Lecesne Stealer

After watching Lily Tomlin become a dozen characters in her 1977 one-woman show, Appearing Nitely, a young actor from New Jersey named James Lecesne wrote her 10 fan letters—each as a different fan. Then he heard the old recordings of Ruth Draper, the Sarah Bernhardt of the monologue. "That's when I knew what I wanted to do with my life," he says.

Now 38, Lecesne (pronounced luh-scene) is launching his second solo theater piece, at New York's La MaMa E.T.C. from November 4 through 6. Word of Mouth is a 13character tour de force in which this wiry chameleon reinvents himself with the simple addition of a scarf, hat, or pair of glasses. The show centers on Uncle Buddy, an old codger from Brooklyn whose shortwave radio can pick up voices of the dead or distant: a worldly English dowager, say, as she sifts through a lifetime of memories, or a teenage boy whose diary helps him to confront his homosexuality. As with One Man Band, Lecesne's earlier Off Broadway show, his characters all share an indomitable sense of survival. Most of them are somehow autobiographical, or inspired by glimpses of city life. "I do my best work on the streets of New York," he confesses. ' 'I walk down the street talking out loud. Everyone thinks you're crazy."

Although monologues are his greatest love, Lecesne, like Uncle Buddy, is heeding several calls. Crown recently published My First Car, in which Whoopi Goldberg, Ivana Trump, and 59 other celebrities talk to Lecesne and coauthor Marion Long about, yes, their first cars. He is also on the staff of Friends in Deed, an organization chaired by Mike Nichols that offers support to people with life-challenging illnesses. "Something about my work there has taught me that there is this thing called spirit, that death is not so final," he says. The proof is at La MaMa, where a startling array of voices—and spirits—will come to life through one voice alone.

JAMES GAVIN