A morning with "Fr. Mulcahy"

I had the distinct pleasure of spending part of Wednesday morning with actor Bill Christopher who played Fr. Mulcahy on M*A*S*H. That was many years ago and a few gray hairs later, but when you first see Bill there's no mistaking him. His voice is the same too. I picked him up for interviews at FOX 11, WIXX and Y100 radio. He's in town for the musical comedy "Church Basement Ladies" at the Meyer Theatre.

Bill says Wisconsin almost seems like a second home for him because he grew up in the Chicago area, so coming to Wisconsin was common when he was young.As we drove, Bill was happy to talk about his many years on M*A*S*H. He makes no bones that much of his success in life is due to that show, so why not talk about it? It made it possible for he and his wife to provide exceptional care of their Autistic son who is now in his 40s. Besides the blockbuster series, Bill also appeared in the Gomer Pyle, Andy Griffith and Murder She Wrote TV series. Hard to believe "Fr. Mulcahy" played a murderer in Murder She Wrote. One of the few bad guys he's played in his day.

Christopher says the typical day on the M*A*S*H set was 9 to 5. Sometimes earlier if you had a big role in the particular episode they were filming. He might even have a few days off if he didn't have a big role in a episode because it took about a week to film one show and they did 22 shows a season. He says he still gets together with Loretta Switt, Alan Alda, Harry Morgan and other regulars from the show more often than you'd think. Bill Christopher is on the other side of 70 these days, but still enjoys traveling with his wife for his acting career. He was part of super successful, long running TV show. Not too many of those around anymore. All of the media folks he met that morning were pretty thrilled to meet him I think. Yeah, it was kind of cool for me too!

"Fr. Mulcahy" comes to Green Bay

My job is enjoyable pretty much everyday, but it really kicks into "neat" mode next week. Actor William Christopher (Father Mulcahy on M*A*S*H) will be in Green Bay August 26-28 performing in a musical comedy at the Meyer Theatre called "Church Basement Ladies." I'll be taking Mr. Christopher to do a TV interview at FOX 11 on Wednesday morning and then to WIXX radio.

It's always interesting to meet the people behind the characters they played on TV or in the moves. Likewise, as a fan of M*A*S*H, it will be cool to see who William Christopher is. He's already willing to get up fairly early to do some publicity for the show at the Meyer, so I'd say we're off to a good start. Now if only Alan Alda was tagging along......

Tall ships only 1 year away

Hard to believe, but in just one year, we'll be gracing the shores of the Fox River in downtown Green Bay for the Baylake Bank Tall Ship Festival. Two ships have already announced they're coming - Unicorn and Denis Sullivan. The latter is Wisconsin's flagship and hails from Milwaukee. The ships were last here in 2006 for a very successful festival. A few of the days were extremely hot and I sweat my butt off. But, we survived and a good time was had by all. The festival is being produced by PMI Entertainment Group - the same "crew" that runs the Resch Center and now Tom, Dick & Harry's. That venue opened today (Aug. 13). I had a chance to have lunch there on Tuesday during the soft opening and the food was great. Several concerts have already been announced for The Club. Seeing all of the old Kaap's furniture and fixtures placed around restaurant is pretty cool. Brings back memories and yes, unfortunately, I'm old enough to remember the old Kaap's. Ahhh.

I must be nuts

Okay, so it's vacation time for Venue Vibes. Time to put down the phone and stop pitching the media for coverage of Tom, Dick & Harry's opening August 13. Time, at least for the moment, to take a break from publicizing the Great Fall Kick-off with Big & Rich August 15 at the Stadium View. For the next few days, time to give the Baylake Bank Tall Ship Festival a rest - it's coming up in one year exactly on August 13. So what does Venue Vibes do for vacation? A 5 day bike tour averaging 70-75 miles a day. Yeah, I must be nuts. I like to ride all right, but I'm not sure my "behind" is ready for this. I did 72 miles this past Sunday on a windy and hilly ride from Chilton. No problem. But that was one day. I didn't have to follow it up with another 70 and then another 70 and so on. I know, it's vacation, quit complaining. But it's been a cool summer temperature wise so far and now I see it could be near 90 on Saturday and Sunday. Did I mention I HATE it hot?? Ahhhh, I must be nuts.