David Lipschutz

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May 27, 2006: The audience gave the new musical "Call Me Fatty!" a standing ovation Thursday evening, during a public reading at a Washington area retirement home.

Introducing the performance was its composer and playwright, Jill Léger, who also had a small role as foreman of the jury that acquitted Arbuckle.

Recent George Washington University grad David Lipschutz starred as Roscoe Arbuckle. The lean Lipschutz, an active member of the school's theater community, brought pizazz and heft to his interpretation of Arbuckle.

Shari Hochhauser a DC comedienne and owner of DC Comedy Group, glittered as Arbuckle's dear friend and frequent co-star Mabel Normand.

And 12-year-old Mike Mainwaring excelled as five different characters, including Young Roscoe, a film director circa 1913, a young Arbuckle fan, a reporter, and Bob Hope, an early Arbuckle protege. Fresh off a run in "Shenandoah" at Ford's Theater, Mainwaring all but stole the show.

The actors sang along with a piano recording of tunes played by DC composer and musician Steve Jones. Jones and George Fulginiti-Shakar created the arrangements of Leger's music.

"Call Me Fatty!" follows Arbuckle from childhood to his death in 1933. Act One takes audiences through his tragic boyhood, to his vaudeville days "on the road," to his reign as one of the most famous comedians in Hollywood. Act Two focuses on the scandal that rocked Arbuckle's life--and lets audiences in on what really may have happened at the St. Francis Hotel on that infamous Labor Day of 1921. It's a tragedy buoyed by Arbuckle's own spirit, heart and magnimity--and a story designed to leave audiences with a newfound appreciation for Arbuckle and his achievements.

Thursday's performance, which took place at Sunrise on Thomas Circle in downtown DC, was a mini "concert" version of the show, featuring nine of its fifteen songs. A concert performance of the full musical is in the works, and Leger is planning workshops for 2007.