An inside look at live theater --- from community to professional --- from the Kenley Players to Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera --- from Pittsburgh to Youngstown and beyond..... With over 100 photographs in the book, the reader takes a journey through a lifetime of theater stories and experiences. From Ballantyne's meager beginnings in Pittsburgh with his first theater experience in Junior High School up to the present with the production of powerful hard hitting shows based on historical events. The book is entertaining and lighthearted but also provides those in the business as well as those just starting out, an educational outlook on what to do and what not to do to be successful in the theater world. Theater is filled with stories. Everyone in the business has them and the ones in "Why I Did It!" provide the backbone for a book filled with fascinating times spent entertaining audiences across the country from small intimate stages to palatial palaces in major cities. The reader will meet major celebrities as well as unknowns and discover what makes them, as well as theater, tick. Magic happens every night the curtain goes up on a stage production. The agony and the ecstasy of that magic is vividly described in "Why I Did It!"
About the Author: J.E.Ballantyne, Jr. has worked in professional and local theater for over 54 years. He has worked with such people as Paul Anka, Jerry Vale, Barbara Eden, Bill Cosby, Ken Berry, Charlton Heston, Dr. Cyril H. Wecht, Dennis Day, June Allyson, Marty Allen, Larry Kert, George Carlin, Cyril Ritchard, Colonel Harlen Sanders, and many others. While at WQED-TV in Pittsburgh he worked frequently on "Mister Roger's Neighborhood." He has produced, directed and stage managed hundreds of stage productions including "Wait Until Dark," "The Crucible," "All My Sons," "Death of a Salesman," "1776," "West Side Story," "Carousel," "Chess," "And Then They Came For Me - Remembering the World of Anne Frank," "The Diary of Anne Frank," "The Fantasticks," "Finale," "Man of LaMancha," "A Little Night Music," "Little Shop of Horrors," "Dial 'M' for Murder," "Harry's Friendly Service," "Mame," "Raisin," "Cinderella," "I Remember Mama," "Barefoot In the Park," "The Wizard of Oz and many, many others. On the acting side he has appeared in some of the shows mentioned above as well as "Glengarry Glen Ross," "Sleuth," "Come Blow Your Horn," "Gigi," "South Pacific," "The Tell Tale Heart," and many others. He made a more recent appearance in "August: Osage County." As a playwright he has authored such powerful plays as "Block 5," "The Secret Annexe," "A Light In the Darkness - A Story of Hope During the Holocaust," "Specter of Treason-The Oswald Trial," Images: Remembrances of the Holocaust - The Eva Schloss Story," as well as a complete collection of Edgar Allan Poe based plays. He is currently working on a new play with the working title, "Le Grande Parisienne." His good friend, Eva Schloss, inspired the writing of "Images," mentioned above. Eva is the childhood friend and step-sister of Anne Frank. "Images" is currently on a tri-state tour of Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The author also spent 7 years touring with Chamber Theater Productions of Boston stage managing 14 consecutive tours during that time. Ballantyne is gearing up to begin work on his next book which will detail the 100 year history of the Youngstown Playhouse in Youngstown, Ohio. He also runs his own theatrical production company -- J&B Production Arts Services and a theatrical promotions company --- J&B Theatrical Promotions.