'Tuesdays with Morrie'

COEUR d'ALENE - They're back, starting appropriately enough, on Tuesday.

Jack Bannon and Roger Welch will take the stage at Todd Hall in North Idaho College's Molstead Library for three performances of "Tuesdays with Morrie."

The two are close friends and longtime actors who have shared the spotlight before.

"This is a perfect vehicle for Jack and I," Welch said.

Bannon has had a career in film and television and played Donavan in "Lou Grant."

Welch is the Coeur d'Alene Summer Theatre's artistic director and also an actor. He played Edna in CST's production of "Hairspray."

The men will give a special reading of the script based on the novel by Mitch Albom. The story covers how a young man's mentor who suffers from Lou Gehrig's disease helps him to see the world as a more profound place.

Welch said he read the book many years ago and "fell in love with it."

"The relationship between these two guys reminded me of Jack and myself," he said. "And so, I thought, 'We've got to do this.'"

The two performed it a few times, then "just let it go."

"It was very well received when we did it," Welch said.

When Laura Little, executive director of the Coeur d'Alene Summer Theatre, asked them to do it again, they agreed.

"I asked Jack and he said, 'Sure,' so here we go," Welch said.

He also likes the intimate venue at Todd Hall and said it seems appropriate for a reading that shares a lesson about life to be at a college campus.

"It's kind of a teaching story," he said.