Growing up, Jim Hesselman loved a good rainy day because this meant he could stay inside and watch his favorite programs. “I Love Lucy, The Dick Van Dyke Show, and Andy Griffith — those were formative shows for me,” Jim says.
It wasn’t until years later, when Jim landed his first stage role, that he understood how the shows of his childhood influenced his love of acting and theater, saying, “I thought, ‘Yes, this is the place I could live.’” And he was absolutely correct. For over 35 years, this beloved local performer has not only taken on some of musical theater’s most defining roles, but he’s a successful director, produced playwright, and recently retired Dean of Arts and Letters and associate professor of theater performance at Indiana University Southeast. For Jim, all his world is a stage.
Jim most recently performed in Derby Dinner Playhouse’s production of Hairspray, but his own scripts have had their time in the spotlight as well. His hugely popular original comedy, The Bunco Squad, debuted at Derby Dinner in 2024, telling the hilarious and heartwarming story of eight women’s monthly dice game. Its sequel, The Bunco Squad Rolls Again, wrapped in February 2026. Spoiler alert: He’s currently writing the third and final installment of the Bunco series.
What have you enjoyed about teaching theater?
I loved teaching theater games. It sounds trite because of the word “game” in the title, but this gave students a foundation that supported basic acting principles, like learning lines or how to work together in an ensemble. However, the bigger picture was that the games showed students how these principles could be applicable in any phase of life.
What do you like about writing?
It’s something I can do alone. Theater is a group effort that you need other people to create. But I can write at 3 in the morning or whenever I am inspired. It’s a release and a good balance to performing and directing.
Tell us about your inspiration for The Bunco Squad.
A longtime performer friend suggested I write a show about playing Bunco. I had no idea what that was. But what interested me was all the rituals that developed around it: the club dues, the food, show-and-tell. There were even cookbooks dedicated to Bunco night.
I needed at least eight women, and that was a good number for the cast size that theaters wanted for their comedies. I based the characters around people I already knew. Eventually, the characters took off on their own once their life circumstances became plot points and the women became archetypes for each other.
Did you always intend on writing a sequel?
It wasn’t until the first one was so successful that I really started considering a second. There is nothing better than watching an audience laugh or cry at something you have written.
Your favorite part about performing is…
When I was younger, I was a quieter person, and being on stage was a safe place to be loud, and to be crazy, and to be weird. Now that I’m at a different stage in my life, what I love is different. It’s smaller. It’s the process of how you condense and simplify a role down to find the truth of the character.
What’s the best book you’ve ever read?
My favorite author is Fanny Flag. I’ve read all of her books, because she is just brilliant. But there’s author Geoffrey Ryman, and also Armistead Maupin’s Maybe the Moon.
One thing you can’t quite get the knack of…
I used to think I’d want to tap dance better, but now I would say I regret not having at least learned one other language. Number one, I’d learn Spanish, and number two, I’d learn French.
What’s your favorite weekend activity?
After retiring, weekends are weird because you can lose track of the days. But taking day trips and going up to West Baden and French Lick is pretty awesome for all ages. At all times of the year, everybody can find something they enjoy.
What’s your favorite thing to cook?
That’s a hard question to answer, but I have a binder where I took favorite recipes from COVID times and put them together. One favorite thing is to make three or four dishes, and then at the end of the week, mix them together and have leftovers.
By Tonilyn Hornung | Photos by Melissa Donald
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