Seated in the front row of Illinois State University’s Center for the Performing Arts, Jane Lynch ’82 grasps her chin, pen in hand, her eyes fixated on three student actors during an evening rehearsal of Lost in Yonkers.
Her focused gaze darts from the stage to the script in her lap, and back. She reclines, then springs forward, drawn in by a line.
Appears InLynch, an Emmy Award-winner with more than 200 credits over the past 30 years, was in her element as a first-time theatrical director at the University where she learned how to act.
“There’s something about it that feels familiar, though I’ve never done it before,” Lynch said. “I am enjoying it immensely, and the students are so positive and open and very talented.”
For three weeks this spring, Lynch—as a guest artist in residence—directed a staged reading of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Lost in Yonkers, a comedic drama written by Neil Simon.
Nightly, four-hour rehearsals with a cast of junior and senior acting majors culminated with a sold-out performance on Friday, May 5, in the Center for the Performing Arts Theatre. A matinee on Saturday, May 6, drew a near-capacity crowd. Both performances also included post-show talkbacks in which Lynch and the cast addressed audience questions.
As a staged reading, actors primarily remained seated during each two-hour performance to accommodate their scripts. However, the shows did include costumes, props, lighting, and sound—despite the accelerated production schedule.
“A triumph!” Lynch declared in an Instagram post with the Lost in Yonkers cast and crew following the performances, which both drew standing ovations.
“Though this is a staged reading, and not a full production, these actors have worked tirelessly on their parts,” Lynch said. “They are invested and emotionally connected.”
Senior acting major Leela Wolgemuth ’23, cast to play Bella, said Lynch consistently suggested ways for the play’s 15 actors to make their performances “bigger, faster, and funnier.”
“She was always on the edge of her seat during rehearsals,” Wolgemuth said. “She usually had her chin on her fist, or she was raring back, clapping her hands, laughing in the audience. And feeling that affirmation as an actor—that’s just the best feeling in the world.”
Lynch’s journey back to Normal began in the summer of 2022 during her run as Mrs. Brice in the Broadway revival of Funny Girl. While deconstructing her first theatrical acting role in a decade, she felt compelled to try directing.
A call to Dr. Alvin Goldfarb, the former chair of theatre and dance at Illinois State, set in motion a plan for Lynch to make her directorial debut at her alma mater. Lynch would direct a group of students, and Goldfarb would serve as dramaturg.
“I learned how to be an actor at Illinois State. I learned technique and how to do it,” Lynch said. “The tools I learned at ISU have stayed with me and are now second nature and habitual to the point where I don’t have to think about them.”
As a first-time director, Lynch said she tapped into the acting technique she honed at Illinois State.
“When I direct actors, I direct them from an actor’s viewpoint,” Lynch said. “I always appreciated that when I was acting. But I really have enjoyed creating the stage picture and being mindful of the emotional arcs and flow of the piece.”
Although Wolgemuth and her castmates were admittedly anxious to perform for such an esteemed actor, Lynch quickly put everyone at ease. She began each rehearsal with a moment of meditation for the cast and crew to confirm an “all for one, one for all” approach to their work.
“At first, I was shaking—I was so nervous to perform in front of her,” Wolgemuth said. “And then a couple of hours into the first rehearsal, we just realized how humble she is, and that she’s here because she loves acting and she loves storytelling. So, a lot of the fear went away pretty quickly.”
Matt Tenny ’23, a senior acting major who played Eddie in Lost in Yonkers, said he thrived off Lynch’s energy and decisiveness as a director.
“It didn’t feel like we had this huge star who was superior to us,” Tenny said. “She felt like another human in the room trying to make art with us.”
Lynch, who said she “would absolutely return to direct something else at Illinois State,” also spoke in several School of Theatre and Dance classes during her three weeks on campus, she participated in a Q&A colloquium about the “business of showbusiness,” and she opened on-stage Lost in Yonkers rehearsals for students to observe.
“She was genuinely a joy to work with, and she really cared about the project,” Tenny said.
As he and Wolgemuth prepare to begin their post-graduation acting careers, they both plan to carry confidence—from acting in a Jane Lynch-directed production—with them into auditions.
“It was like something out of a dream,” Wolgemuth said. “My experience learning from Jane Lynch has definitely been the highlight of my entire career so far, and I think it’s going to help me in a million different ways that I can’t even foresee right now.”
