Mr. Delamar's second act: Retired teacher and local theater regular hits road, realizes dream.

Byline: Julie York Coppens

Oct. 29--For 30 years, Dennis Delamar had a captive classroom audience. He retired from Dilworth Elementary in 2004, a beloved fifth-grade teacher with a lengthy local stage resume and a long-deferred dream of hitting the big time. Now, at 54, Delamar is the oldest rookie in a national touring production of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat." Six nights a week -- in places like Monroe, La., Valdosta Ga., and Jacksonville, Fla. -- Delamar sticks on a bushy gray beard and takes the stage with troupers half his age, in front of crowds bigger than any he ever played to in Charlotte. Delamar landed the plummy dual role of Jacob, the hero's doting father; and Potiphar, the Egyptian tycoon whose wife seduces Joseph, landing the dreamer in jail before a reversal of fortune makes him Pharaoh's right-hand man. Hired on the spot "Joseph" was Delamar's lucky break."It just all happened so quickly," he says, remembering the flurry of phone calls that hit on the closing weekend of "I Am My Own Wife," Delamar's most recent directing triumph, at Actor's Theatre of Charlotte. That same week in late September, the Troika Entertainment production of "Joseph" had just hit the road. But the actor first cast as Jacob/Potiphar wasn't working out. Dance captain Sterling Masters happened to be from Charlotte.…