Next Up?

Unexpectedly, I already have an update on my theatre activities.

Last week I auditioned for, and was cast in the Jeffrey Hatcher adaptation of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde at the Black Box Arts Center. I'll be playing Jekyll.

It is interesting, and a bit of a whirlwind how this all came about.

In truth, the story has never been one of my favorites. But once Glengarry Glen Ross was over, I looked into this script, as much out of curiosity as anything else. It is in many ways a unique adaptation. The nature of the staging, as much as if not more than the story itself drew my interest.

It is a cast of only six people, four of whom each play Hyde at some point, along with several other characters. It was, ironically, this aspect of multiple Hydes the encouraged me to give it a shot. How interesting, then, that I should end up as one of the only two characters that doesn't play Hyde at all, or indeed any of the other roles.

I mentioned my preference to play one of the Hydes on my audition sheet. But I was asked if I would be willing to play Jekyll, and I agreed. It is very rare for me to refuse a role that is offered, if I have auditioned. I think it happened just once, in fact. So of course, I accepted Jekyll.

It's written to be a minimalist, fast moving production, and those things also appeal to me, as did the story being told mostly in vignettes. (Last year's A Christmas Carol that I appeared in had a similar structure.

It also doesn't hurt that the director is a friend of mine, with whom i have worked many times before.

So Jekyll it is. I think the first reading will probably be this coming Sunday evening, (today is Friday.) I look forward to it, as I do most readings at the start of a show. But because I have little attachment to or preconceived notions of this tale, this show offers me the rare clean slate. I can in  many ways build my experience totally from the ground up this time, in ways that aren't quite possible when one is more familiar with the story or script. I have a lot of work to do in this show, of course, but the approach to the work will in many ways be more organic or collaborative than most of my other shows have been for a while.

Other than one person, I know all of the other people involved in this show, which is almost always a plus as well.

We'll be performing the show in Halloween season, which works out quite well with the material.

So check back often, as we will have to hit the ground running on this one, given the time frame.