What would you ask a living legend?
Back by popular demand! Clerical Error Productions combines the golden age of Hollywood with the golden age of television in an encore presentation of its highly acclaimed Call Me Kate: Katharine Hepburn Tells It Like It Is.
Inspired by the 1973 Dick Cavett interview, Hepburn’s first ever on television, the play recreates a live television broadcast, capturing the Hollywood legend at her witty, acerbic, and reflective best.
The second act includes a brief Q&A to allow the audience to become part of the show and ask the star about her fascinating life, famous loves, and an esteemed career that spanned six decades (forty at the time of the show).
Call Me Kate: Katharine Hepburn Tells It Like It Is was written by and features Kate Duffy in the title role. Lot Turner plays interviewer Dick Cavendish.
Travel back to 1973 with us at The Meridian Arts Event Center, 111 E. 34th St., Indianapolis. May 17 @ 7:30, 18, 19 @ 2:30. Tickets $20 at the link below, special group rates available, food served before every performance!
Scene: ABC Studios, set of The Dick Cavendish Show
Time: September 14, 1973
Announcer: Adam Crowe
ACT I
We meet Miss Hepburn and her “secretary” Phyllis Wilbourn
15 Minute Intermission
ACT II
More about Spencer Tracy
Audience Q&A
Miss Hepburn’s comments are taken from the following sources: Kate Remembered by A. Scott Berg; Katharine Hepburn: A Remarkable Woman by Anne Edwards; The Making of the African Queen: Or How I Went to Africa with Bogart, Bacall, and Huston, and Almost Lost My Mind by Katharine Hepburn; Me: Stories of My Life by Katharine Hepburn; Kate: The Woman Who Was Hepburn by William J. Mann; and The Dick Cavett Show, September 14, 1973, sourced from YouTube.
Praise for Call Me Kate from A Seat On The Aisle
reviewed by Daniel Shock
I parked my car and made my way down the sidewalk, then turned north up an alley. There, I found a well-lit door on the side of a building that led me into a small theatre known as ‘The Brick Room’. Alone for this show, I couldn’t convince my 13-year-old son to join me to see a recreation of a 1970’s era talk show exploring the life and career of a golden age movie star. I understand. When I said the name ‘Katharine Hepburn’ to him…he had no idea who that was. I didn’t even bother to say the name ‘Dick Cavett’. As I found my seat at the back of the theatre, it occurs to me that in the fractured landscape of twenty-first century entertainment where movies are losing their place at the top of the popularity mountain to youtube, tiktok instagram and others – there may never again be a movie star like Katharine Hepburn.
Call Me Kate: Katharine Hepburn Tells It Like It Is is a theatrical homage to the iconic actress Katharine Hepburn, inspired by her 1973 interview with Dick Cavett. The play, penned and performed by Kate Duffy as Hepburn, captures the legend’s wit and wisdom during a recreated live TV broadcast. It includes a second act with a Q&A session, inviting audience interaction. Directed by Jon Lindley, the cast features Blake Mellencamp as Dick Cavendish and several others in supporting roles.
From the minute you step through that alley door, the show begins. You are greeted as an arriving audience member to see a broadcast of ‘The Dick Cavendish Show’. Manny Casillas as Manny, the studio page, hands out pencils and paper for you to write down any questions you may have for Ms. Hepburn. After you take your seat, the TV studio personel start to filter in, the host, here named ‘Dick Cavendish’ and played with charm by Blake Mellencamp greets the audience and welcomes you to New York City. The TV director (David Molloy) and camera operator (Dennis Forkel) confer on technical setups. When Ms. Hepburn arrives with her good friend Phyllis (Wendy Brown) there is a flurry of activity as everyone gets ready for the show.
When the broadcast starts, we are treated to an evening with Katharine Hepburn. Kate Duffy pulls off quite a feat as she settles into the chair and responds to the scripted questions as the aging but still vital film star. It didn’t take long for me to forget that I was watching a performance and imagine that I was really watching Ms Hepburn. She gets the voice, the attitude and the humor just right. When the second act comes and she is given the audience questions (even one from me about the African Queen – my favorite Hepburn movie) she ad libs the responses in character without missing a beat.
The technical aspects of the show were all well done, the set looked like a good approximation of a 70’s era talk show. Kate Duffy’s costume looked just like what the real Hepburn wore on the Dick Cavett show (I checked YouTube). There were commercial breaks, which you got to see on a vintage TV in black and white on the side of the set.
The best compliment that I can pay to Clerical Error Productions first play of 2024, Call Me Kate: Katharine Hepburn Tells It Like It Is, is that it filled me with the urge to seek out the rest of Ms. Hepburn’s catalog of films. Maybe I’ll show my son ‘The African Queen’ tonight.
Meet the Cast of "Call Me Kate"
KATE DUFFY – Playwright, “Katharine Hepburn”: Kate is co-founder, President, CEO, and head writer for Clerical Error Productions. She has sung, danced, and performed dramatic roles, stand up comedy, vaudeville, and storytelling. Favorite roles include Winnie from CEP’s production of Samuel Beckett’s Happy Days and the tea-slinging Mrs. O’Boyle from CEP’s Father Ned series. This is the seventh of Kate’s plays to be performed in the greater Indianapolis area, and she is delighted to bring another Kate to life on stage and tell it like it is.
LOT TURNER — “Dick Cavendish”: Lot is a writer, director, singer, and producer making his stage debut with Clerical Error Productions. A native of Anderson, Lot has lived and produced in many locales. His stage adaptation of Frankenstein has played in both Indianapolis and Madison, IN as well as Chippewa Falls, WI. His one act play Down Devil’s Backbone won acclaim at the 2010 Minnesota and Indy Fringe festivals. He has a long resume of bad guys: Victor Frankenstein, Rooster Hannigan, and Caiaphas. He is the father of three kids and one Newfoundland puppy named Loki.
WENDY BROWN — “Phyllis Wilbourn”: Wendy reentered theatre after thirty-eight years working in the thoroughbred horse industry. She has enjoyed roles with Indianapolis Civic Theatre, Epilogue Players, Westfield Play House, Hendricks Civic Theatre, Center Stage, Buck Creek Players, Theatre at the Fort, The CAT, Indy Fringe, Diva Fest, and American Lives Theatre. She stays connected to the racing world, works in thoroughbred aftercare, and in her free time loses herself trying to capture wildlife through a camera lens.
David Molloy
DAVID MOLLOY — “Arthur Forrest”: David has become a familiar face to Indy theatre goers over the years, having appeared in productions and with companies too numerous to mention. He is co-founder and Treasurer of Clerical Error Productions and casting coordinator for the Indiana Playwrights Circle. A resident of Brownsburg, David spends his time offstage volunteering with feline rescue groups. David’s performance is sponsored by Nine Lives Cat Cafe.
Alicia Ana Hernandez-Roulet — “Allie, Studio Page”: Allie is thrilled to join the production of Call Me Kate. She is an Indianapolis based playwright. She has been a member of the Indiana Playwrites Circle since 2022. She writes mostly about what she knows – being a gender curious, half-Puerto Rican, chicken-keeping mom.
DENNIS FORKEL — “Dennis, Cameraman”: Dennis was born and mostly raised in Central New York, with sojourns to several other states when the family patriarch had job transfers. Dennis “caught the muse” for theatre during high school, working backstage with lights and sound. He attended SUNY-Oswego and followed the muse to California. In 2000 Dennis rejoined the family, now in Indiana. Since 2007 he has appeared in numerous productions throughout Central Indiana and looks forward to being part of Call Me Kate.
MARYANNE MATHEWS — Assistant Director/ Stage Manager, “MaryAnne, Make Up Artist”: MaryAnne is an actor, writer, musician, and historic interpreter who has appeared in several Clerical Error productions. She performs as Mary Todd Lincoln in presentations and her original play “Mrs. President: A Visit With Mary Todd Lincoln.” She is a member of Crossing Bridges, an acoustic musical ensemble.
JON LINDLEY — Director: Jon appeared at Lilly Theatre at The Children’s Museum, Indianapolis Shakespeare Festival, InterAction Theatre, Genesis Theatre Company, and in over a dozen productions at Phoenix Theatre. He toured the U.S. and Canada with the groundbreaking Omaha Magic Theatre. On returning to Indiana, he began his own company, Pan-Arts Theatre, and directed challenging experimental works. He directed CEP’s performances of Samuel Beckett’s Happy Days at the District Theatre and Play by Play: Tiny Little Plays by Mark Harvey Levine for IndyFringe. He has played the title role of Father Ned and is a member of the Clerical Error board of directors.
Thank you to the sponsors of Call Me Kate!
And don't miss the rest of our 2024-25 season!
