Director taught Grammer, Kline, Hurt

When Kelsey Grammer of "Frasier" fame was 19, one of his Juilliard professors, Gene Lesser, gave the future Emmy and Golden Globe winner a bad evaluation, and Grammer was kicked out of the theater program.

"When I see Kelsey from time to time, we laugh about it," says Lesser, who taught directing at Juilliard for 10 years. "However, Kelsey just didn't work as a stage actor at that time; Juilliard is very tough, and although students didn't get actual grades, they were told at the end of the first year whether or not they could come back the following year," says the director. "But two actors whom I directed who stood out even then were William Hurt and Kevin Kline."

Lesser, semi-retired after 15 years as director of the Master of Fine Arts program at SUNY at Binghamton in upstate New York, will make his local directing debut this week at Pure Theatre with the 2007 Pulitzer Prize-winning "Rabbit Hole." Performances run through Dec. 15.

"I decided I didn't want to work full time, but I still wanted to direct part time," says Lesser, whose ex-wife is from Columbia and whose daughter is a recent graduate of the University of South Carolina.

"Frankly, I was sick of the Upstate New York winters, and I wanted to be near my daughter, who frequently visits here, and so in April, I sold my big house in New York and now live in a condo on James Island."

With a Master of Fine Arts in directing from New York University's Tisch School, Lesser, in his early 60s, has directed in numerous theaters such as the Folger Elizabethan Theatre and the Arena Stage, both in Washington, D.C.

After getting settled in Charleston, Lesser inquired about theaters that mount "the riskier plays" and was told to look up Sharon Graci and Rodney Lee Rogers, founders of Pure Theatre. He gave Graci a call and they decided on a play.

"I'm really excited about directing 'Rabbit Hole' because I so admire the work of playwright David Lindsay-Abaire. The writing is so exquisite, so insightful and so balanced between humor and sadness that it is like a chamber music quartet," he says.

"I also truly love it because the play examines how people go about their daily lives in the face of overwhelming, life-changing grief," says Lesser. "I thought of 'Rabbit Hole' when I watched the memorial service for the nine Charleston firemen who were killed last June, how the families managed to face the public that day, and how they would face the ordinary days to come."

"Rabbit Hole" tells of an upper-class married couple, Becca and Howie, who must face life after their 4-year-old son is accidentally run over by a car and killed. Graci, who plays Becca, points out, "Rather than showing big dramatic explosions, this play showcases the day-to-day interactions of people who can no longer speak to each other without strain."

Taking the role of Howie is David Mandel. Other cast members are Cynthia Barnett, Jenny Pringle and Will Northcut.

Lindsay-Abaire is known for taking the dark side of life and showing how people pick through the debris to try to find a bit of light.

In his play "Fuddy Meers," the heroine has a malady that causes her to lose her memory each time she falls asleep, and his very dark "Kimberly Akimbo" is about a teenager who copes with progeria, a disease that causes her to age at a rate 4 1/2 times faster than normal. Yet moments of laughter are still gleaned.

"Pure is a black box theater that is the perfect place for 'Rabbit Hole,' " says Lesser, as he looks around the space at the Cigar Factory, 701 East Bay St. "No fancy technical stuff — just good writing, acting and directing."

Reach Dottie Ashley at 937-5704 or dashley@postandcourier.com.