Jack Neary鈥檚 membership in the drama club at UMass Lowell (then Lowell State) 鈥渕ore than any other endeavor in those years, convinced me that I belong in theatre,鈥� he says. 鈥淎nd here I am, still.鈥�
Indeed. The prolific playwright (who in 1972 played the lead role in the University鈥檚 annual musical, which that year was 鈥淗ow to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying鈥�) has published 34 plays. That鈥檚 in addition to a storied career directing, acting and serving as artistic director of the summer theater programs at Mount Holyoke and Northampton鈥檚 New Century Theatre, which he co-founded at Smith College.
His work has been widely produced; his perhaps best-known work, 鈥淛erry Finnegan鈥檚 Sister,鈥� was performed all over the country, played in Paris and toured France. 鈥淭o Forgive, Divine,鈥� professionally introduced at the Merrimack Repertory Theatre, was purchased for film by Walt Disney Pictures.
As an actor, Neary has appeared in hundreds of plays and, most recently, in Ben Affleck's blockbuster film, 鈥淭he Town.鈥�
These days, he鈥檚 concentrating on his new venture,which will stage its first production in summer 2012 on the UMass Lowell campus: 鈥淭he Music Man in Concert.鈥澛�
鈥淢any of the singers and musicians in the show are UMass Lowell alums,鈥� Neary says.
Another play, 鈥淎uld Lang Syne,鈥� featuring Emmy-winner Gordon Clapp of 鈥淣YPD Blue鈥� fame, opens at the theater in June 2012.聽
But despite all his current success (which, he notes, was a long time coming: Neary was 35 before he wrote his first play), he remembers his roots 鈥� particularly the tutelage of the late Gardner Tillson.
Tillson, a professor of English and drama at UMass Lowell for three decades, helped him learn perhaps the most important lesson for a playwright, Neary says: 鈥渨hat to give actors and how to sell an audience.鈥澛�