MIKE OGBORN - BMCD H.O.F. INDUCTION   By Ronnie Polaenczky

Michael was born on December 11th 1960 to single mother Mary Eleanor Leyden and James Breen, an Irish tavern owner.

In 1962, Mary married George Ogborn who adopted Michael. They went on to have four more children together. 

In 1970, his parents divorced and Mike helped his mother with the two youngest toddlers as she slid into depression and alcoholism. 

In 1971 the Philadelphia Police removed all five of the children from their home and placed them in the Stenton Child Care Center, where they lived for almost a year.  Catholic Social Services intervened and placed the Ogborn children in permanent care. Michael was placed into Triest Hall, a group home run by the Brothers of Charity in Laverock. 

Here, Michael was able to be a kid instead of a caretaker. In 1976, while he was a sophomore, Mike’s mother died at 41 from pancreatitis due to alcoholism. It was during this time that Mike discovered his love for music. He started out playing guitar masses and moved to the piano.  His gift for music was nurtured at Triest Hall and, by 17, he - along with fellow McDevitt Regina McHugh, penned his first musical comedy: 

AS THE MOP FLOPS, the tale of a Mop and a Broom who marry and battle the very real threat of wall-to-wall carpet, upending their marriage and livelihoods!

(Total side note: Regina is here today, and it’s her birthday! Happy birthday, Regina!)

When he was a McDevitt Junior, Philadelphia Family Court ruled that Michael and his four siblings be returned to their father.  Brother Matthew Benway, the loving director of Triest Hall, where Mike lived, was adamant that Michel should not leave either Triest Hall or McDevitt. Brother Matt successfully petitioned the courts to have Mike declared a ward of the Pennsylvania Commonwealth at 16. 

This cleared a path for Michael to remain at McDevitt.

In his senior year, Simon Gratz College hosted a city-wide High School arts competition to commemorate the unveiling of the memorial to the six million Jewish martyrs. Michael wrote an instrumental piece, titled “The Informer,” and entered it into the contest -  the Mordechai Anielewicz Creative Arts Competition.

I remember driving Michael to the Gratz campus on Broad Street so the judges could hear and record the piece. 

Michael wound up receiving First Prize! 

It was the very first of what would be many awards and public validations that he was on the right path.

In his freshman year at DeSales University (where he graduated in 1982 with a degree in Theatre and Speech) Mike wrote a letter to Broadway composer Stephen Sondheim, asking for direction in his musical odyssey. Sondheim not only wrote back with encouragement, he invited Mike to New York to play his music for him. 

I was 20 at the time, Mike was 18, and I drove him up to New York. We were like Thelma and Lousie, and had no idea how the visit would go.  It went so well that Sondheim went on to become Michael’s de facto mentor and teacher. 

Their friendship lasted until Sondheim’s death, 43 years later. Mike credits Sondheim’s support for giving him the courage to pursue a career in the theater. Since that meeting, Michael has worked steadily in the professional theater creating original musicals, cabaret revues and pantos. His work has been produced at the Arden Theatre Company, People’s Light & Theater Company, The Wilma Theater, The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC. and Radio City Music Hall. 

And the awards have racked up, from all sides: 

A Mid-Atlantic Emmy for the PBS music video "Soldiers in the Sky" from “C’est la Guerre!”-  the musical revue Mike wrote in response to the AIDS crisis. 

Over 40 Barrymore Award nominations, yielding 10 wins, including Outstanding Music and Best Musical for his Baby Case, his audacious musical about the Lindbergh Baby kidnapping and subsequent trial.  Baby Case was then produced at the NY Music Festival, receiving the top award in four categories, including “Best Music & Lyrics” and “Best of the Festival.”  For People’s Light & Theater Company, where he’s a beloved composer, Michael has written six holiday pantos. His most celebrated one, a gut-busting spoof of Cinderella, was a Barrymore standout and is being revived this season - so keep an eye out for that one.

There’s so much more to say, but so little time. So let me close with this.

I met Mike when he was just 5-foot-6, weighed 127 pounds and knew one guitar chord. 

He has since grown into an artist of deep compassion, brilliant artistry, and unwavering dedication to his craft, which shimmers with respect and affection for our shared, flawed, loveable humanity.  All the while, he developed a vast community of friends and supporters who feel so lucky to know him, love him, and be inspired by him. 

It is an absolute thrill to be here as he is inducted into the Bishop McDevitt High School Hall of Fame. 

Please help me welcome Michael Ogborn to the podium