HICK in the HOOD
My true story one-man play in 30 characters!
​
HICK in the HOOD
“Hilarious, dramatic!”*
The true story, written and performed by San Francisco based TV, film and stage actor Michael Sommers. A small town Vermonter bumbles into a scary west Oakland neighborhood, buys a house… and comes to love it!
"Riveting! Laugh out loud!"
Sommers narrates the story, plays over 30 different characters with extensive use of mime, and even sings and plays original blues on his harmonica. Enjoy this touching, funny yet suspenseful, entertaining and uplifting tale of hope and hoods that Sold Out at The Marsh in San Francisco!
Hick in the Hood is Sommers’ fifth full length play.
“Deeply touching! An evening of delightful entertainment!”(
Jim Lowe, Montpelier Times Argus)
No swearing, no violence. 90 minutes.
​
Michael Sommers has appeared in over 60 films (including a recurring role as “BUG” in Sense8 on NETFLIX presently). His favorite stage credit was replacing Jeremy Irons in the title role of "Chopin and George Sand..." by New York's Ensemble for the Romantic Century.
Promotional Video from Lost Nation Theater
Preview - the opening 14 minutes
HEART in the HOOD
What the reviewers say about HICK in the HOOD -
Jim Lowe, the Arts Editor of the Montpelier Times Argus (Vermont) said...
"Narrated, acted out and even sung, Sommers' gritty tale was convincingly hilarious, sad, dramatic and deeply touching... Sommers show is highly entertaining storytelling, effectively delivered by narration, acting out and even occasionally a song, with harmonica licks interjected here and there.... Delivery was what one might expect of a veteran professional actor. Sommers performance was varied and very physical. His characterizations were well delineated and he had a direct rapport with Friday's responsive audience.
What made "Hick in the Hood" so intriguing was how Sommers rural Vermont human skills proved so effective in a seemingly hostile world. The show also proved to be an evening of delightful entertainment."
What people are saying about HEART in the HOOD…
“Sommers is a superb storyteller and one of the finest actors on the stage today. His characters are riveting, endearing and sweetly haunting.”
Heather Rogers– Audience member, magician
Heather Rogers also felt the need to write to the performer –
“I wanted to tell you how BLOWN AWAY I was by your play reading!!!!
Wow. You’re a fine writer and eloquent witness to the human condition, especially where the heart resides in people.
The harmonica really really works for me in this play. It deepens the context, the down-home feeling and gives us time to process the gifts that keep coming.
Every scene is so strong, they can stand alone as their own short one acts.”
…………………………
Ava Amarasingham age 9 “That was AMAZING! Are you kidding me?”
………………
Maria Mikheyenko, soprano, actress,
"A poignant, entertaining, and unforgettable show! As a consummate character actor and storyteller, Mike draws you immediately into the story, and you feel as though you are meeting these folks face to face, sharing in their history and culture, moved by their suffering, laughing out loud at their colorful eccentricities, that always ring true."
……………………………..
Velia Amarasingham, director, producer also felt the urge to write the performer:
“Congratulations on last night’s performance! As usual, you were stunning and brilliant.
Jen told you her favorite part but I didn’t get to tell you mine… My favorite part of BOTH shows, is when you very poignantly state the whole point of each work.
In the first, you say that racism is about fear, and in the second one, you say that people can be healed by inclusion.
Your writing and acting skills are on display for audiences to marvel at throughout each performance, but to me, it’s these poignant words, that display the breadth of your intelligence, that makes you truly special.
Congratulations again!!!”
Continued... (more about HICK and HEART in the HOOD)
A performer, a harmonica and a stool.
Michael Sommers, the Hick in the Hood, is...
A 20 year member of SAG and AFTRA
Makes his living as an actor/performer
B.A. in Theater – University of Vermont, 1989
Appearing presently as BUG on Sense8, the hit Netflix series
Artist’s Statement - a performer, a harmonica and a stool
I celebrate the human body and the audience's imagination in bringing art and music and theater to affordable, community oriented venues from Berkeley to Bolinas to Vermont. I use the free arts - mime, song, storytelling, and the old, old sing-a-long songs and spirituals. I prefer lots and lots of first hand, vulnerable honesty as I try my best to recreate what actually happened to me and to a community.
I play more than 30 characters, I sing, dance and play my harmonica and try my best to tell the truth as I saw it.
A Brief Bio
Michael Sommers is a 20 year veteran of the Screen Actor's Guild who has been featured in over 60 films (including a recurring role as BUG in Sense8 on Netflix presently).
Sommers graduated with a B.A.in theater from the University of Vermont in 1989. His favorite stage credit was replacing Jeremy Irons in Calistoga 3 years ago where he played Chopin in "Chopin and George Sand..." by New York's Ensemble for the Romantic Century.
Sommers is embarking on an exciting new stage of his career where he is concentrating on his original works and producing them himself!
HICK in the HOOD had a sold out standing ovation show at The Marsh, and has been performed about 12 times from Pt. Reyes Station to Vermont.
HEART in the HOOD is brand new. It had a sold out standing ovation show at Pianofight Theater in San Francisco this past spring... a good start!
These are Sommers' fifth and sixth fully produced scripts.
FEATURE STORY - FRESNO, CA
VERMONT NATIVE ACTS OUT HIS INNER CITY LIFE ON STAGE - "HEART in the HOOD"
Some playwrights can spend months in dank libraries researching script material for their plays.
“Not me,” says Michael Sommers, “I just go outside and sit on my front steps!”
Sommers brings his true story one man play “HEART in the HOOD” to Fresno’s Rogue Festival in March. Sommers plays all 17 characters, uses mime, sings and even plays his harmonica to tell the true stories from his beloved, but misunderstood, adopted neighborhood.
“In my 20-year film career I've worked alongside stars like Billy Bob Thornton, Bruce Willis, Christopher Walken and others, but I realized that I was living the greatest story I never told!”
Sommers generated all of the dialogue that makes up “HEART in the HOOD” by personally witnessing it and recreating it as accurately as possible, assisted by his unique perspective.
“You see I'm a small town Vermonter, cows, Bernie Sanders, hockey and haying. But I bought a house in the only place I could afford in the Bay Area… west Oakland, the inner city, “The Hood”.
Police sirens, broken glass, shopping carts full of bottles and cans and heart - lots of heart.”
Sommers decided earlier last year that his west Oakland experience would make good fodder for a play. He started writing stuff down and performing it in the living rooms of some of his friends. He would adjust the material based on feedback.
He ended up with a one-man play in which he portrays 17 characters ranging from his neighbor to the local pastor. It is a show in which Sommers displays all of his performing talents including singing, harmonica playing, even some mime.
“West Oakland is a beautiful, funny, musical and caring place, that is chock full of stories! Like the bi-polar man who was cured as he pushed a refrigerator down the street and the ex-con who sacrificed himself for his mother!”
Sommers performs five shows beginning March 4th at 7:45 at Fulton Street Art. For more information go to www.MichaelSommers.COM or www.ROGUEfestival.com.
“This is the standing ovation show that sold out San Francisco’s Pianofight Theater!” Sommers said, “I have been very pleased!”
--------------------------------------------------
To understand more about my plays
watch this trailer for
DOGTOWN REDEMPTION -
a Documentary Film about my neighborhood
Michael Sommers has appeared in over 50 films (including a recurring role as Bug in Sense8 on Netflix presently). His favorite stage credit was replacing Jeremy Irons in the title role of "Chopin and George Sand..." by New York's Ensemble for the Romantic Century.
Review and Interview
King's River life
Fresno, CA
My second true story one-man play in 17 characters!
HEART in the HOOD
An ex-con, the good beggar, funeral sermon and refrigerator, but where is Party Jesus of 22nd Street?
“Unforgettable! Riveting! Endearing!”*
​
This is the second True Story about Michael Sommers and the real denizens of Mike’s adopted neighborhood. Mike moved from small town Vermont to West Oakland and plays all 16 characters who run the gamut from poignant to hilarious.
“A superb storyteller, Sommers characters are riveting!” –Heather, audience member, magician.
​
This sequel to the acclaimed “HICK in the HOOD” delves deeper into the lives of his unlikely yet beloved neighbors. Through Mike and his harmonica, we hear their words, laugh with their optimism and begin to understand the misunderstood and beautiful people of 22nd Street!”
"The standing ovation show that sold out San Francisco’s Pianofight Theater!”
No swearing, no violence. 50 minutes.
A performer, a harmonica and a stool.