“Winchell-On The Air”

Recommended *** If you are of a certain age, the name Walter Winchell will have meaning to you. He was, at one time, THE most famous gossip columnist in the world. Yes, back in the days when newspapers were of major import in our lives, if you were in Winchell’s column or his radio broadcast, you either were about to become a star, or about to be cast aside. That is just how important he was. And now…The rest of the story!

Phil Potempa, a one man “do-it-all” from Indiana, evidently loved this writer. Phil himself is a writer for a local paper in Indiana, does a radio broadcast, teaches and does public relations for the Center for Visual and Performing Arts in Munster ( as well as Theatre at The Center). As you can see, Phil is one busy beaver. Phil is also a historian when it comes to his “hero”, Walter Winchell and during our Pandemic, Phil has taken all of his material and put together an 80 minute play (?) entitled “Winchell On The Air”. Why the ?mark? I am not sure we can call this a play. Rather, a one man documentary with film. Let me explain.

Phil uses the great room/banquet room at the Center ( located in Munster) as The Stork Room. We are seated at tables and as part of the perfomance served a wonderful meal that is best described as some of Winchell’s favorites. Remember, Potempa has studied this man for over three decades. A stage has been set up and is divided into two areas, one a combination newspaper desk/radio station booth and the other a sort of seating area for a one on one interview. In the center of the stage, a movie screen. Potempa portrays his her and inbetween the narratives to the audience, we are shown film clips that show the life of this amazing powerhouse of a man, who we learn died alone, with only a daughter ( who hardly knew him) attending his funeral.

On the wall at the side of the auditorium, we view amazing history of Phil’s Idol, Walter Winchell with photos of his rivals of the time, and relics of his life. Quite an extraordinary collection. One can see that Phil truly loves everything about this man. I had the feeling that last night was a showcase for the show. Perhaps producers are looking at it for either streaming or touring. On the ride back to Chicago, I thought about who would be the perfect person to take on the role of this powerhouse, and the name that popped into my head, Stanley Tucci. After watching all the video portions of this wonderful trip into one man’s life, I thought how close his overall look would be, and we all know what an amazing actor he is, so if you are the producer who was in Munster last night looking at this story, keep that in mind, and if you do cast him for the role, tell him you got it in my column- Around The Town Chicago!

FYI- While the Theatre at The Center is yet to announce their schedule ( post Covid) the Center for Visual and Performing Arts, located at 1040 Ridge Road in Munster ( just over the Illinois/Indiana border is doing other events. Check out www.cvpa.org for a schedule. There is plenty of free parking and they follow all the health precautions. They have a marvelous art display and until the theater itself opens will continue doing special events such as this one. They are special and worth the trip to Munster ( by the way, if you are going check the exit at Calumet for construction) Use the Torrence exit ,head South to Ridge and then East to the building. Going back to the city, you can enter the highway from Calumet.