken over the role from another celebrated Anthony: Anthony Hopkins, whose portrayal of Dysart helped “Equus” win the 1974 Tony Award for Best Play. Perkins, according to Fristoe, hadn’t felt himself to be right for the role, but was talked into it.

“I saw it thinking he (Perkins) couldn’t make it,” Fristoe told me, “only to be astounded by the depth of his portrayal. I vowed I would get the part some day.

Director Mike Seely, director of Bunbury’s production of Edward Albee’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,” felt the same way. He founded Actors Choice expressly to stage a production of “Equus” with Fristoe as Dysart.

Jennifer Thompson plays Claire.

“He wanted the part himself,” Fristoe said of Seely, “and wished I would break a leg so he could step in.”

Fristoe (Roger to me) lost 30 pounds, grew a beard and moustache and studied the part intensively for the role. In the background were more than 30 years of periodic re-readings of the play. When I asked how he’d become so slim and handsome, he told me that he started his “own version of Weight Watchers” about 10 months in advance of the role, and once it started, the countless hours of nonstop performing under hot lights sped his progress.

I had the rewarding experience of seeing “Equus” in its current production. I am not reviewing it or delivering a synopsis, but want to describe how I experienced some of the parts I found most moving and thought-provoking.

Fristoe didn’t just act the part, he lived it onstage, drawing on the energy of fellow actors Drew Cash as Alan, reprising the role from an Indiana University production, and Jamie Lentz, Tom Pettey, Alan Weller, Claire Sherman and Tim Kitchen.

Kitchen, who plays a horse and a rider in the same scene, in horse mode gives Alan a ride, hoisting him on his shoulders and galloping away! Although both actors were already strong and muscular, they had to practice the scene in a swimming pool to perfect the movements.

Roger Fristoe plays Dr. Martin Dysart.

When Alan’s father cruelly pulls him off a horse, the young and beautiful Claire (Jennifer Thompson) consoles in the nude unrequited love scene. The scene is reminiscent of Greek statues brought to life. Your heart will go out to the young lovers. Roger told me that the young actors were blasé about nudity. The ads caution “mature audiences only,” which I won’t argue with. Still, the play has an innocent and childlike quality, which will touch almost anyone.

Alan Weller, a member of the English Speaking Union and an accomplished singer, amazed me with his portrayal of the angry owner of the six horses who were blinded by the character Alan, the act which put Dysart’s involvement with Alan, and the play’s action, in motion.

I can hardly write this personal account of my reaction to the total production without tears in my eyes. After the first act, the audience first applauded, then sat quietly, stunned, shaken and touched. At the end of the play, they applauded for what seemed like five minutes, then one by one left the theater and were greeted by the actors outside the door.

“Equus” runs through Aug. 7. For tickets, call 502.583.8222.