GREENFIELD — When entertainer Jeff Kuehl was first asked about playing the role of James Whitcomb Riley, he didn’t recognize the name.
Kuehl, an actor who originally hails from rural Iowa, was first asked to play the role of Riley in 1999. The appearance was in a children’s play, and the idea was raised by a director he had previously worked with.
“She said, ‘There’s something about you and your personality that I think would really fit for Mr. Riley,’” Kuehl recalled. “I had been in Indiana maybe two years. I said, ‘Who’s James Whitcomb Riley?’”
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Kuehl and Riley are now well-acquainted. After appearing in that first play, Kuehl went on to appear as Riley across Indiana and became a regular at the Riley Festival, portraying the Hoosier Poet at multiple events at the festival each year. Kuehl moved from the Indianapolis area to Atlanta in 2016, but he is returning this year for the festival’s 50th anniversary.
Brigitte Jones, the executive director of the Hancock County Tourism Commission, said she suggested to festival president Nancy Alldredge that the festival apply for a tourism commission grant to bring Kuehl back to Greenfield.
The grant was approved, and the tourism commission will fund Kuehl’s appearances across all four days of the festival. He will appear in character at the parades, Riley’s birthday celebration and other events.
Jones said it is important for the festival to have a presence representing the Hoosier Poet himself.
“It’s hard to have a Riley Festival without a Mr. Riley,” Jones said.
For his part, Kuehl said he is “thrilled to come back to Greenfield and be there for every day of the festival.”
Acting as a convincing Riley has taken some work. Kuehl has invested in learning about the poet’s life and times as well as in speaking with the highly specific dialect needed to recite Riley’s poems. Kuehl said being able to capture Riley’s sense of humor is key to portraying him. He compared the poet’s personality to “a really sharp stand-up comedian.”
Kuehl has portrayed other historical Indiana figures, including Carl Fisher, the entrepreneur behind the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He said it is difficult to stay in character for long periods of time or to improvise in some of those personas, but Riley’s wit and extroverted nature make him easy to embody.
“Oh, you could stand there all day and be Mr. Riley,” Kuehl said.
Kuehl said Riley’s enduring appeal in Indiana, and the festival he has inspired, is a reason to celebrate.
“I think it’s wonderful that Indiana still embraces James Whitcomb Riley. He was one of the best-paid entertainers of his time. He could have lived anywhere he wanted to — in New York, Chicago, Paris, London,” Kuehl said. “But he always wanted to stay home in Indiana. I think that’s worth celebrating.”
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A schedule of events for the 50th Riley Festival is on Page A6.
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