Who is Chris Hart today? That’s anybody’s guess
NEWCOMERSTOWN — Chris Hart wears many hats. And he’s also a man of many shirts, pants, coats, shoes and, well, many faces as well.
Chris Hart is a living historian, which means that he basically portrays — or “becomes,” as he would like to suggest — figures that have appeared throughout history, telling some famous, infamous and not-so-famous stories about people in the past.
His wife of more than 40 years, Susie Hart, sometimes starts a conversation with her husband, “And who are you today?’
On the days he is not performing, Hart is employed as a college professor at seven universities and a guest lecturer at two others, but as he stresses, not all at once.
Hart said his interest in historical characters has spanned decades. He recalls a visit to a Civil War site that helped spark his hobby.
“Susie and I had been married about a year when we visited Appomattox Court House, Virginia, where the Civil War ended. There was a park employee who was portraying a Rebel soldier who had surrendered but ‘had just never got around to going home.’ He proceeded to tell us all about the surrender in first person.
“I thought at the time, ‘Wouldn’t that be fun to do someday?’ Well, about a dozen years ago I got the chance to portray the village doctor at Historic Roscoe Village and nearly 50 characters later ... it is everything I hoped it would be.”
Hart said the challenge in developing a character is sometimes just finding the time to write.
“Many people have asked, ‘How do you keep all the stories straight?’ Well, I write almost all my own portrayals, so that certainly helps. I always try to brush up a few days before a portrayal.”
Hart said that, as a rule, he doesn’t portray “famous people” — except Neil Armstrong, the first person to set foot on the moon.
“I like ordinary people’s stories,” he says. “Usually, the idea comes from a book I happen to see. ‘There just might be a story in there.’ Then I read the book and write the portrayal. Sometimes, I take a literary character and tell his story from a different point of view. (Ichabod Crane in Sleepy Hollow Revisited” comes to mind.) A new character usually takes at least a couple of months to complete.”
People he has portrayed include:
Percy Jones, a World War I veteran who was present at the impromptu Christmas Eve 1914 truce between the British and the Germans.
Dr. Ron Jones, an emergency room physician at Parkland Hospital in Dallas, Texas, in 1963 who tried to save President John F Kennedy and then 48 hours later had to try to save Lee Harvey Oswald.
Ichabod Crane, the school master from Sleepy Hollow who returns to tell us the real story, as it appears Washington Irving didn’t get the tale exactly right.
Capt. John B. Reynolds of the canal boat the Hard Cider on the Ohio-Erie Canal who always has lively tales of life on “the big ditch.”
Michael Benfante, a 9/11 survivor who tells of rescuing people from the World Trade Center, yet considers himself no hero.
Cy Young, a Newcomerstown native, who recalls his professional baseball career on the occasion of his 80th birthday.
Hart said he is still thinking about other characters to portray.
“Next up is one called ‘Step Father.’ It will be a portrayal of Joseph, husband of Mary and stepfather of Jesus. ‘1969’ will introduce an aging hippie trying to recall that turbulent year. And there is an entire ‘all grown up’ series that re-connects with such fictional characters as Tom Sawyer, Christopher Robin and Peter Cratchit as adults.”
Hart said he has been fortunate to perform at the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, Tennessee, and for the National Park Service. And this March, he said, he is very excited to be doing two Civil War portrayals at Gettysburg National Military Park.