42nd St. Moon Blog

Greg gets emails and notes asking about the whereabouts of various Moonies who used to be ergulars on the Moonie stage, but haven't appeared for a while. So today we take a look at the first of our "Missing Moonies",straight from the desk of Greg MacKellan:

THE CASE OF THE MISSING MOONIES:
Case Number One -- Lesley Hamilton

The email arrived early last week. Terse and to the point, the sender asked: "Where is Lesley Hamilton? I thought she'd be playing Mabel? Is she coming back?" It was signed, simply, A FAN. (The return address blew A FAN'S cover, though, and her name is K. Moore.) This weekend, when MACK & MABEL has its very enthusiastically
received (!!!) opening, several other patrons echoed Ms. Moore's plaintive query -- where was Lesley Hamilton, what had we done with her, and was she ever coming back? Truthfully, we've been getting these questions regularly for over a year now.

Well, the disappeared one herself has promised to write a little something for the blog, complete with pictures, but since she's a bit slow in doing so, I thought I'd fill in with a quick update. First, we didn't do anything with Lesley. She is not being held captive in a secret room in Stephanie's house; has not disappeared into the dark back corners of Moonspace never to be seen again. (In fact, Lesley is something of a patron saint of Moonspace, watching benignly over rehearsals and green room meetings in the form of any number of Moon posters which she graces, usually with her patented "eyes rolling upward" Lesley Hamilton "look" number 11-C.)

Lesley and her husband, Mark Hill (accompanied by their beloved bichon, Bogey) relocated to Kennesaw, Georgia (just outside Atlanta) in late 2004. Of course, Stephanie and I were bereft at losing one of the original Moonies (Lesley first appeared in our second show, One Touch of Venus, in 1993), a wonderful actress and singer with a comic style that is decidedly her own. She's been busy performing in any number of shows since she left -- The Music Man, My Fair Lady, Bombay Dreams (!), and I'm sure she'll have many adventures to describe when she finally gets her blog contribution in.

2007-08 marks 42nd Street Moon's 15th anniversary, and you can bet that Stephanie Rhoads and I are trying to think up some spectacular show with which to tempt Ms. Hamilton back for a few weeks. Yes, she has dangled that carrot at us: for the right role, she'll be happy and eager to make a return visit.

Until then -- and until Lesley fills in some of the details for us herself -- hopefully this will at least answer the question of "Whatever happened to ...." Lesley Hamilton!

Thanks Greg! I was wondering myself. Lesley was in my first Moon show, I Married an Angel, and she truly has a style and presence all her own. Years later I met her husband through business channels (he's a recruiter.) As we chatted about our backgrounds I mentioned I had lived in NYC pursuing theatre, and he said "So did my wife." One thing led to another, and we discovered the connection! Small world.

Well now that I know Lesley can be lured back for the right show I will have to put my thinking cap on!