Windsor Village native Timothy Dougherty gets to ham it up on stage this weekend and next, playing a vaudevillian actor -turned elocution coach – turned movie director – in the Kaufman and Hart musical “Once in a Lifetime” at Hamilton Academy of Music. The show takes place during the advent of ‘talkies’ on the big screen, a popular theme this year with the silent movie “The Artist” winning the Oscar for best motion picture, and “Hugo” exploring the advent of silent film. “Once in a Lifetime” on the other hand, is a farcical look at the early film industry as Dougherty’s character George Lewis moves to Hollywood to train silent stars to “speak” Â and ends up in his own starring role as Director instead.
Dougherty, 17, follows in the footsteps of his father actor Charles Dougherty and mother actress/director Mary Lou Belli, and was bitten by the acting bug as a young child. In the spirit of disclosure, I must admit that this young man has grown from a pip-squeak toddler to a leading man before my very own eyes – he lives in my neighborhood and has long been an attention-grabbing performer on the front steps of his house, in a local  improv class, or on the edge of our diving board. It’s been a joy following his young career at Hamilton in shows including Pippin, Guys & Dolls, A Christmas Carol and Peter Pan. He was one of two actors chosen for the FOX Studios Music mentoring program 2010/2011, sings with Hamilton High’s nationally recognized Jazz Vocal Ensemble, and performs with the Antaeus Classical Theater. That’s when he’s not doing his homework or applying for colleges.
As a high school that draws some of the best performing arts students from the greater LA basin, many of whom live in the greater Wilshire/Hancock Park area, the shows at Hamilton deserve the enthusiastic audience they draw.
Hamilton Academy of Music
2955 S. Robertson Blvd., Los Angeles, CA, 90034Â
Tickets are $15 Friday and Saturday nights, $10 matinees, and can be pre-purchased via the Hamilton Music website.