In his younger days, Kevin Kunz cared more about picking up the spare than earning a standing ovation. Raised in Stow, near Akron, he was passionate about bowling but had another interest lurking at the end of the lane.
A spur-of-the-moment decision his senior year in high school changed everything.
“A friend in study hall brought in the script for the school play, which was ‘See How They Run,’” Kunz remembers. “He didn’t want to audition, and on a whim, I just said, ‘I’ll do it.’”
The fateful choice didn’t come out of nowhere, as the young Kunz had felt the pull toward the stage after watching a Great Performances production of “Phantom of the Opera” and the ‘80s film version of “Little Shop of Horrors.”
Flash forward a few years and Kunz, now 26, is still “making up for lost time,” as he puts it. In fact, since that first role as the Rev. Humphrey in the high school production, he’s rarely had a moment when he’s not rehearsing, performing or anticipating his next theatrical adventure.
While studying at Ohio University, where he earned his degree in integrated media in 2020, the young performer got involved with the student-run theatre company, Lost Flamingo.
That’s where fate really stepped in.
Cast as Steve, the abusive upstairs neighbor in “A Streetcar Named Desire,” Kunz met the woman who turned out to be the love of his life, Samantha Pelham. She was playing Blanche DuBois, the play’s tragic heroine.
Having recently announced their engagement, Kunz and Pelham (previously profiled in this column) have also become staples of the local community theater scene. And that scene would be hard-pressed to find a better ambassador than Kunz himself.
“It’s the most collaborative environment you can find yourself in,” he says. “Everything I have learned is through the talent and experience of those in the community. I think community theatre is really the bedrock of theatre in general.”
While he’s played a few dramatic parts — Nick in “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” comes to mind — the actor says his “bread and butter” roles are the “comedic buffoons.”
“I like to play those campy characters,” he explains, “the ones who are just a little more ridiculous than you find in day-to-day life.”
Examples of such include hapless Brad in “The Rocky Horror Show,” the villainous Mr. Hart in “9 to 5,” and the certifiably insane Teddy in “Arsenic and Old Lace.”
He’s done most of his post-graduation work with the ABC Players, but also enjoys working with Ohio Valley Summer Theatre and Stuart’s Opera House.
The latter is where you’ll find him on stage next, opening in the title role of “The Wizard of Oz” on May 10.
Kunz says he has no plans to “go pro,” as he’s “very content” where he is right now. He also has a demanding day job, as an anti-money laundering analyst who conducts investigations into suspected financial fraud.
Grateful for all the rewards his involvement in theatre has brought him, he has some advice for would-be artists still sitting on the fence.
“Anyone who is interested in the arts in general but has some trepidation, just take the plunge! It could change your life.”
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