Yes, there’s some intense irony there. Here’s the news article from today’s Saint Petersburg Times. This is about an acquaintance of mine, Ryan McCarthy –

TAMPA - The arrest of a Tampa actor on drug trafficking charges has closed down a show at [the] Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center.

Ryan McCarthy, 29, was stopped Aug. 17 for an expired tag when a police officer smelled marijuana and searched his vehicle. The search turned up marijuana, plus 2,247 hydrocodone pills and 35 Xanax pills, the arrest affidavit states. Then, at the jail, a detention deputy reported finding a small bag of cocaine between McCarthy’s fingers.

The actor, who had a leading role in the Jobsite Theater production of Hurlyburly at TBPAC’s Shimberg Playhouse, now faces six charges, including trafficking in illegal drugs, possession of cocaine and introduction of contraband into a detention facility. He was held on $508,500 bond at the Falkenburg Road Jail. The theater canceled performances this past Saturday and Sunday and Thursday as well as this weekend’s remaining shows in the run of the play by David Rabe. David Jenkins, producing artistic director of Jobsite, posted a statement on the theater’s blog jobsitetheater.blogspot.com that Hurlyburly was canceled for “a personal emergency involving a lead actor.”

“As a small but growing not-for-profit, Jobsite is not in the position to carry understudies, and there is no possible way the show can conclude its run with the given set of circumstances and the demands of this three-hour show,” he wrote. Thursday, Jenkins said he had no further comment. “That’s the only statement we have. It’s a private matter,” he said.

There is plenty of irony in McCarthy’s drug arrest. Rabe’s 1984 play, the final play in Jobsite’s eighth season, is about a druggy Hollywood scene. McCarthy was playing Eddie, a sleazy dealmaker “who never goes more than a few seconds without smoking pot, drinking booze or snorting coke,” wrote critic Marty Clear in his review for the Times. McCarthy, who has been in many Jobsite productions, has a record of drug arrests going back to 2003, state records show.

– story snagged from here.

To say I’m saddened at this news is an understatement. Shocked as well, as I’ve met Ryan several times, and I honestly wouldn’t have pegged him for a drug addict. I especially didn’t see his being a dealer coming. But aside from the fact that Ryan has pretty well screwed the proverbial pooch here, is the sickening knowledge that he’s let a really damn good group of people down on top of it.

I am speaking, of course, of the fine folks at Jobsite Theater. This is a small not-for-profit theatrical group that busts their butt to bring Tampa Bay some truly ground-breaking and intelligent shows as opposed to re-running Oklahoma and going for the easy money to be made in rehashing standards for the Nth time… Jobsite has the honor of being the ones who have introduced me to the Abridged series of plays, as well as many other works such as Machinal, Boys Next Door, and Edward Albee’s The Goat or Who Is Sylvia? Jobsite has also brought ground-breaking theatrical works by local writers to light such as Delusion of Darkness and March of the Kitefliers. Now, due to the fact that they can’t well afford to pay understudies, and as Ryan doesn’t have 500+k to post bail with, they’re left without one of their lead actors for Hurlyburly and have had to shut the run down early. Of course, this means that they are having to deal with the tangible fiscal loss of almost two weeks worth of ticket revenue.

The only thing I can hope for Jobsite is that they have an excellent showing at their upcoming fund-raising event on Sept. 15th. While I won’t be able to attend the fund-raiser, I’m planning on sending a donation of my own their way shortly. If you’ve ever seen a Jobsite play, you know the type of work these people do, and know why I’m so passionately behind them. For anyone out there reading who loves excellent live theater, please consider making a small donation so that a hardworking theater troupe can make it past an unforeseen (and damned unfortunate) hurdle. As they often say at the beginning of their shows, “no donation is too small.”

As for Ryan, I sincerely hope he gets help and manages to get his life back on track. Drug addiction is a truly ugly taskmaster, and I wouldn’t wish that kind of agony on anyone.