Tag: Q & A

Q & A: Dallas Thomas

How did you first get involved in theatre?

In high school, even thought I yearned to be on stage, I was too terrified to audition! I was on the stage crew for the all-school musical. One day before rehearsal, my friends and I were clowning around, acting out scenes from the show. The drama teacher pulled me aside and said, “You should be ON stage. That was really good.”

That same teacher talked me into auditioning for the next play, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”  I was terrified at the audition and was hoping that maybe I could be cast as a fairy — I figured I could handle a few lines. When I saw I had been cast as Hermia, one of the romantic leads, I felt both exhilarated and as though I might vomit. The show went well, and I’m happy that my first stage role was such a wonderful one.

Why acting?

I enjoy acting because, contrary to popular opinion, it’s not about showing off and being an extrovert. It’s about people, relationships with each other, with the world, and with ourselves. Good theatre should make you think and feel. I love the focus and thoughtfulness required to build a character just as much as I love performing.

Can you tell me an interesting or amusing theatre story?

In college, I was in a production of The Merchant of Venice. One night during the courtroom scene, the actor playing Shylock knelt and engaged in some impressively loud flatulence. Everyone on stage was trying so hard to stifle their laughter, which was made even harder when the front row got the giggles over Shylock’s gassiness. Suffice to say, it detracted from Portia’s Quality of Mercy speech that night.
Do you have any favorite actors or actresses you admire?
Several. A few favorites are Kevin Kline, Cate Blanchett, Phillip Seymour-Hoffman, Annette Benning, Rachel Griffiths… those are just a few off the top of my head.

Are there qualities in your character that you also see in yourself?

Picking a favorite previous is impossible. I’ve been lucky to have several wonderful, but very different roles. My top three:  Juliet in Immortal Longings, Catherine in Proof & Rita in Prelude to a Kiss

When I’m of the appropriate age, I’d love to play Maureen in The Beauty Queen of Leenane

Are there qualities in your character that you also see in yourself?

I’m in love. I think the similarities cease there though. Princessery is difficult to match in real life. Haha

Q & A: Steve McKee and Dylan Page

How did you first get involved in theatre?

Page: I have been interested in acting for most of my life, but I didn’t get serious about theater until my Junior year of high school.  I was in a production of Come Back to the Five and Dime Jimmy Dean at Tucson High School and I fell in love with the whole process.

Why acting?

McKee: It’s a great way to be creative.

Are there qualities in your character that you also see in yourself?

McKee: He’s good and noble and always sees the positive side of things.

Page: There are a lot of actors who I respect a great deal, but two that I really admire are Meryl Streep and Natalie Portman.

Do you have any actors or actresses you admire?

McKee: Christopher Guest, Hank Azzaria

What is your favorite previous role?
Page: This past year I played two roles that really solidified my passion for theater.  The first was Evelyn in The Shape of Things with the Arizona Repertory Theatre at the U of A  and the second was Dewey Dell in As I Lay Dying at The Rogue Theater.  The first because of the challenge it posed for me as an actor, and as a person, and the second because of the beauty and complexity of Faulkner’s characters and language.

What are you most excited about for in this play?

McKee: Rogue Theatre does great quality work.  You can tell everyone rises to the best of their abilities.

Page: This play is so epic, and so many things happen.  We get to dance, sing, and operate a massive puppet all in the course of a two hour production and I think I am most excited for those things.

Q & A: David Morden

How did you first get involved in theatre?

My first introduction to theatre was doing church plays as a boy.  I took drama classes in junior high and and high school.  In college, I realized that I was spending all of my free time at the theatre department and decided to commit to acting as a career.

Why acting?

“Why acting” is the big, big question.  I think I like that form of communication above all others:  acting out a story so that an audience gets a vicarious experience of something out of the ordinary.

Can you tell me an interesting or amusing theatre story?

I could tell you a million!  Most theatre stories revolve around something going wrong and how one got out of the situation.  I once did an avant-garde play in Seattle–a series of monologues with two other actors.  At one point during the show, an audience member stood up, walked out of the theatre, came back and announced from the front of the stage, “The is the worst show I have ever seen in my life” and then left!

Do you have any actors/actresses you admire?

I usually admire British actors over American actors, because they have better training in classical theatre in Britain.  My favorites include Simon Russell Beale, Alan Rickman, Helen Mirren and Alan Rickman.
What is your favorite previous role? Do you have a dream role?

My favorite role is the one I just did for The Rogue:  Louis De Rougemont in SHIPWRECKED.  My dream role used to be the title role in Shakespeare’s RICHARD II — but now I’m too old to play the part!  Anything in Shakespeare is a dream role for me, but I suppose Elyot in PRIVATE LIVES would be high on my list, too!

Are there qualities in your character that you also see in yourself?

Always – though I would state it differently.  I always find the qualities in myself that work for the character.  We all have qualities such as love, jealousy, caring, anger, etc. inside of us.  As actors, it is our job to call them forth and explore them.

What are you most excited about for in this play?

This play has one of the most beautiful reunion scenes at the end of the play, when everything that was lost is found again.  If we do our job correctly, our audiences will be deeply moved by it and will leave the theatre thinking about those people that they love and can’t afford to lose.



Q & A: Matt Waley, Philip Bennet

How did you first get involved in theatre?

Bennet: I have always wanted to be an actor.  At four years old I made a little puppet theatre and cut out photos from the newspaper to use as marionettes.  At six I had my first experience on the stage which was inspiring and transformative.

Waley: I had just quit the football team in HS because my knee was bothering me. My mom thought I should try out for the play because I was outgoing. I finally decided to audition and got the lead role of Joe Ferone in Up The Down Staircase.

Can you tell me an interesting or amusing theatre story?

Waley: I missed a cue in my first play at Live Theatre Workshop in 2002. I was playing Silvius in As You Like It. I missed that cue because I was telling people backstage what my favorite karaoke song was… Fat Bottomed Girls by Queen. I was absolutely mortified. Luckily my ensemble covered well. But, I have never missed a cue since (I refuse to talk backstage) and I have not karaoked since either.

Bennet: I had been acting for about 4 years on Broadway in American Stanislavski Theatre Repertory Company.  We did about 6 plays a season and alternated the plays, sometimes twice daily:  I was so confused one evening that I went on stage at the opening of the play and couldn’t remember which play I was in.  I stood blank and completely lost for what seemed an eternity.  If it hadn’t of been for the maid in the scene who said my opening lines, perhaps I’d still be standing there.

Do you have any actors/actresses you admire?
Bennet: Yes, many.  I deeply admire actors who are true artists, who take the time it takes to develop their technique and who build solid characters, not just play themselves:
Merryl Streep, Glen Close, Johnny Depp, Derick Jacoby, Ian McKellen, etc.

Are there qualities in your character that you also see in yourself?

Waley: When I looked up academic studies on the character I am playing- clown- the only description I could find was “A country booby.” So, besides the fact that I live in the desert, yes.

Bennet:  I believe I would behave just as he does in trying to save the life of Perdita; although, I hope to get back home safely before any bear could eat me!

What are you most excited about for in this play?

Waley: Always- the people I get to work with.

Bennet: I think the acting is outstanding. The music, singing and dances are exhilarating and beautiful.