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Vosburgh is worthy subject for documentary

Gray Areas

David Vosburgh touched the lives of Tony Award winners as well as many of the performers who've graced local stages.

He was equally devoted to both.

Vosburgh, 85, founded Opera Western Reserve, taught at Youngstown State University and served as artistic director for five years at Youngstown Playhouse in addition to having his own career as an actor and singer. He was part of the original Broadway cast for two best new musical Tony winners -- "1776" and "Evita" -- and many other New York productions and national tours.

He performed "1776" at the White House and in Philadelphia on July 4, 1976, as part of the Bicentennial celebration. "Evita" star Patti LuPone thanked Vosburgh in her Tony acceptance speech in 2008 for "Gypsy" for the vital role he played in teaching her how to sing in order to meet the vocal demands of "Evita" at the start of her career.

The impact Vosburgh had both locally and in the theater community at large is celebrated in the documentary "David Vosburgh: Extraordinary, Important and Deserving," which will have its premiere Nov. 9 at Stambaugh Auditorium.

Director Adam Michael, who has made several independent features and short films, said he's wanted to direct a documentary for a while, but he hadn't found a subject that captured his attention. When a friend told him about Vosburgh, he became intrigued.

"Wait, who is this person? I became very fascinated and astonished about who he is, what he's done and the shows he's been in," Michael said. "Immediately, it clicked."

He reached out to Vosburgh, who now lives in Massachusetts, to see if he was willing to participate and then started compiling a list of people to interview.

"I started calling and emailing people, and they were overwhelmingly yes, yes, yes," Michael said. "Sometimes I did interviews over Zoom, sometimes I drove to different states. I've been working on it for over a year and a half."

Among those yeses was three-time Tony winner LuPone, who is featured in a phone interview accompanied by rehearsal photos of LuPone and co-star Mandy Patinkin working with director Hal Prince on "Evita." LuPone was willing, but logistics kept him from being able to do the interview in person.

"Patti LuPone was unbelievable to talk to," Michael said. "She has so much love and respect for David. She truly just gushes about him."

So do many others. Valley native Marisa Zamary talks about how Vosburgh's encouragement gave her the courage to move to New York and pursue a career. Others can't talk about the impact Vosburgh had on them without tearing up.

Throughout the documentary, Vosburgh deflects the praise.

"He is such a loving, giving man, the way he made a career out of being professional and paying attention," Michael said. "He'll give credit to every person in the room before he takes it himself."

He had the same reaction when he saw the film.

"When he saw what people have said about him, he felt very overwhelmed and humbled, (saying) 'Well, I must have done something right,'" Michael said.

The documentary will play great in the room next week. Many in the audience will have their own memories of interactions with Vosburgh and / or will know many of the people who are interviewed in the film, and Michael's exhaustive research is sure to give viewers plenty of new information.

Michael said he funded the project out of his own pocket and plans to submit the movie to film festivals for consideration. Maybe next week's screening will bring out an investor. I'm sure rights to the footage isn't cheap, but the documentary screams out for a clip of LuPone's Tony speech thanking Vosburgh, stills or footage from "Evita" and other musicals he did, even photos from his time at the Playhouse and working on OWR productions.

Right now it's 110 minutes almost exclusively of talking head interviews. They're great interviews, but it needs more variety visually.

Stambaugh is the perfect venue for the documentary's premiere, especially since Vosburgh staged so many of OWR's operas there (this year's production of Georges Bizet's "Carmen" will be staged at Powers Auditorium on Nov. 17).

But the documentary makes clear that Vosburgh's influence here extends far beyond OWR.

-- Andy Gray is the entertainment editor of Ticket. Write to him at agray@tribtoday.com