Veteran Wichita actor, teacher Tom Frye sets ‘Stages’ in his memoir

Admittedly, Tom Frye has a short attention span.

That’s why the veteran Wichita performer and educator amazed himself when he spent 16 straight months writing daily to compile his memoir, “Stages: The Life and Times of a Kansas Actor.”

Most of that writing time was spent at Coffee Daze, the shop next door to his home on East Douglas.

“It’s a lovely little meeting place and the owner is fabulous, and the staff is fabulous. It’s warm and inviting and full of great people,” Frye said of the coffee shop that will host two of his book signings, Oct. 8 and 14, both from 7 to 9 p.m.

“I was here almost every single day,” he added with a laugh. “The only reason this shop has stayed open is because of me.”

Frye, who turns 78 later this month, documents his acting and teaching careers in the 300-page book, relying on at least a dozen friends — everyone from summer camp buddies to fellow teachers at Wichita Southeast — to serve as editors and fix any gaps in his recollections.

While Frye, who has spent almost all his life in Wichita, is a mainstay on any number of local stages, it was his chance to hit Broadway that is a part of the book.

In the early 2000s, Frye had begun performing in “Tru,” a one-man show based on the life of author and playwright Truman Capote, directed by its author, Oscar-nominated playwright Jay Presson Allen.

“They were going to do ‘Tru’ on a tour and do it on Broadway, but then 9/11 stepped in,” Frye said of the plans, which took another setback with the death of the playwright’s husband, who was producer of the show. “Everything kind of fell through. I have no regrets. My God, I’ve had such an incredible life with those people, they were amazing human beings.”

Even through his 14 years directing and teaching at Wichita Southeast, as well as other schools, Frye has averaged being a part of seven shows a year. The current Mosley Street Melodrama production, “Frank Einstein,” was his creation, and he returns to Wichita Grand Opera for a role later this year.

“I may only have two or three productions this year. I’m getting old,” he laughed.

Early in 2026, he will reprise his role as Sophia in “The Golden Girls” crowd-pleaser at Roxy’s Downtown, which he also directs.

Famous names in his memoirs include actor Dick Wilson, better known as Mr. Whipple from Charmin commercials; Wilson’s daughter, Melanie, a co-star on “Perfect Strangers”; TV producer William Bickley; actor Harry Carey Jr., whose credits include John Wayne movies; Frank Coghlan, who was directed by Charlie Chaplin; and Kansas native actresses Shirley Knight and Kirstie Alley.

But Frye says he mentions them not for the sake of name dropping, but how they figured into his life story.

“I could dish dirt, and believe me I’ve got plenty of dirt,” he laughed. “I’ve been really fortunate to meet and work with a lot of people.”

Each of the 86 chapters in “Stages,” Frye is proud to note, is the name of a play, movie, TV show or a line from those works.

“We’re Gonna Need a Bigger Boat,” the line from “Jaws,” for example, is about Frye’s experiences during a 1965 hurricane in New Orleans.

“Some people are going to get it, some people won’t,” he said.

“Stages,” he said, is largely a series of anecdotes that he’s attempted to put into chronological order.

“I just started writing about events that happened in my life, and I kept writing,” he said. “I did some research to put them in chronological order.”

Besides his book signings on Oct. 8 and 14, he’s also scheduled to be at Watermark Books on Nov. 7 and has been contacted by Barnes & Noble for a date in March.

Compiling the book, Frye said, got him to thinking about his legacy and how he’ll be remembered.

“I try to base my life on the teachings of my parents, and one of those words that people might not know anymore, and that’s being altruistic,” he said. “I just think it’s such a wonderful trait.

“If anything, ‘Tom was a nice human being.’ That’s good enough.”