It would be difficult not to notice O'Meara, who also incorporates a wide array of sound effects into the show and provides constructive criticism to the actors after the program. He rocks with laughter at the skits and helps lead the applause for the packed house. The audience flocks to enjoy live tapings of Hotel Milwaukee on three Sundays of each month in the William F. Eisner Museum of Advertising & Design, located in the city's Old Third Ward. The program is then broadcast later in the week on WHAD-90.7 FM in Milwaukee as well as on the statewide network of Wisconsin Public Radio.

It's obvious that Hotel Milwaukee is an electric, exhilarating culmination of artistic talent and whole-hearted entertainment.  The comic scenes take place in a comfortably shabby hotel, a "relic of a bygone era," intertwining the lives of the hotel manager and his wife; his uncle, a desk clerk who doubles as a notary public; the elevator operator, young parking valet, coffeeshop waitress and assorted others who romp through the scenes.  Local and nationally touring authors, poets and musicians are on stage between the skits.

 O'Meara has been involved with Hotel Milwaukee  since October, 1999. He was encouraged by the show's executive director, Pam Percy, to check out the show and come aboard.  O'Meara explained that the radio show had  just partnered with the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design earlier that year and as a result, the focus of Hotel Milwaukee  shifted from its hometown emphasis to one with a wider scope.       
 
Originally, the show was masterminded by Milwaukee Mayor John O. Norquist and his staff to serve as a civic booster in celebrating Milwaukee.  Its aim was to involve as many local artists as possible during the hour-long program.  Between each guest artist, there was the opportunity for a comedic transitional skit. It was through these vignettes that the current Hotel Milwaukee began to take shape. 

O'Meara said that Milwaukee's old Café Mélange served as the "inspiration" for today's Hotel Milwaukee.  Gradually, however, the format shifted and producer Percy was searching for assistance during this crucial turning point.  O'Meara fit the bill. "We started rethinking the show a little bit and it began falling into place," he indicated.               
                                                   
Currently, O'Meara is the only full time staff member of Hotel Milwaukee. He felt very positive about the direction the show was moving and hoped it would soon be going national. He praised the cast, all of whom are long time, critically-acclaimed actors around the Milwaukee scene.   "I think we've got some of the best (performers) in town,"  he said.

Hotel Milwaukee is a "very collaborative thing," according to O'Meara. He explained that everyone who works on the show felt comfortable in making their own, unique artistic alterations while still staying true to the script.

"If I'm laughing during the show, it's because I haven't heard the variations in the dialog the actor comes up with," he explained.

This spring, Hotel Milwaukee captured a prestigious Golden Reel award from the National Federation of Community Broadcasters. The honor is the "only national award for public, community-based radio," O'Meara said, one not given out every year so the fact that  Hotel Milwaukee captured such a prize is a significant accomplishment.  In late March, O'Meara went to San Francisco for the award ceremony and to lead a workshop on how Hotel Milwaukee was put together.

The show named in the honor went for a script O'Meara wrote late last September for a special performance at Milwaukee's Irish Cultural Heritage Center.  O'Meara laughed as he recalled the central theme as being a parody of Angela's Ashes.  "Everybody is impressed with men with miserable childhoods," he chuckled. Dublin-born John Gleeson, co-ordinator for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Irish Studies department, was a guest.

A second Irish show, aired in mid-March this year, also hosted numerous musicians, poets and authors of the Auld Sod persuasion. 
Since Hotel Milwaukee has a nine-month autumn-spring taping season O'Meara is considering a summer visit to England and Ireland to  study how the BBC and RTE handle studio radio drama.  "I think it would be wonderful to see," he said.  

O'Meara naturally feels at home around the Gael.  Fourth-generation Irish, O'Meara has been actively involved in Irish theater through the Milwaukee Irish Arts theater group since 1985.  "The Irish connection here has been a very crucial part of my life," O'Meara reflected.

No wonder, his theater experience ranges from acting in plays at Milwaukee Irish Fest, to one-man productions at the late, lamented Black Shamrock bar in Milwaukee, to stage management at a number of venues.

O'Meara felt very lucky to be "living in an international world while living in Milwaukee."  He confided that he  couldn't  "imagine not being influenced by all the Irish authors I've read while writing my scripts."  The Irish influence over O'Meara Although writing and directing are currently taking up most of his time, O'Meara is always tempted to get back into acting. He recently completed shooting an independent movie,Threads of Belonging, directed by Jennifer Montgomery. Teamed with film staff from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Northwestern University, the film examined what he said was the "now unfashionable idea" of doctors living with schizophrenic patients in an attempt to remedy their psychological impairments.  O'Meara played R.D. Lang, whom he called the "deeply flawed leader of the therapeutic community."

O'Meara explained that the cast basically moved in to a house on Milwaukee's Brewer's Hill, a trendy neighborhood which overlooks the city's downtown. Once there, they mostly improvised their way through the movie.  "It was an interesting experience to go into a therapy session with three cameras watching!" O'Meara laughed. He enjoyed the new experience of working on the movie, since most of his previous performing had largely been limited to one-man shows or stage presentations.

And yet it is the regular weekly crunch of turning out scripts and helping oversee Hotel Milwaukee  that keep his creative juices flowing.  When the trademark desk bell ding-ding-dings to open each show, O'Meara is ready on the sidelines. He's already checked in, Irish luggage and all.
 
 

Tune in to Hotel Milwaukee  Hotel Milwaukee  is an eclectic, good-humored radio show.  Tune in on Saturdays at 4 p.m on WHAD-90.7 FM. and at 9 p.m. on the Ideas Network of Wisconsin Public Radio.  Or, better yet, drop in for a live taping of the show at 5 p.m. on three Sundays of the month.  Check out its website at: www.hotelmilwaukee.com or call 414/276-7889, ext. 280, for schedule information. Tickets are $5 or $3 for students. The show is taped in downtown Milwaukee at the William F. Eisner Museum of Advertising & Design, 208 N. Water St.  The current season concludes for the summer on May 20.