WELCOME TO HERMAN POPPE'S WEBSITE
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HERMAN POPPE was born in Chicago,
Illinois, on October 23, 1939 and has been fortunate enough to spend most of his life as a professional actor - working on Broadway; in Regional Theatre, Equity Waiver Productions, Summer Stock and
Shakespeare Festivals; in commercials and on Radio and TV and in Film.
He developed his interest in acting by working with various church groups and the Chicago Park District Operatic company - first in the young people's group at the age of 7 and in the adult group when he turned 14.
Around 1956, he was selected to join a workshop at WBEZ-FM - the Chicago Public Radio Station. When the workshop ended, Herman was hired as a member of the acting staff on a work/study program. During that time he was cast in an Equity Library Theatre production of Our Town directed by Bill Bromfield, the head of the WBEZ acting staff. Playing George Gibbs with a cast of professional actors decided Herman to choose acting as a career.
He studied theatre, film, writing and acting at DePauw University in Indiana where his play, The Other Side of the Night, was the commencement play for the 1962 graduating class. After a year and a half of working on his Masters Degree at Stanford University
in California, Herman decided that he wasn't an academic. When one of his professors suggested he audition for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Herman did and was accepted for the 1964 season. This was Herman's deciding moment and he never looked back.
After his first season at the Festival, Herman traveled to Europe. While in Germany, he and William Roberts, a friend from the Festival, were invited by the Special Services Branch of the U. S. Army to develop a program to be performed at hospitals, libraries, officer clubs and other venues. Herman wrote a two-man show based on Shakespeare's tragedies which had successful engagements all over Southern Germany. The show was to be the first of a series of three plays called Tales of Magic, Murder and Majesty; the other two plays to be based on Shakespeare's comedies and histories.
Before Herman could start on the next play, he and Bill were invited back for the 1965 season at the Oregon Festival. Then Herman moved to San Francisco, acting at night and making a living during the day. After a summer season with the Marin Shakespeare Festival, Herman had the honor to join the American Conservatory Theatre, newly arrived in San Francisco.
During five seasons with ACT, Herman's bachelor life evolved into a family with his marriage to his wife, Judith, and the birth of their son, Matt. Deciding there was more opportunity in Los Angeles, they moved in 1971 and Herman's career expanded into television, film, commercials and other venues. His family also grew with the birth of his daughter, Tessa.
Herman continued his love of theatre, performing in many theatres in the Los Angeles area including the Mark Taper Forum. In 1988, he joined First Stage Hollywood, a non-profit writers support group. He
has been Vice President of the Board of Directors and a member of the Artistic
Committee and has directed or acted in over two
hundred plays with them.
This experience inspired him to return to writing. In 2005, his short play The Audition was chosen to be part of the North
American Actors Association Playreading Festival at the Soho Theatre in
London, England. His play Touch Me was published in 2006 by One Act Play Depot
and was one of eight plays chosen for the 2006 Eight Tens at 8 short play
festival in Santa Cruz, CA. His play The Cooler was part of Moving Arts’ Car
Plays in 2006 and 2007 – short plays performed in cars to audiences in the cars
with the actors in the parking lot at the Steve Allen Theatre in Hollywood. In
2007, Here Comes Momma was produced as part of Luna Acts, five short plays at
the Luna Playhouse in Glendale, CA. Also in 2007, Fill the Spaces with Sunlight was produced as part of First Stage Hollywood's fundraiser, Stage Odyssey.
In 2008, The Loony Bin was performed by Write
Act Repertory Company in their first Freeway Series. Herman's play, Million Miles
Away, was an honorable mention and had a reading in the 2009 Show Off
Playwriting Festival at San Juan Capistrano’s Camino Real Playhouse. Also in
2009, his play Dear John was performed in Write Act Repertory’s second Freeway
Series.
In 2010, Herman's plays January's Ukulele, A Little Social Intercourse, Testing the Spider and A Date with Destiny comprised Write Act's third annual Freeway Series. 2011 found Waiting for the Tow being selected as one of The Car Plays: L.A. Stories presented by Moving Arts @ RADAR L.A. - an International Festival of Contemporary Theater (see link) and also in the Off Center Festival at the
Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, CA.
Herman's full length noir detective mystery The Case of the Lost Virginity had a staged
reading in 2011 at Write Act Repertory Theatre. After many rewrites and a table read in 2012 the play has taken a darker turn and, re-titled as Lost and Found, it had a staged reading by First Stage Hollywood in 2013, directed by Bennett Cohon. His play Feeling the Heat was part of Hot August Nights in 2013, an evening of staged readings at the Missing Piece Theatre in Burbank, CA.
In March, 2014, his new short play Figgets had a staged reading at the Avery Schreiber Playhouse in North Hollywood, CA and in August, Useless Questions was part of Play Club West's 100 Minutes of Genderless Plays at The Complex in Hollywood, CA.
Herman had a wonderful time over the 2014 Labor Day weekend as a guest of Film Fest Twain Harte for the 30th anniversary screening of Pale Rider in which he played Ulrik Lindquist. Pictured on the left are Pale Rider cast members Jeffrey Weissman and S.A. Griffin and Lee Meriwether, representing the short film "The Curse of the Unkissable Kid," and Herman.
Herman's full length drama, When Dandy Comes Marching Home Again, had a very successful staged reading in 2015 at the Eclectic Company Theatre where his full length play, A Sweet Lamenting Music, had a staged reading in 2016.
In 2017, there was a staged reading of his short play, Where's the Exit, at The Eclectic Company Theatre as part of Off The Shelf, an evening of short plays from the First Stage Writers Workshop. Also in 2017, he directed his short plays Snow White and the Eighth Dwarf and Don't Confuse the Messenger in staged readings as part of Off The Shelf 2. Don't Confuse the Messenger has been selected to be part of the June 2017 Drama West Fest in Los Angeles.
In April, 2018, Herman's Play About This Time Every Night was part of A Festival of Short Plays at Theatre Unlimited in North Hollywood and in September, Serious Business was performed as part of First Stage's Off The shelf 3.