Steve McDonagh has no doubt that the only career he ever wanted to pursue was acting. “There was never a time in my life where I hadn’t chosen a theater career,” McDonagh declared. “It’s the only thing I’ve ever wanted to do since I was little.”
He fondly recalled when he was in third grade and wanted to get the lead in “Our Parade Around the World.” “I only got it because the lead kid got chicken pox,” McDonagh said.
As an adult, McDonagh began studying acting at a college in New Jersey, but left after a year-and-a-half. “I was taking classes in Manhattan and it made more sense to go in every day to take dance classes and voice lessons and acting lessons,” he explained.
Soon he was getting roles.
“When I lived in New York, I did a lot of touring, a lot of theater for young audiences. That’s how I first got my Equity card,” McDonagh said. “Going all around the country when you’re young like that is pretty exciting.” But once he started a family, McDonagh didn’t want to tour any longer.
That’s when McDonagh decided to devote his time and energy to The Hearty Boys, the upscale catering company that he started with his life partner Dan Smith in 1999.
“I left acting when my son was about a year old,” McDonagh reported. “I’d say 2006 because we had also just opened our first restaurant in Lakeview; HB.”
That was followed by very busy years. The pair won the first season of Food Network’s hit series, “Food Network Star.” That was followed by their Food Network series, “Party Line with the Hearty Boys.” They also authored two cookbooks, “The New Old Bar” and “Talk with Your Mouth Full.”
Those were exciting times for The Hearty Boys, building the business and raising a son but something was still missing in McDonagh’s life.
“I was having this really wonderful second chapter, traveling the world and teaching classes in other countries,” McDonagh said. “It was very exciting and very profitable. But I very much missed being onstage because that’s where my soul is.”
That’s why, 10 years ago, about a year after the couple moved to Highland Park, McDonagh left the booming catering business and began acting full-time again.
He has had many acting successes since then. McDonagh received high praise for his portrayal of Man in Chair in Theo Ubique’s “The Drowsy Chaperone” last spring, a role that meant a lot to him.
More Top Picks Signs Of Irlen Syndrome In Children At School
“I’m not done with that show yet,” McDonagh declared. “Somebody has to do that again so I can do it. I really want to play Man in Chair again.”
Meanwhile, McDonagh is busy as a member of the five-person ensemble “Eureka Day” at Citadel Theatre in Lake Forest. The farce is about an elite progressive private school thrown into chaos because of a mumps outbreak.
“I am playing Don, the principal,” McDonagh said. “He’s very earnest and cautious. He’s the guy who’s going to wear socks with his Birkenstocks. He wants the best for everyone. He’s in charge but doesn’t want to appear like he’s taking charge. He wants to make sure everybody’s happy.”
“It’s a well-balanced script,” said Scott Phelps, Artistic Director of Citadel Theatre. “I’m drawn to scripts that don’t preach. Storytelling, when it’s done that way, can help solve a lot of what ails us.”
Vaccination is one of the issues addressed in the script. Surprisingly, Phelps noted, “This script happened before COVID 19. It became wildly popular after COVID 19. Whatever side that you’re on, whether you’re a vaxxer or an anti-vaxxer, through humor this story makes us look a little silly when we were going at each other during COVID. Well-written storytelling can do that.”
Following “Eureka Day,” McDonagh will be performing in “Little Shop of Horrors” at Porchlight Music Theatre. “Then I have a big national tour coming up but I’m not allowed to talk about it,” he said.
McDonagh spoke of being really inspired by performing in “Every Brilliant Thing” at Farmers Alley in Kalamazoo, Michigan in 2023.
“In that play, you’re finding a million little things that happen every day that make life worth living. I find it all the time now.”
Myrna Petlicki is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.