Sitting in Lindy's Diner in downtown Keene, N.H., about an hour from Hanover, Alec Doyle has two hours to grab a bite to eat before trying to prove once and for all that you can go home again. In Los Angeles for the last 20 years, directing and producing in television, film and theater, Doyle has returned to his hometown.
Outside the marquee of the Colonial Theatre shines brightly. There is an electricity in the brisk October air that this town has not seen in some time. The Colonial is opening its fall season with a big name as Bob Newhart will be taking the stage later in the evening.
The hustle and bustle is a far cry from the Keene that Doyle remembers from his youth. Reminiscing about his childhood memories of the town, Doyle said, "If it seems sleepy to you now, it was way sleepy back then. There was nothing at all going on."
As for the old building he now finds in his charge, Doyle remembers it being "really, really decrepit. There were holes in the ceiling, you were waiting for the thing to fall in on you."
And now, he only has a little while before he stands up in front of 900 of his new-old neighbors and introduces himself as the Executive Director of Keene's beloved theater.
The journey for Doyle has been a long one, and not only in terms of distance. In 1983, three years out of the University of New Hampshire, he set out for Los Angeles, hoping to make it in show business. "I was looking for the most different cultural experience I could find in the continental U.S., in terms of where I was coming from," recalls Doyle, "and let's face it, southern California is another country."
During his stay on the west coast, Doyle served as director, producer and administrator for a wide variety of performing arts organizations. In 1988, he founded the theater division of Beyond Baroque, one of Los Angeles' top literary and performing arts centers, serving as its Artistic Director until 1992. He also started up Visualiner Studios a media company that did corporate projects for such companies as Sony and DIRECTV.
Most recently, Doyle came back to his roots in theater and directed several stage productions, most notably directing Orson Bean in a production of Eugene O'Neill's "Long Day's Journey Into Night."
But Doyle had an idea that he might want to get out of Los Angeles, and that's when he caught wind of the vacancy in Keene.
Until a few years ago, the Colonial remained in the sorry state that Doyle remembered. It was eventually closed down and was threatened with the wrecking ball in 1991. However, the Keene community banded together and not only preserved the old movie house, but in 1993 it was established as a non-profit organization and by 1994 it was completely renovated and ready to reopen its doors. According to The Colonial Theatre's Chairman of the Board Doug Brown, the effort was "typical of the Keene community and how it picks up the ball and runs with it on things like this."
Brown distinctly remembers his first encounter with Doyle. Scheduled to meet Doyle in front of Keene's EF Lane Hotel, Brown had a pretty good idea Doyle was the man for the job before he even spoke to him. "There was somebody in a suit talking with a group of people in front of a coffee shop about a block down," Brown recalls, "and it turns out it was Alec, and he was already out in the community talking about the Colonial Theatre."
Doyle's first visit to his hometown proved to be a somewhat surreal but very comfortable experience. "Everything is very tight community-oriented here, so it was an easy transition."
So now that he's here, sitting in this diner that was here when he was a boy, as the prodigal son who is now back living in his hometown for the first time in 20 years, how does he feel?
He thinks long and hard before saying, "I'd be lying to you if I didn't say it was a weird feeling. There is a bizarre aspect of returning to a culture that, at one time, you were very familiar with. And then you come back and you realize how much you've changed."
But that isn't necessarily a bad thing according to Doyle. He thinks that will allow him to "bring a different energy to the theater. But at the same time, I've got to be mindful of adjusting myself to the expectations that exist here."
It seems appropriate that, when the elderly proprietor of the diner came to take his order, she noticed the tape recorder in his face and asked, "Are you a politician?"
He explained that he wasn't, but like any good politician, he is already working hard to win the favor of his constituency that keep the Colonial Theatre afloat.
After introducing himself, he got the response every politician wants to hear -- "We're gonna support you."
