Bartlett theater star heads back to his roots

With his Hollywood good looks, Stef Tovar seems more like someone you'd expect to see on TV than in a Broadway-style musical.

And though Tovar is currently appearing in Drury Lane Oakbrook's revival of "Sugar," he has earned a great deal of his income in recent years by appearing in small roles in movies and TV commercials.

So much so, in fact, that he divides his time between Chicago and Los Angeles. He even named the theater company he founded Route 66 after the legendary highway connecting the Windy City and the City of Angels.

Still, Tovar's heart remains rooted in the Chicago area, where he grew up.

"I grew up in Bartlett," he says. "I went to high school in Elgin at St. Edward High School."

It was there, he says, that he fell under the sway of an influential teacher and local director, Don Haefliger. "He was my drama teacher," Tovar says. "He also has a community theater he founded called Independent Players."

Tovar, bitten by the theater bug, appeared in lots of productions - both in high school and in Haefliger's community theater.

After high school, Tovar studied theater at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. As luck would have it, he was cast in the Chicago premiere of Stephen Sondheim's "Assassins" just before his senior year.

He played Leon Czolgosz, the anarchist who assassinated President McKinley. Still in his early 20s, Tovar's professional career was launched.

Tovar spent most of the 1990s appearing in various shows around town - in both musical and non-musical roles. Emboldened by his 1997 Joseph Jefferson Award for his performance in Apple Tree Theatre's "Blade to the Heat," he moved to L.A. in 2000.

"I always wanted to go to L.A.," Tovar says. "I was there for six years. It took me a couple of years to get established. But after a while I did a lot of commercials. I did some TV, movies."

Tovar returned to Chicago in 2006 with his then-wife and son and began to work in theater again.

Recently he has been doing a lot of work at Drury Lane Oakbrook. He appeared in their revival of "Ragtime" as Harry Houdini and other characters.

And he currently stars as Bienstock in "Sugar," the musical version of the movie classic "Some Like it Hot." Bienstock manages the all-girl band that figures prominently in the show.

"He is a disheveled mess of a manager," Tovar says. "He doesn't get a lot of respect."

The comedy gets rolling when the show's two hapless heroes accidentally witness the St. Valentine's Day massacre and have to flee for their lives. They end up dressing as women and joining an all-female band.

Initially, Tovar auditioned to play a gangster.

"I used to get a lot of the tough guy parts," Tovar says. "The funny thing is, since I became a dad, I find I am playing more authority figures. Like the manager of a band. I guess my days as a young buck are gone."

Young bucks, however, are a dime a dozen. But as Tovar's career attests, versatile character actors are worth their weight in gold.

• "Sugar" runs through August at Drury Lane Oakbrook, 100 Drury Lane, Oakbrook Terrace. For tickets call the theater at (630) 530-0111, Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000 or visit www.drurylaneoakbrook.com.