This week I sat down with Ben Tebbe. Ben is a founding member of Heartland Actors' Repertory Theatre, one of Indy's new and more promising independent theatre companies. Living in Beech Grove he is also a professional actor.

Are you a native Hoosier?

I was born in Cincinnati technically because that's where the hospital was, but grew up in Greensburg, Indiana.

Where did you attend college?

I have a B.A. in theatre from Marian College here in Indy.

What made you want to become an actor?

From a very early age, I started attending the theatre with my family. We would go see Broadway touring shows, including Yul Brynner in "The King and I" when I was about 4, community theatre, ballet, opera. Mesmerized by what I saw on stage, my siblings and I would often recreate the action on stage in our dining room to the cast recordings. My Dad was involved in a local community theatre group in my hometown, and when I was six, I begged him to take me along to the auditions for "Hello Dolly." I've been hooked ever since. Somewhere around high school, I knew that there was nothing else that made me quite as happy as being on stage. There is this special feeling I get whenever I walk into a theatre like no other. I just want to do what I love.

If you hadn't become an actor, what might you have done professionally?

I thought about a lot of things in high school, teaching being at the top of that list.

What was your "first big break"?

Trying to make a living as an actor, I always feel like whatever show I get cast in is a big break. But I suppose if I had to pinpoint a time that made me feel like a living would be possible, I would have to say getting cast in "Gorey Stories" with ShadowApe Theatre Company. I had very few professional credits to my name, mostly summer stock and the Children's Museum. But thanks to a friend recommending that ShadowApe read me for that role, I landed in a tremendous show with an amazing group of actors who had a wealth of experience from which I could learn. That show I believe also got me noticed by other artistic directors in the city and gave me a foot in the door at places like IRT and Phoenix.

What are some of your highlights to date?

Sir Andrew Aguecheek in "Twelfth Night" at IRT, Hamish in "Gorey Stories" times 3, "Urinetown, the Musical" at Phoenix, Huck Finn in "Big River" at Civic, "Death and the Maiden" with HART, and directing the Indiana premiere of "The Last Five Years".

Some of your favorite productions?

The ones I've listed above as well as doing "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)" at TOTS

Who is your favorite playwright?

There are so many tremendous writers. It is hard to pick favorites. Shakespeare of course. Mamet, Shepard, Albee, Stoppard, Miller.

What's the last thing you saw on stage that had a big impact on you?

I wish I had more time to go see many different things in many different places, but alas, too many of my weekends are taken by my own work. About two years ago though, I had the great fortune to travel to London where I saw two amazing productions. One was a play called "Heroes" starring Richard Griffiths, Ken Stott, and John Hurt. Then I went to Stratford and witnessed the most beautiful and sweeping production of "Great Expectations" at the RSC.

Favorite books?

I'm currently finishing up the Harry Potter series. Another recent read I loved was "Forever" by Pete Hamill. But probably still favorite of all ever, "East of Eden".

Favorite websites?

I often get on NFL.com and NDNation.com, particularly in the fall. Huge football fan. Other than that, it is mostly news, email, and indianaauditions.com for me.

Tell us about your current role and production?

I have a couple of things on my plate right now. I am playing Rosencrantz in HAMLET at IRT. I am also taking part in a reading of Edgar Allan Poe tales with my theatre company Heartland Actors' Repertory Theatre at Easley Winery on Oct. 29.

What was unique about the development and rehearsal process?

Well, for HAMLET we had to take this greatest of English language plays which usually runs about 3 1/2 hours long in its entirety, and trim it to 90 minutes. The reason for this drastic cutting is because we play mostly to school groups Monday through Friday. The cut was done in collaboration between the director Andrew Tsao, Artistic Director Janet Allen, and Dramaturg Richard Roberts. But even though we received scripts before rehearsals began, the cuts still changed here and there during the rehearsal process as we figured out how to tell this story in the time we had. For me, one of the challenges became the different arc that Rosencrantz takes. Since the plot line of taking Hamlet to England didn't survive the cut, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern live, and are there at the end of the play when everything is going down.

Tell us about your theatre company, and what are your hopes for it?

Heartland Actors' Repertory Theatre is a company I co-founded a little over a year ago. We produced "Death and the Maiden" last fall, and a reading of "Happy Birthday, Wanda June" this summer as part of the Year of Vonnegut celebration. We have another reading coming up on Oct 29, again at Easley Winery, of Edgar Allan Poe tales and poems. We have high hopes to find a home soon, and continue to provide more opportunities for local artists, helping establish this city as a leader among the great arts cities in the country.

What is on the horizon?

HART has been work-shopping a new play by Lou Harry and Eric Pfeffinger, the title is still working. We are planning on doing a couple of more workshops this winter with the intention of producing its world premiere in the spring. It is an hysterically funny play. Everyone should keep their eyes open to make sure they catch this performance in spring of '08.

"Spotlight on..." is a continuing interview series