With apologies to Thomas Wolfe, you can go home again. I know, because I have.

You see, the first time I worked with the good folks at Cincinnati Landmark Productions, I was an old man. It was 1990 and I was an octogenarian country bumpkin, barefoot and with a shock of white hair.

I return to them this week younger and more clothed. You can go home again.

No, this isn’t a knock-off Benjamin Button story. As anyone who met me will tell you, I am no Brad Pitt. I am, however, as lucky.

Let’s start at the very beginning. It’s a very good place to start. (Nerdy musical reference #1.)

It was the summer between my junior and senior years at Elder High. I had just come out of a downright magical experience, performing in my first musical. I’d dabbled in some theater earlier in my life, notably playing our Lord and savior in our 3rd grade passion play. I had a good time but I didn’t think I was cut out for theater. Let’s just say the 3rd grade reviews weren’t kind.

So when I circled back to the stage and had a great time, it was a revelation. How was this drug legal and where could I score another fix?

Some friends from that first musical experience said there was this organization called Cincinnati Young People’s Theater (or CYPT as it affectionately was known) and it mounts summer musicals with students from all over the area at near-by Westwood Town Hall. That’s all I needed to hear.

Armed with little experience, low self esteem and an $8 haircut, I auditioned. The artistic team for CYPT saw through the rough façade (or were incredibly desperate for skinny kids with bad haircuts) and cast me as Pappy Yokum in that summer’s production of Lil Abner. With that, the 20-year love affair began.

I was able to see from the inside what an amazing experience CYPT was. I honestly can think of no better way for a teen to spend a summer than to meet a hundred strangers from around area and work together to mount – in CYPT founder Tim Perrino’s words – the biggest, boldest, badass musical ever staged. I loved it so much I stayed for two more summers. And I met some of the greatest friends I have to this day.

In that way, CYPT isn’t just a cool program – it’s a life changer.

Since 1982, CYPT has mounted over 50 productions, between its summer program, holiday productions and co-productions with other theater troupes. And consider this: CYPT lets its participants choose their show each year. How many theater programs do you know that lets its actors and crew – much less teens – choose their show? It’s that kind of trust and responsibility that CYPT gives its participants. Is it any wonder that the teens in return give their blood, sweat and tears?

There are more than 2,000 actors, dancers, stage managers, technical staff and musicians that proudly call themselves CYPT alumni. Springboarding from CYPT, some have gone on to great show biz careers on Broadway, in Broadway tours, on original cast recordings, on television and in film.

Plenty of those alumni – the vast majority, to be fair – do not go on to performing arts careers. But many of them stay here, and thanks to CYPT, continue that love affair with theater.

That was me. I made the difficult decision to not pursue a degree in performing arts, choosing journalism/public relations instead. I decided I wanted to write about it and promote the great work being done by so many talented people in this region. Perhaps that could be my way of contributing a verse to the powerful play of life (thank you, Dead Poets Society).

And so, for the past 17 years of my no-longer-young career, I’ve had the great fortune of publicizing the offerings of two great community assets: Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal and Newport Aquarium. I loved my time at each, met diverse and wonderful people and learned much.

But it wasn’t theater.

And then, it happened. The very organization for whom that skinny kid with the bad haircut auditioned suddenly had a need for a communicator – someone to help spread the word about the wonderful work they do and to assist in raising funds to assure future viability.

In the years since I left it, CYPT quickly grew like a wild, man-eating, alien plant form. (Nerdy musical reference #2.) In 1990, the city of Cincinnati awarded the organization the exclusive production contract for the Showboat Majestic. Many people don’t realize the historic treasure we have in town, docked on the public landing by the Serpentine Wall.

It’s the last original floating theater in America. Every other showboat made during that golden age of showboatin’ has either burned or sunk. The Showboat Majestic represents the last of that great heritage. When she was built in 1923, the goal of the Majestic was to transport its audiences to another place – through theater – and leave them laughing, whistling a catchy melody and tapping their toes. Credit Perrino and his team with picking up on that tradition and embracing it.

Producing the Showboat season doesn’t end on stage. The organization is also the full-time custodian of the historic boat. That means waking up at all hours to manually crank it into shore when the river rises. That means fixing the occasional sprung leak. And that means getting in a rowboat and paddling after it when it breaks away during a flood and starts floating down stream. The Showboat staff has done exemplary work to keep this treasured time capsule around for the next generation. They are, in effect, curators of an heirloom and under their watch it has been preserved perfectly.

In 2002, the organization took another bold step. CYPT purchased – with help from the city of Cincinnati – the old Covedale movie theater on Glenway Avenue. CYPT renamed it the Covedale Center for the Performing Arts and officially rebranded itself as Cincinnati Landmark Productions.

In addition to being the permanent home for CYPT teens every summer, the Covedale Center in 2002 also launched a new, full theater season. Like the Showboat’s season, these are paid adult actors and artistic teams, working together to add to the cultural fabric of this great theatrical town.

The Covedale Center is currently in the middle of its 10th season and the reviews are overwhelmingly positive. The renovated 400-seat theater is beautiful, with great sight-lines and comfortable seats. And the productions are top-notch, routinely being recognized with production and performance awards.

It’s here, in the old projection room for the Covedale, where I currently sit. As I type, the distinctive sound of a set being built for the upcoming production of Caine Mutiny Court Martial echoes through the halls.

I can’t help but smile. Because, you see, I’m home.