Back to newspaper home page

By Jason Gahan
IV Leader Staff

For Doug Kotecki, the lead in IVCCs "You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown" was his nineteenth appearance on stage, and if things go as he plans, it won’t be his last.

"I was interested in performing my entire childhood," the IVCC freshman said, adding that his parents are very supportive of his acting. "When I was younger, I used to put on plays in my grandma’s basement, which were basically recreations of old ‘Saturday Night Live’ sketches."

And one of his ultimate goals to be on SNL.

"I would also like to work at Second City, the starting grounds for such comic geniuses as Bill Murray, Mike Meyers, Chris Farley, and John Belushi," Kotecki said. "I would also like to have my own TV show, while I’m at it."

Kotecki got his start on stage five years ago in a production of "Brigadoon" with Stage 212. After that he appeared in a number of productions, at Stage 212 and at LaSalle-Peru High School. He also served as the assistant director in two high school productions and did some technical work. During that time, he was elected to the L-P Honor Society and was on the High Scholarship Legion every semester.

Comedically, his major influences include ‘Saturday Night Live,’ David Spade, Jerry Seinfeld, Monty Python and Jon Stewart.

"Dramatically, my biggest influences have been Al Pacino, Gary sinese, Kevin Spcey, Russel Crowe and most definitely, Tom Hanks," he said.