There’s a bright golden haze on the meadow,”” sings Bill Pessel of West Windsor as he saunters onto the stage in the opening scene of “”oklahoma.”” Pessel plays Curly McLain at Open Air Theater at Washington Crossing State Park in Titusville, from Thursday, August, 19, to Saturday, August 28.
Pessel, a part-time actor in community theater, is a full-time lawyer during the day. A partner in the firm of Fulginiti and Pessel at 214 Carnegie Center, he specializes in civil litigation. “”I can be an actor and combine it with a legal degree,”” he says. “”Acting is a fun game where nobody gets hurt.””
Born in Trenton, he grew up on Titusville Island between the canal and the river – about a mile from the theater in Washington Crossing Park. “”Open Air Theater was one of my first theater experiences. I used to walk through the woods in the park and sneak through the park to watch the show. During a production of `Aida,’ they needed kids for a slave scene and some high school girls grabbed me, painted my face black, teased my hair, and put me in the show. I really scared my mom when I got home that night.””
His mother, Doris Pessel, taught piano and voice at Westminster Choir College. When she was raising her three sons, she left Westminster to teach piano in the house. For close to 20 years she was a real estate broker in Pennington. She now lives in Lawrenceville.
His father, William, a retired machinist with Western Electric, lives in Milford. Pessel has two younger brothers – one works in engineering, and the other does political campaign commercials.
His grandfather was Dr. Johannes Pessel, a doctor in Trenton. His grandmother, Ruth Pessel, founded Mercer Mart, a thrift shop and consignment shop in Trenton, 50 years ago. Proceeds benefit Capital Health Center Auxiliary. There is a garden named in her honor at Capital Health Center in Trenton.
This is actually Pessel’s second time in Oklahoma! In a high school production of “”Oklahoma”” at Hopewell Valley High School, he played the 10th cowboy from the left -better known as the one who talks about a three-day bellyache. Both Karen and Ray Pentel, also in the current cast of Oklahoma at Washington Crossing, were also in that high school production. The trio was also together in the recent production of “”She Loves Me”” at Kelsey Theater.
“”I was really interested in doing acting after high school but I got the message from more level-headed people that it was a pipedream – so I looked around for something else to do,”” says Pessel.
When he entered Cook College, he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do with his life, so he combined his other interests in the outdoors and the environment and left with a degree in wildlife management in the forestry program. During an environmental law class, he was surprised to find how much legal analysis interested him, pictured a career as an environmental lawyer, and entered Rutgers Law School.
“”Ten years ago I started thinking about acting again,”” he says. Working at a big law firm in northern New Jersey, he realized that he needed his own office in order to have more flexibility. Seven years ago he located an acting school (Gene Frankel Theater) through an ad in Backstage magazine. “”I stood outside for a half hour until I got the courage to go in,”” he recalls. “”During a private meeting and an audition, it was recommended that I go back to the basics. The teachers were good and I enjoyed it.””
His first audition was as a result of a notice in U.S.1 Newspaper. It was for “”Godspell”” at Kelsey Theater. “”I went over to see what the audition process was like,”” he recalls. “”I didn’t have a resume or an appointment. They allowed me to watch and I thought, I can do this.”” He made an appointment for the next day – but then was embarrassed to be there. When he called the director, Ken Ambs, to withdraw from being considered for the show, Ambs offered him the part of Judas, John the Baptist.
Since Godspell, he has also been in “”The Music Man”” (barbershop quarter) and “”She Loves Me”” (Mr. Kodaly) at Kelsey, as well as “”The King and I,”” and “”Music Man”” at Open Air Theater.
“”I always sang with the radio in the car, but I didn’t know I had a voice for theater,”” Pessel says. He takes voice lessons at Westminster Conservatory with Marsha Roberts.
Despite his mother teaching others how to play the piano, Pessel rejected piano lessons but did play the trumpet in high school. Ten years ago, when he moved back to the area, he began playing piano again. He has taught himself how to play in an unconventional way – by reading enough to pick out which notes had to be pressed and memorizing the music. “”I work my way through songs from memory,”” he says. “”I play piano to relax.””
Oklahoma! is the first musical that Rodgers and Hammerstein collaborated on. The Pulitzer Prize winning play about farmers and cowboys is based on the play “”Green Grow the Lilacs”” by Lynn Riggs. Famous songs from the musical include “”The Surrey With the Fringe on Top,”” “”People Will Say We’re in Love,”” and “”Kansas City.”” It ran for 2,”212 performances at the St. James Theater on Broadway after opening in 1943. It was revived in 1979 and 2002. The film featuring Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones opened in 1955.
“”I’m single – but I plan to be married by the end of every show – to Laurey,”” says Pessel. “”Meanwhile, I’m having some fun doing real acting.””
– Lynn Miller
Oklahoma, Open Air Theater, Washington Crossing State Park, 609-737-1826. Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical presented by Stars in the Park. Through August 28. $8 to $10. 8 p.m.
