The essence of Poe

From his mood to his attire and cologne, David Keltz brings the master of the macabre to life.

By MARY EVERTZ

© St. Petersburg Times,
published October 27, 2001

Putting on a costume and pretending to be someone dark and spooky isn't something David Keltz does just for Halloween.

Donning a period costume -- vest, cravat and greatcoat -- and adding a wig of wild black hair, Keltz regularly transforms himself into his favorite literary character, Edgar Allan Poe.

Over the past 10 years, Keltz has performed his one-man show as Poe for the British Broadcasting Corp., the Smithsonian Associate Program, the Poe Museums in Richmond, Va., Baltimore and Philadelphia, and at the World's Largest Poe Birthday Celebration in Baltimore.

He has also appeared as Poe in TV ads for the Baltimore Ravens football team and performs at schools and universities and at special engagements, such as Sunday's performances at the Renaissance Vinoy Resort. The performances consist of Keltz reciting Poe's works as Poe himself.

Why Poe? It all started when Keltz, now 57, was 13 and first read Poe's well-known The Tell-Tale Heart, the strange story of a murder and its effect on the killer.

"I was so fascinated, I began reading other Poe works," Keltz said this week from his home in Baltimore.

By the time he was 16, he had appeared in several school productions and decided he wanted to be an actor. After graduating from Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, he followed the advice of friends to go to Baltimore to join an actors colony and has lived there ever since.

Throughout his acting career, Keltz kept studying the works of Poe. One-man shows also sparked his interest. He studied Hal Holbrook's technique in Holbrook's portrayal of Mark Twain.

Finally, 10 years ago, he decided to do Poe.

In the decade that he has played the influential writer, Keltz has constantly researched him. "Sometimes you get new insight from the paragraph in a letter he wrote, or when you reread a poem you see something you missed before," he said.

Keltz even discovered the cologne Poe wore. "It is still made by Caswell and Massey," Keltz said. And yes, he wears the cologne for his performances.

Keltz is so dedicated to Poe that he and his longtime love, stage actor Teresa Herold, were married last year at the Baltimore church where Poe was buried in 1849. Though Keltz did not wear his Poe attire, the couple wore 19th century costumes and asked their guests to do so, too.

Why the lifelong fascination?

"Edgar Allan Poe deserves more credit than any other writer for the transformation of the short story from anecdote to art," Keltz said. "He was among the first to create the detective story, and he perfected the psychological thriller." Before a performance, Keltz said, he practices the Zen ritual of transforming himself. "When I go into the theater, I bow to the costume. I am completely immersed. It is not David who is performing, it is Edgar Allan Poe." Keltz became interested in the findings of Dr. Kay Redfield Jamison in her book Touched With Fire: Manic Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament. Jamison theorizes that Poe was probably bipolar, with depressive episodes alternating with highs when he felt almost superhuman. These days, Jamison and Keltz often lecture and perform in tandem, though she is not accompanying him in this weekend's performance.

At the Vinoy on Sunday, Keltz will recite works including The Cask of Amontillado and the well-known and haunting The Raven, the love poems Annabel Lee and To Helen, and the manipulation of rhythm and sound in The Bells. The evening performance will include Amontillado, Hop-Frog and The Raven.

At a glance

"A Poe Halloween Party," with David Keltz as the "Master of Horror Edgar Allan Poe," will be at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Renaissance Vinoy Grand Ballroom, 501 Fifth Ave. NE. Costumes are encouraged. Children 12 and under, $10. Adults, $20. "The Edgar Allan Poe Wine Dinner Show" will be at 7:30 p.m. Sunday in the Vinoy ballroom. Four-course gourmet dinner with premier vintages is $85 per person. For information, call (727) 894-1000, ext. 515.

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