Playing a complicated cop in Stageworks’ production of Lobby Hero, DuMouchel gave the sort of riveting performance you only get to see every few years. DuMouchel’s Bill-the-Policeman was ultra-macho, ultra-slick, more or less committed to a moral life (except where sex was concerned), and exceedingly conscious of the figure he cut with his adoring public and his anxious policewoman partner (and lover) Dawn. As played by DuMouchel, Bill was a hero and a liar and a violent man who somehow eschewed violence. Every move he made suggested bottled-up rage, desire, danger; and there were moments when it seemed like the small stage of the Shimberg Playhouse couldn’t survive all this unexpressed energy. Unfortunately for theater lovers, most of the Dunedin-based DuMouchel’s acting is done for television and film; but maybe if we’re lucky, he’ll grace one of our stages again in the near future.
This article appears in Sep 10-16, 2008.