By Paul Brunskole 

At 7 p.m. on Sept. 9th, Buffalo State Alumnus Tom Fontana, Director Drew Kahn and the five actors involved in “The Day Jack London Got Pinched,” were on hand to answer questions after the premiere of the documentary.

The discussion was by invite only, as select staff from Buffalo State College, including President Muriel Howard, television partners from PBS, locally known as WNED, and theater and broadcasting students were invited. Kahn said that the turnout was close to 300 people at Rockwell Hall. Fontana adopted the play after reading Jack London’s autobiography “Road” and brought the idea to the theatre department back in 2003.

The play takes the singular voice of Jack played by Mark Phillips, Rick Lattimer, Donald Capers, Nick Vullo and James Fauvell who all switch in their roles of Jack London.

Kahn was the director of the play, which was the work of Casting Hall and the Performing Arts Department’s Theater program. The play was in such high demand that it put on shows from Nov. 19-23, 2004 because of the local effect the play had on the community.

The documentary shows the making of “Pinched,” the students who performed and all the behind-the-scenes work involved.

James Fauvell, who was one of the actors involved, said: “It was definitely really nice to see the documentary completed after all of this time. We really put ourselves on the line for this story, for these characters.”

Fauvell went on to say that the play has led him onto further acting, and saying that the program has been really supportive.

“We thought it would be cool to get broadcasting students, theater students, and just make it a celebration of students who made it, who produced it,” Kahn said. “It is like, look what we can do here, with Buff State and WNED partnering up and branching out.”

The documentary will premiere on PBS at 10:30 p.m. on Oct. 17. It will also be pitched to other PBS markets, though Kahn does not worry if it is sold to other PBS markets outside the region because his main focus is gaining the partnership with WNED and making it a long-lasting relationship.

“The most important thing is that the region will see it,” Kahn said. “Students have an idea of success and directly apply what they’re learning.”

Contact Paul Brunskole at BrunPJ08@mail.buffalostate.edu