I am thrilled to return to the stage with my debut at Harlequin Productions this March in Theresa Rebeck’s, The Understudy!
Charged with running the understudy rehearsal for a Broadway production of a recently-discovered Kafka play, Roxanne finds her professional and personal life colliding. Harry, a struggling actor (and her ex-fiancé) has been cast as the understudy to Jake, a mid-tier action movie star yearning for legitimacy. Harry and Jake grapple to either eliminate each other or find common ground. Roxanne struggles to maintain control of the rehearsal, despite a stoned tech assistant (or is she actually malevolent?) and her own careening feelings about both actors and her past.
In this production, I play Jake, and I have had a great time exploring the character, working with new people, and getting back into the groove of stage acting.
I have been away from the stage since 2013, having last appeared as King Henry with Seattle Shakespeare’s Wooden O, one of favorite places to work as a Seattle thespian. Between 2013 – now, I have been focusing on my work in front of the camera, as well as doing producing and casting with Mighty Tripod Productions. It has been very fruitful and rewarding, but it feels so good to tread the boards again, and I think we are going to open a heck of a show next week!
Working on the stage is very different than working in front of the camera, and right off the bat during rehearsals, I realized I needed to work on getting my voice back in shape to be heard in the back of house. Most of the time, on camera, I can afford to be intimate, and I often speak softer than I do in my daily conversational tone (of course, everything depends on the context and circumstance of the scene). But when on the stage, the body and the voice must be sharp, energized, projected…and I am thrilled to be engaging those actor muscles which were getting a little soft from lack of use.
I hope you can come see this play. Drop me a note if you plan on attending. I would love to see you after.