Chicago theater unites four Spencer grads

(Photos submitted) Spencer High School graduates Aaron DeYoung, Josh Odor, Ben Fuchsen and Eric Van Tassell, from left, as they appear today.

In what seem to have been several "fated" coincidences, four Spencer High School graduates, all of whom were bitten locally by the theater bug, have connected in Chicago. Known for its intimate "storefront" theaters that seat between 30 and 100 people, Josh Odor, Ben Fuchsen, Aaron DeYoung and Eric Van Tassell can all testify to the inner workings of the "The Windy City's" theaters.

There are only about 70 places for the city's over 200 theater companies to perform. The Pine Box Theatre Company, one of Chicago's "itinerant theater companies," is among those that rent performance space at Oracle Theatre on 3809 N. Broadway.

Whether paid for their abilities or not, Fuchsen, Odor, DeYoung and Van Tassell all consider themselves "professional" theater people today. The four also heap praises on Larry Untiet, who heads SHS's speech and drama departments, as well as all the valuable lessons they learned while honing their respective crafts at Spencer Community Theatre.

Ben Fuchsen

Setting the scene

Odor, who moved to Chicago five years ago, has worked a myriad of film, commercial and theater projects.

(While his list of films include "A Momentary Lapse of Judgment," "Theologans," "You Made Me Love You," and "The River," he'll portray Texas head football coach Darrell Royal in the upcoming drama "The Express," set for release in October. Odor has also worked in commercials for Shopko, Centennial Wireless, Scottsdale Culinary Art Institute, Arby's, Dave & Busters and General Mills.) Following graduations from Coe College and Cal State Fullerton, the actor has also worked with several theaters, including his current, Pine Box Theatre Company in Chicago.

Eric Van Tassell

After graduating from Millikin University in 2003 with a bachelor's degree in theater and an emphasis in directing, Fuchsen was named artistic director at Oracle Productions in October 2005. Today, this "spare" time role complements his full-time job as a communications specialist with Coldwell Banker.

DeYoung, who works as a reprint coordinator for McGraw-Hill Publishing Company, moved to Chicago four years ago. He currently serves as the resident sound designer for Oracle Productions, as well as a company member. Following SHS, he graduated from the University of Northern Iowa with a bachelor's degree in liberal arts and an emphasis in theater/acting.

Van Tassell, a pre-employment screening specialist with the Metropolitan Chicago Healthcare Council, began doing theatrical light work for Pine Box and Oracle theaters after locating in Chicago two years ago. The 2006 Hope College graduate, who focused on acting, directing and lighting, continues to finetune his theatrical abilities, serving most recently as a co-lighting designer in an Oracle project.

Aaron DeYoung

The theater claims four devotees

All four men realized at a young age that they were suited for work within a theatrical setting. Fuchsen, for example, recalled being jealous of his older sister's involvement in SCT's 1989 production of "Oliver!"

"It looked like she was having a wonderful time, and I wanted to do that," he recalled. "So I was in some some plays, and then I went to an audition for one of Larry Untiet's high school productions of 'Music Man' when I was 11 years old, and was cast in that. From there, I got involved in the community theater. Once the (Spencer) Children's Theatre got started, it became popular for kids to do everything from acting all the way up to any technical position as well."

Josh Odor

Fuchsen remembers finding mentors in Kim (Halverson) Untiet and Connie Goeken of SCT, as well as solid support from the board of directors of the local children's theater. The board allowed him to direct "The Prince and The Pauper" as a SHS senior.

"That sealed the deal for me. I knew then that this was what I wanted to do," Fuchsen said.

Odor, the eldest of the four SHS alumni, recalls first being intrigued when friend Craig Latrell asked if he'd be interested in participating in the 1988 SCT production of "Camelot." The acting notion was furthered a few years later by Joe Conover, another friend who encouraged Odor to audition for a one-act play in large-group speech. But it wasn't until the following year, when Untiet officially cast him in a SHS play, that the acting deal was sealed for Odor.

The acting bug first bit DeYoung as a youth performing in the sanctuary of First Christian Church in Spencer.

"I enjoyed all the attention and thought it was a lot of fun," he admitted. "From there, I got involved with some friends, like Ben Fuchsen, and would work with them down at SCT, trying to get involved in every aspect of the children's theater down there. I remember acting in a few shows and doing a lot of set building, lights and sound. I enjoyed everything about putting on a production."

DeYoung, who continued to expand his skills throughout high school and college, deemed peers such as Fuchsen and Brandon Sellers his best mentors.

"They always got the good parts; I never got the good parts," he said with a chuckle. "Honestly, it made me want to work harder and try to get the big parts."

Van Tassell, the youngest of the four SHS alumni currently stationed in Chicago, clearly recalls working as a "chorus kid" in "The Music Man" as a first grade student in Michigan. Like De Young, Van Tassell's interest in the theater bloomed while on center stage during church performances, as well as while watching his parents co-pastor at Spencer's First Congregational Church. While it was from them that he learned how to be comfortable in front of a group, it was Van Tassell's being cast in "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" at the local children's theater during the spring of his seventh grade year that "really sparked" his interest and got him thinking that this might be the path for him to follow. The then-teen progressed into doing some set constructions while still in Spencer, but began working on theatrical lights at the prompting of a college professor.

"Sophomore year, I joined the light crew. But my senior year, I was designing shows, in addition to performing and doing other things," he relayed.

Lessons learned and impacts witnessed

As Fuchsen passed along the "life-changing moment" he experienced, along with DeYoung, as they received the highest of honors during Iowa's "Super State" All-State Festival their senior year of high school, he stated, "One thing I love about a theater is that sense of self-empowerment you get from the necessity of it being an entrepreneurial endeavor. ... For me, that was a life-changing moment because it reminded me of how much you can do with your own sense of self-empowerment, as well as with the collaborative effort of a group -- which is also what theater is all about: Working together to achieve a common goal. That is what has brought me into enjoying directing, being a producer and running a theater company like Oracle."

Odor recalled being fully electrified by his profession when he realized how "powerful" his acting really was. The actor chuckled as he told of making the lights shake during one performance; in reality, an earthquake was hitting. Two other performances, he said, resulted in audience members regurgitating. Odor then explained how he was portraying Jesus in "The Last Days of Judas Iscariot" during both instances.

"I'm pretty sure it was the power of my acting that caused the earthquake and those people to be sick," he said dryly.

DeYoung, on the other hand, acknowledged the best lesson he's learned to date was "how to take a punch," an ability recognized after receiving bad reviews for his lead role in Christopher Durang's "The Actor's Nightmare."

"It was a very humanizing point in my life because it reminded me that I'm not as good as I had thought I was. It brought me down to this level, where I need to remember to stay," DeYoung said.

Van Tassell, who admitted he's tried to figure out over the past year whether theater is what he really wants to do, recognizes today that lighting is his "most marketable skill." But it wasn't until recently, when Odor and other representatives of Pine Box Theatre Company asked if he would assist them in hanging lights for a production of theirs at Oracle Theatre in Chicago that he realized he needed to become actively involved again.

"I really missed it and I missed being with people, theater artists, like this," Van Tassell said.

Taking Chicago storefront theater scene by storm

Odor, who lives just down the street from Oracle Theatre, had planned to drop off his headshot and see about the possibility of working with the theater company after hearing raves about its showings of Stephen Belber's play "Tape" in 2006. While he didn't get around to either, Odor recalled passing the theater in March while walking to a friend's place.

"I looked in, saw this dude with this big red hair flying everywhere, and said, 'I know that guy!'"

Shortly after reconnecting with the redheaded DeYoung and being asked by DeYoung and Fuchsen if he'd like to audition for an upcoming Oracle Theatre performance, the Pine Box theatrical company Odor belongs to began renting performance space there. And it was during the staging of a recent show at the intimate storefront theater that Van Tassell's expertise in lighting was recruited.

"From there, it's just been a matter of continuing to reinitiate conversation with these guys and looking forward to working with them," Van Tassell said. "Through connections with Oracle and Pine Box, I've actually gotten some other small (theatrical) gigs. This has been a great sort of jumping-off point for me to find this community of transplanted Spencer residents in Chicago."