Shmoozing in the hallway outside the Actors Studio after a performance of Leslie Pasternack’s “Clean Room,” we saw a poster for a performance of Disney’s “Alice in Wonderland Jr.” at Byfield Community Arts Center. Not exactly our cup of tea. Not by a longshot. Not with all that singing and dancing. But the director’s name caught my eye: Jack Neary. Hmmm, could it be the same guy? He’s one of those other kind of triple-threaters, a Mr. Everything of theater. An actor whose work ranges from the ‘80s, back to the fabled Theater of Newburyport days, when he performed in “The Cherry Orchard,” to his big-screen appearance last year in “The Town,” the Ben Affleck film where he plays Arnold Washton, one of the guys guarding the stash of concessions cash collected at Fenway Park after a four-game series with the Yankees suck. (Sorry, those two words always stick together.) A playwright whose production list is frustratingly long and impossible to condense, but includes well-known works like “First Night” and “Jerry Finnegan’s Sister,” both of which have had runs in the Port. A director with over 50 shows under his belt. A guy who has directed dozens of shows around New England, including productions at Smith College's New Century Theatre and at the Summer Theatre at Mount Holyoke College, both of which he founded. So could it be him?
