Saturday, June 27, 7-10 p.m. Kent resident Leo Burmester, who died in June 2007, was an accomplished actor who appeared in 37 films, made 32 television appearances and had roles in 9 Broadway plays. He was nominated for a Tony as Best Actor in Robert Altman’s production of playwright Frank South’s “Rattlesnake in a Cooler”, which opened at the St. Clement’s Theatre in 1981. Burmester won the New York Fanny award for Best Supporting Actor for his Lincoln Center performance in “Ah, Wilderness!”

The retrospective continues with 8 p.m. performance by Leo's son, Daniel Burmester (GUTworks Theatre) of Rattlesnake in a Cooler, reproducing Leo's landmark, Tony nominated performance from 1982. GUTWorks newest performance follows the story of a man finding the dark side of his dreams. Daniel Burmester, Jonathan Maloney and Kali Quinn will be collaborating once again to bring the gut-wrenching play, Rattlesnake in a Cooler to life. Distinguished playwright Frank South has been known to create folksy, Middle American characters and then squeeze them until they start to spurt blood. Daniel Burmester will portray South's character of the young doctor in this one-man powerhouse play that will grab hold of the audience and leave all wondering if they have a dark side of their own.

The question was, could a young, 29 year old actor pull this off? The answer was, yes he can, and for the most part he did. With GUTWorks Theater company's director Jonathan Maloney and stage manager Kali Quinn at the helm, the Bluehorse Repertory production of Rattlesnake.... portrays the journey of a man raised in Kentucky but who finds the experience of the road a more appealing - but ultimately more dangerous place. While on the way to a rodeo in Colorado an accidental murder takes place and now, awaiting his death by hanging, we hear his story. For an hour and fifteen minutes Daniel Burmester commanded the space as a polished professional of longer years. From the effective costuming to his strong command of the emotional state of the prisoner we were brought into his world and held there... when we weren't laughing - or crying. It was, without question, one of the best performances at the Cultural Center since its inception two years ago.