Dr. Magkneetoe, aka Mark Gamma, likes the name of his band because, “It”™s me. The ”˜Mag”™ comes from a combination of letters from my name: The ”˜knee”™ and ”˜toe”™ are essentials in drumming. The name is catchy.”
It”™s fun, too and Gamma quickly dispels the image of the tortured artist as put forth by drummers like Keith Moon and Ginger Baker.
“I play for pure enjoyment,” he says. “Our 4th of July gig on the Newburgh waterfront was great ”“ just to be able to get out there and play. If I don”™t play at least twice a month, whether it”™s an outdoor event or just a bunch of us getting together for a jam session, I can”™t live without it. It”™s like trying to breathe without air. There”™s no replacement for that exhilarating thrill.”
Gamma and his wife of 29 years, Lorraine, have two children in college and  bills to pay. Drumming may be a passion, but selling cars was much more profitable. Also being handy with hammer and nail gun helps.
Gamma, who caught the music wave when the Beatles hit America”™s shores in 1964, couldn”™t pass up a recent opportunity to see Les Paul, now 91 and “still going strong. The guy is just amazing,” said Gamma, who brought along lifelong friend Tom Gibney and an “absolutely amazing 18-year-old guitarist” to Paul”™s Manhattan show recently.
“This young woman has been playing guitar since she was 4;Â she”™s a natural,” he says. “Not only did Les autograph her guitar, he spent a half-hour talking to her and played a song with her on stage. It was a thrill for her and certainly validated her talent.”
She”™ll be one of the improvisational actors and musicians that Screen Actors Guild member and Newburgh contractor Gamma will bring to the stage of the Newburgh Actors Studio, on the city”™s west end of Broadway.
Gamma, who spent 29 years earning his daily bread selling cars ”““I actually got my start in the place right next store   where I bought my first van ”“ Galloway”™s Ford. It”™s not there anymore, but I worked in Newburgh Auto Park and Toyota of Newburgh. I enjoyed it, and it paid the bills.”
The car business helped Gamma finance his first foray into buying and renovating dilapidated buildings on Broadway. Today, instead of selling cars, he”™s selling the idea of his new Newburgh Actors Studio, where he hopes to create a niche for black box theater in the city.
Luckily, Gamma not only knows how to put sticks to skins, he”™s handy when it comes to shims and sheetrock. Since his first plunge into the real estate market in 1997, he”™s bought four more buildings in the same area; not coincidentally, it is where his actors workshop is located, Â with a 50-seat theater.
The acting bug bit Gamma early: with  the nudging of his “stage father,” he sang and danced at the Ritz Theater near the Newburgh waterfront, which has again blossomed after standing vacant for several years. Â
“Acting”™s always been in my blood,” says Gamma. “Once you get a taste, it never leaves you.” He joined the Screen Actors”™ Guild in 1999, and when not putting up drywall, he”™s driving to ManhattanNewburgh. for a tryout. But now, the center of his attention is in the “black box” behind the curtain in
His new studio has a little bit of everything, from a picture of the actor/salesman/contractor with Robert DiNiro to his parents”™ wedding picture, and a mix of mismatched furniture, both functional and funky. Â
But more importantly, says Gamma relaxing in the studio”™s waiting/meeting area, is what lies beyond the stage door. With 50 seats, his black box theater “has got a terrific sound system and lighting geared to focus on the players. That”™s the whole idea behind ”˜black box”™ ”“ walls and floors are black; there are no bells and whistles. It is the players, the music and the readings that are the essentials.”
Gamma hopes that workshops, like the one he and talent agent Eileen Haves will be putting together this summer, will bring in actors  willing to take a stab at making or breaking it on the Great White Way. “You”™ve got to be able to take no for an answer in this business; you get used to rejection. If you can”™t take it, this is definitely not the profession to be in.”
Gamma is looking forward to the theater”™s first performance in September ”““The Exonerated” ”“ featuring six actors, both male and female. “It”™s based on a true story of prisoners on death row who were freed because of DNA testing,” he says. “They share their experience of what life was like behind bars waiting to die, what it did to them and their families, and life after prison.”
Most of all, says Gamma, as he gets ready to close up shop on a recent Friday night, he hopes his new studio will attract benefactors willing to sponsor talented inner-city youths in  workshops. “I know everyone”™s out there looking for a philanthropist and I”™m no exception. But if we can bring one talented kid off these streets and into the theater, it will make a difference.”
