It’s musical theatre week in the Flamingo Lounge! Doug Kern and Leigha Marie Eichhorn from Rocking Horse Productions joined Rockabilly Greg on July 22, 2025, to chat about their journeys in theatre, including the world of musical theatre, and how they’ve thrived in a challenging industry.

Rocking Horse Productions is a community theatre company based in Buffalo New York, established in 2006 by Douglas Kern. The company is dedicated to presenting high-quality live theatre, ranging from musicals and classic plays to new works, with a mission to inspire, entertain, and challenge audiences. They prioritize developing local talent, providing equal opportunities for both seasoned and novice performers. Rocking Horse Productions has a history of diverse productions, including musicals like “Les Misérables” and “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” and dramas such as “12 Angry Men” and “A Few Good Men.” In 2019, they were recognized as a theatre group in-residence by the Williamsville Arts and Culture Committee, leading to their “Theatre in the Village” season at The Meeting House in Williamsville.

You can keep up on all the great shows from Rocking Horse Productions at their website: rockinghorseproductions.net

About Doug

Doug’s love of theater started at St. Mary’s High School, where he was asked to play bass guitar for the school’s musicals. While doing that for three years, he also became involved behind the scenes, helping with sets, props, and stage crew.

While attending Buffalo State University, getting his BS in Business Administration, Doug took some theater classes, helped build sets, and worked on stage crew for various productions. He also continued to return to St. Mary’s and help with their theater productions.

In 1989, Doug produced an alumni production of “Jesus Christ Superstar” for St. Mary’s High School, where he met Elaine Roberts. The two of them, along with Doug’s wife, Ann, formed “Stage Struck Productions.”

From 1990 to 2005, Douglas Kern was President and Co-founder of Stage Struck Productions, a local theater group that specialized in producing musicals. During that time, Doug produced over 30 musicals and plays, including “Camelot,” “Jesus Christ Superstar,” “Evita,” “West Side Story,” and “Tommy,” just to name a few. They performed at the Lancaster Opera House (both as renters and then as part of their season), the Palace Theatre in Lockport, The Harlem Road Community Center in Amherst, and the Rivera Theatre in North Tonawanda. In December 2005, Stage Struck produced its final musical, “Nuncrackers,” and closed its doors forever.

In 2006, after encouragement from the then-Director of the Lancaster Opera House, Thomas Kazmierczak, Rocking Horse Productions was formed with Doug as its sole founder. After hiring his production crew, RHP began its 13-year run in the Lancaster Opera House season, producing 32 productions.

In 2007, Doug was inducted into the St. Mary’s Performing Arts Hall of Fame.
In 2019, RHP ventured out on its own, and RHP was recognized as a theater group-in-residence by the Williamsville Arts and Culture Committee. Doug formed the “Theatre in the Village” season at The Meeting House in the Village of Williamsville, where RHP has been ever since, having produced 18 productions going into its 20th season.

About Leigha

Leigha Marie Eichhorn discovered theater in high school. Once she found it, she auditioned for every musical that Starpoint Central High School put on. It was so much fun playing characters, singing beautifully written songs, and entertaining audiences to make them smile. Leigha loved it so much she decided to major in theater arts in college, desiring to learn more about the crafts of acting, singing, and dancing. Like most actors, she was preparing to go to New York City to show them what she had.

At Niagara County Community College, Leigha had to direct a one-act play for her final project. She cast her best friend, as well as a long-time friend from high school, and she really liked telling them what to do. She also enjoyed being in charge of all the aspects of the show, including lights, sound, music, publicity, and more. She decided to continue with a concentration in Directing.

After receiving her Associate’s degree, Leigha went on to work with wonderful, skilled faculty at Buffalo State College. After receiving her Bachelor’s, she was encouraged by a teacher to take a Stage Management internship at the old Studio Arena Theater. He hinted that she would get the opportunity to work with nationally renowned directors. The experience taught her many things. The first: she did NOT want to pursue a career as a professional Stage Manager. That is an entirely different set of skills, and directing was still her passion.

Having met so many Buffalo theater professionals at Studio, after her internship, she was hired by Shakespeare in Delaware Park and spent the summer being their Administrative Assistant. From there, she was hired at the Irish Classical Theatre Company as their House Manager and performed in that position for seven years. She had also found the Amherst Players, a community theater group, and was on the path to direct her first play with them. Again, she worked under some wonderful tutelage to learn so much about putting plays together.

A friend and mentor asked her to be his assistant director for another community theater group who performed at the Lancaster Opera House. She was thrilled. What a beautiful and grand place that is! Getting to know people at that theater, Leigha applied for and missed out on the Administrative Assistant job there; however, she became the Opera House’s House Manager for a few years. It was a wonderful job, working with volunteers and making sure everything ran smoothly before and during the show.
Meanwhile, an incredible Stage Manager who had worked with her on her big community theater directing debut told her about a friend, Doug Kern, who was getting a brand-new theater company going and needed a director. Leigha met Doug on the front deck of his home, and after a surprisingly casual conversation, he told her he would like her to be his director. She told friends for years that she would never have guessed that she would be directing this much right out of college. She has had the best experiences working with this kind, talented, intelligent man.

Leigha can’t recall the year Doug told her he wanted her to use the title of Artistic Director, though it was completely thrilling. It’s hard to believe that they’re going into their 20th season because, though they constantly work hard, it’s been such fun. She doesn’t direct three shows each season anymore. They have more people involved now; however, she oversees and assists other directors and productions when she’s not directing her one given play each year. She adores helping to make their company thrive and feels it is on par with almost any other of the numerous theater groups in the Buffalo area. They present quality shows at reasonable prices. Their transition from originally presenting at the Lancaster Opera House to the Meeting House in Williamsville in 2019 was quite a transition due to the size and capacity of the venue; however, she believes they have it down to a science now. They have built a huge family of actors, designers, and craftsmen. Leigha is as happy working in theater now as she was first being on stage in high school.

New episodes are available at 9 a.m. EST each Saturday at RockabillyGreg.com. Each posting includes a link to the podcast, website, and social media links, images, and other interesting tidbits about the week’s guest(s).

Greg Hennessey’s “In the Flamingo Lounge with Rockabilly Greg” podcast is must listen content for fans of Western New York music. Hennessey just started his sixth season of podcasts, and he’s got over 100 episodes in his archives at https://rockabillygreg.com.