Hometown: Boulder, CO
Education: MFA Brown/Trinity Grad Acting Program, BA Dartmouth
Select Credits: Anne Christie (Mat Burke, Cape Rep), His Girl Friday (Ralph Sweeney, Trinity Rep), The Importance of Being Earnest (Jack Worthing, Northern Stage), Coriolanus (u/s Coriolanus, First Citizen, Commonwealth Shakes)
Why theater?: I love storytelling, playing pretend and learning new things. Also– it scares me. Some people base jump. I act. It's really a rush.
Who do you play in Mother’s Day?: Nicky. He's the oldest son– and brother of Joey– that never quite left home.
Tell us about Mother’s Day: I told Colin in an early meeting we had that there's a cliché version of this play in which the drag queen brother comes home and the fact that he's a drag queen is the main source of the conflict. Instead, Mother's Day begins with the premise that his family has accepted him and his lifestyle– it's only when they discover that he's going to be a father that hidden prejudices and old family baggage come out into the open. I also like that it's not a political play or a play with an agenda. Its themes overlap with multiple social issues, but in the end it's a story about these four deeply flawed people.
What is it like being a part of Mother’s Day?: I always feel grateful to be in a room with open-minded, talented, creative collaborators like I am in this play. And that thing begins to happen where life mimics art over the course of a rehearsal process– in a short amount of time our ensemble has become a kind of family, like in the play. It feels like we're working in an intimate way despite the fact that most of us just met. A good play tends to have that effect.
What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: All sorts of theater speaks to me, but I'd say generally that I'm a sucker for clear storytelling, actor driven work, heightened language and high emotional stakes... I like all kinds of art and artists. Lately I've been fascinated by abstract art– Gerhard Richter's work comes to mind. How can splashes of paint evoke an emotional response? That's a miracle to me. I paint as a hobby and can tell you that's very hard to do.
Any roles you’re dying to play?: Scottish play, either brother in Long Day's Journey, Chance Wayne in Sweet Bird of Youth... Trigorin someday.
What’s your favorite showtune?: Ha. Well my girlfriend always makes fun of me for my total inability to comprehend and retain song lyrics, so she's been introducing me to all the classic movie musicals from the 50's and 60's. So far I've liked "There Once Was a Man: from Pajama Game and "Kids" from Bye Bye Birdie. Or at least those are the two that get stuck in my head the most often.
If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: Christopher Nolan or Woody Allen.
Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: Richard Dreyfus, "Jaws"
What show have you recommended to your friends?: Killler at TFNA.
What’s the most played song on your iTunes?: I checked and embarrassingly it's "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen. I spent a lot of time in college trying to memorize it.
What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: Homemade Popcorn covered in butter and otter popsicles.
What’s up next?: I'm developing a play that I may try to produce in Los Angeles in the spring.
