August 15, 2008
By MARY HOULIHAN

Jenniffer Weigel, an actress turned broadcast journalist turned author, thinks in depth about things most of us only give a passing thought, those bigger questions in life that are so complex, so mysterious they seem beyond our grasp.

In her 2007 book, Stay Tuned, Weigel was on a mission to find an answer to one of these burning questions: What happens when we die?

Her humorous and irreverent exploration of the topic continues in her one-woman play, "I'm Spiritual, Dammit! (Climbing the Mountain of Enlightenment With a Martini in One Hand and My Pumps in the Other ...)," which is mostly based on her book.

Weigel is an Emmy-winning reporter and onetime radio sidekick for Jonathan Brandmeier, Danny Bonaduce and Steve Cochran. But in the late '90s, before that career took over, the University of Illinois theater major could be found performing with local theater companies, including Wisdom Bridge and Shakespeare's Herd.

Returning to the stage is a "scary but comfortable" challenge, she said. The toughest part about creating the new show was paring the book's 240 pages down to 40.

"The show includes some new stuff that's happened since the book and some old stuff," Weigel said. "It's all in my head, but I have a feeling that every night will be different in what comes out. I don't want it to be cookie-cutter."

Weigel's interest in spiritual matters grew out of her work as a television reporter when she interviewed mediums, clairvoyants and new-age gurus such as Deepak Chopra, James Van Praagh and Caroline Myss.

"People who claim they can talk to dead people, who have a gift for reaching another dimension, that's the kind of story that fascinates me," Weigel said. "For me, it was kind of like relearning everything I grew up with. After all, the Bible is full of people talking to dead people and getting signs, so who says someone else can't do this?"

Weigel wrote the book about "going to the other side" to contact her late father, sportscaster Tim Weigel, who died in 2001. After his death, Weigel grew tired of the stress and murder-and-mayhem routine of daily news reporting. She quit her job and began re-interviewing the mediums and clairvoyants.

"Now it was a different story for me," Weigel, 37, said. "I still see myself as a journalist, one who investigates subjects most people are afraid of."

The one-woman show seems a natural vehicle for Weigel, who is a company member of the new Route 66 Theatre Company. Humor plays a role alongside the more serious matter.

"I try to make the miserable as amusing as possible," she said.