By Dennis Volkert
Colin Eastman has performed a role in each of the annual tours.
Eastman has been a member of Civic Players since 2019. In 2021, he was named president and this year serves as vice president.
He has portrayed Clarence Jesse, the first pilot to make a solo flight from Kirsch Municipal Airport; Lt. Aaron B. Sturgis, who fought for the Union army; and Charles W. Kirsch, who created the first flat curtain rod and the fireproof theater curtain.
For the 2024 tour, he assumes the role of George Orly Kribs, who started Camp Fort Hill and was a Boy Scouts master.
Eastman looks forward to this year’s event as he reflected on the inaugural event.
“I am excited,” Eastman said. My first cemetery tour, I was very excited I thought it was super cool. But I was nervous and wasn’t sure if people thought it was going to be lame or if it was just catering to senior citizens and, to my surprise, there were a lot of young people in attendance. And everyone thoroughly enjoyed it.”
He discussed aspects he likes about the series in general, and some standout moments.
“One thing I enjoy the most is when I get to have a family member of a person, or who knew people who knew them — they can give me anecdotes that nobody really knows.”
On day one of his portrayal of Clarence Jesse reading in 2021, Eastman was attempting to describe the location of the family’s home.
“I got nervous and fumbled up on what street he raised his daughter on and when I started to stumble, a voice piped up and said, ‘North Street!’ It was the daughter whom I was describing, sitting in a wheelchair, 80 years old.”
On day two, Eastman included that detail into the act.
For the Charles W. Kirsch segment in 2023, numerous people from the Kirsch family were in attendance, as were people who had worked for the company.
“They talked of how kind he was to employees, how he would have a train car from Chicago deliver gifts for employees,” Eastman said. “The next day of the tour, I incorporated that.”
The most-challenging role for Eastman was in 2022, when he portrayed Aaron B. Sturgis. Part of the difficulty was the timing of the show.
“(Sturgis) went off to war died quite young, died from illness,” Eastman said. “My father had recently passed away from COVID, so it was difficult to dissociate, to separate my experience from that. Difficult, but that story needed to be told.”
What’s the most challenging part of preparation?
“It isn’t like portraying a character play or movie or book, it’s an actual person,” Eastman said. “I like to make it as personal as possible. For example, Clarence Jesse was a jokester, so when I delivered my lines, I had to include a little humor. I want to portray these people accurately.”
Rehearsal for this project differs from typical stage presentations, Eastman said.
“This is different than a normal show. We don’t have to rehearse together as much. We work with historical society, mainly how to properly speak and deliver these lines. We get scripts two months in advance, then that gives it time to memorize, but also gives us time to do our own personal research.”
Eastman has the role of Scarecrow in Civic Players presentation of “The Wizard of Oz,” set for Nov. 15-17 at Sturges-Young Center for the Arts.
