Theater director hands a decade-old secret
to the Letterman show

By NICOLE DONNER

A trip to New York and the luck of the draw lead Rick Zimmer, theater director at MHCC, onto the  David Letterman show and a topic on the segment “Audience Show and Tell.”

Thousands of viewers on Jan. 13 got a glimpse of Zimmer revealing a tiny secret about himself: he was once in a movie a decade ago.

While filling out a questionnaire after winning a lottery ticket to be in Letterman’s audience, Zimmer let producers know of a small roll he played in film starring Andrew McCarthy, “Things I Never Told You.” Zimmer spent an entire day as he acted the part of a doctor performing surgery. “When the movie was finally released, I discovered that only my gloved hands survived the cutting room floor,” said Zimmer.

Producers called him back the following day, telling him his movie clip would be perfect for a Friday segment. “They wanted me for Monday, the day I was scheduled to fly back to Portland.” said Zimmer. “So I rescheduled my flight and hotel room for an extra day.

On Monday morning, I went to the studio for a ‘rehearsal’ involving the stage manager standing in as David Letterman.” Later, he came back for the actual taping of the show and, along with two other audience members, got their few minutes of airtime.

Though spending little time with the legendary late night talk host, Letterman made an impact on Zimmer.

“He was very natural and seemingly authentic,” said Zimmer. “We were told he’s genuinely interested in us and, as a former weatherman, Letterman is keenly interested in where each of us is from.”