From doctor to Don Quixote in 'Man of La Mancha'

Bruce Rebold's lifelong dream has been anything but impossible.

As windmill-chasing Don Quixote in the current production of "Man of La Mancha" at Plaza's Broadway Long Island in Elmont, Bruce Rebold sings of reaching the unreachable star in "The Impossible Dream." For the Oyster Bay-based performer, pursuing a professional career in musical theater after retiring as an obstetrician-gynecologist in 2007 proved to be far more reachable than he ever imagined.

When Rebold, now 70, had to give up his successful practice due to a medical condition, he had no idea what act two of his life was going to look like. He had been active in community theater from the time he was in college and throughout his days as a doctor.

"Once the clouds dissipated in my head, I thought to myself, let me see if I can try this and venture into the professional acting world," he said.

He started to audition in Manhattan, and although he was in his 50s at the time, that could work to his advantage. "I was a middle-aged character actor who was nonunion. That breed is very rare," he said. "So I was getting a lot of work, not just in New York City, but in regional theaters from Florida to Maine."

His natural gift as a performer was also a huge asset said Kevin Harrington, Plaza's founder and executive producer as well as the director of "Man of La Mancha." "When I first met Bruce, I was impressed by his rich baritone voice and his ability to capture the essence of the character he was creating," Harrington said. "Bruce embodied the character of Don Quixote and is able to able to portray Cervantes in an authentic realistic manner. When he performs 'The Impossible Dream,' he sings the song as if it were a prayer with such depth and conviction.'

AN ACTOR IN THE MAKING

Rebold has always been a natural-born performer from the time he was a youngster in Brooklyn, where he grew up in the 1950s and '60s.

"In those days, everyone was playing punchball or stickball in the streets and I really had no interest. I just wanted to put on shows and recruit everybody on the block to be in these shows," he said.

That passion for theater only got stronger after he saw his first Broadway show, "Do Re Mi," in 1960. "It was a musical with Phil Silvers and Nancy Walker and really not a kids show. My mother would look over at me, this little 8-year-old, and my jaw would just drop," he said. "I knew this was what I wanted to do."

As he got older, his fascination with being a doctor overtook any illusions about a stage career, though he somehow managed to always find time for theater. At Brooklyn College, where he was a biology major, he managed to complete all but one required class by his junior year, so during his senior year his curriculum was almost all drama classes.

While attending medical school in Guadalajara, Mexico, he found a local theater company that put on shows performed in English. Theater was the medicine that helped him cope with the pressure of his studies. "I needed those few hours a day when I was rehearsing a show to put me in a better place," he said.

After returning to Long Island, where he did his internship and residency, Rebold continued to spend his off hours doing community theater once he got into practice. "I would do two musicals a year and it wasn’t too demanding because the runs of these musicals were maybe three or four weeks and it was always on the weekend," he said.

Call it a labor of love sometimes interrupted by labor pains, like a 1982 production of "Fiddler on the Roof," in which he was playing Motel the tailor. "It was my first year in practice. I had my beeper with me and sure enough, my beeper went off just as the show was starting," he said. "I wound up handing over the script and my costume to Kevin Harrington."

After that, Rebold always made sure to arrange for another doctor to cover for him during a performance.

Throughout the 1980s and '90s he became a popular leading man on Long Island playing Henry Higgins in "My Fair Lady," Harold Hill in "The Music Man," Tevye in "Fiddler on the Roof" and the title role in "Sweeney Todd."

Since his retirement, Rebold has been seen in several shows at the John W. Engeman Theater in Northport as well as two Off-Broadway musicals for the National Yiddish Theater-Folksbiene.

STATE OF THE UNION

The turning point for Rebold came after he was spotted by an agent during a regional theater performance as Wilbur Turnblad in "Hairspray" in 2012.

"He asked me what I wanted to do, and I said "Heck, I want to go to Broadway," Rebold said. "He said, look, I can really do better things for you if you get a union card."

Rebold was hesitant about joining Actors' Equity Association. Applicants have to pay an initiation fee of $1,700 and then annual dues of $176. Likewise, there are working dues of 2.5% of gross earnings under the Equity contract, which are collected through weekly payroll deductions.

When the agent convinced Rebold that he'd have a lot more opportunities as a union member, the actor agreed. "Becoming a member of Actors' Equity Association is almost akin to getting your Ph.D. in whatever specialty you’re in. It held a tremendous significance to me and was a sign of accomplishment."

Chief among those accomplishments is playing Don Quixote for Plaza, a role Rebold also played in 1990 and again in 1998. But now, he feels he can add so much more of his life experience to his characterization.

"He's a man who’s extremely principled and sticks to the belief that you follow your dream in life. Set your ideals first and never shake them off. Always follow your dream," he said. "I’ve learned more and more about that since I had to leave medicine and I’ve had to go through a lot of soul searching about life that I can now bring to this role."