Archives for August 2019

I’ve loved the story of Driving Miss Daisy since the film adaptation hit movie screens in the late 80s. I’ll be perfectly honest. At the time, I wasn’t aware it was a stage play some ten years prior to its leap to the big screen. I have, of course seen my share of theatrical production of the story in the years since, but I’m here to tell you, the Larry Keeton Theatre’s current iteration starring Linda Speir, Elliott Robinson and Jonathan Wilburn, as directed by Melissa Williams, is, hands down, my favorite version yet. Second only to the Jessica Tandy, Morgan Freeman, Dan Aykroyd film adaptation. 

No stranger to Keeton audiences, nor to playing memorable affluent southern women of substance, determination and wit, Speir was seen last year at the beloved dinner theatre in the company’s presentation of Steel Magnolias. 

Having enjoyed Speir in a couple of productions of that other favorite southern tale, I once wrote that she should simply make a career of playing Clairee Belcher. Thankfully, director Williams ignored my suggestion and cast Speir as Daisy Worthan. 

While there are similarities between these two iconic southern characters, and a lesser actor might be satisfied to play them with virtually the same delivery, Speir manages to find her unique voice for this turn as the elderly matriarch who is being forced, partly by her son, but mostly by the realities of aging, to accept assistance and change—both in her everyday life, and the world around her. 

When the curtain rises, it’s Atlanta, 1948 as the audience meets Miss Daisy content in her home quietly singing to herself. In what could easily be interpreted as a bit of foreshadowing, she’s singing “After the Ball is Over”, a tune made popular at the turn of the century telling of lost love. Kudos to director, Williams for this and other period-perfect musical interludes that beautifully frame scenes throughout the play. 

From the beginning, Speir presents Miss Daisy as a fiercely independent woman. That independence is seemingly threatened when it becomes necessary for her son, Boolie, (Jonathan Wilburn) to hire his aging mother a driver. 

Wilburn is perfectly as Boolie, even sounding quite like Aykroyd. Unlike the film star, though, Wilburn’s Boolie is likable. Yes, he’s often stern with his defiant and proud mother, but there’s a gentleness to his performance that reaffirms everything he does…he does out of love. 

As for the above-mentioned hired driver, Elliott Robinson, another actor familiar to Keeton audiences, is simply joyous as Hoke Colburn. Considering the play takes place during mid-century Atlanta, and deals directly either social, economic and racial differences of the past, still occurring in the present, Robinson’s role as Hoke and his evolving relationship with Miss Daisy is perhaps the most challenging of all three characters in the work. While the role of Hoke, might seem to some initially a bit of a racial stereotype as it presents a black man working for an wealthy white family in the south, it’s quickly evident there’s more to the role, and the actor. Robinson finds a gorgeous balance somewhere squarely between the man, his job and his great affect on those around him. 

The playwright, Alfred Uhry does a magnificent job with the script, exploring and highlighting parallels between Daisy and Hoke, Hoke and Boolie and Boolie and Daisy, and as a director, Williams blissfully builds on these parallels with the interactions of her cast.

The play is never more poignant, nor brilliant than when the audience watches the relationship between Miss Daisy and Hoke morph from employer and employee to genuine friends. 

When Boolie first hires Hoke to drive Miss Daisy, Speir’s Daisy is seen initially resisting any help, then she becomes very determined to hide the fact that she has a hired driver, concerned about potential gossip surrounding her financial status. She settles into allowing Hoke to open her door and drive her, but as soon as she actually learns to trust and rely on Hoke, she drops all expected behaviors, ultimately opening her own door and letting Hoke take on the role of friend and confidant. These actions might even go unnoticed to some audience members, but Williams is to be commended for subtle, yet effective direction that gives visual clues to the metamorphosis.

Similarly, when Hoke reveals to Daisy that he can’t read, she sees an opportunity to return to her beloved vocation as a teacher and helps him learn to read.

Among the many highlights of the play, no moments are more perfectly presented than the work’s final scenes when Miss Daisy and Hoke are both reaching the twilight of their lives. With slight tremors in the voices and movement, Speir and Robinson both alter their physical presence to reflect the ravages of age and they do so effectively, never over-exaggerating or simplifying to the point of parody, instead playing it perfectly convincingly real. By play’s end the audience genuinely feels as if we are watching two longtime friends sharing one final holiday visit. And what could be more beautiful than that?

Driving Miss Daisy wraps its three-week run at The Larry Keeton Dinner Theatre (108 Donelson Pike) with evening performances thru Saturday, August 31 with dinner service at 6 p.m. and show  beginning at 7 p.m. Dinner and Show tickets are $30 for Adults, $20 for Children 12 and under. As always, the dinner is perfectly themed to match the show, with a delicious decidedly southern menu of meatloaf, green beans, mashed potatoes, fried green tomatoes and peach cobbler served piping hot. Of course you could opt for Show Only tickets for $25 for Adults or $15 for Children 12 and Under, but why on earth would you miss that meal? Limited tickets are available for Friday and Saturday night performances. Call 615.883.8375 for tickets and availability.

Next up at The Larry Keeton Dinner Theatre from October 10-26 is Little Shop of Horrors. CLICK HERE for tickets or more information.

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Southern Fried Nuptials, currently on stage at Chaffin’s Barn Dinner Theatre centers ‘round members of the Frye family, a typical—if not at times, stereotypical—southern family first introduced to audiences in Southern Fried Funeral. Both works cowritten by Nashville’s answer to Rodgers and Hammerstein, Nate Eppler and Dietz Osborne (credited collectively, simply as Osborne and Eppler), Southern Fried Funeral first played Chaffin’s back in 2011 and was last seen at the venerable theatre just two years ago.

While it’s been two years in real time since Chaffin’s presented Funeral, according to the timeline of the fictional tale, Southern Fried Nuptials takes place a year after the events of our first visit to New Edinburgh, Mississippi as we once again look in on the Frye family facing yet another of life’s monumental happenings. This time, as the title suggests, it’s the marriage of  Dorothy Frye’s eldest daughter, Harlene. 

One of the best aspects of a sequel to a popular play being produced by the same theatre company that previously mounted the original, comes in the fact that the audience not only gets to revisit some of the same characters, but also some of the same actors who are reprising their roles, both from previous Chaffin’s Barn productions as well as original mountings of the works elsewhere. To that end, Chaffin’s Southern Fried Nuptials reunites cast members on stage and behind the scenes, with John Mauldin, who appeared on stage in the previous presentation Chaffin’s production of Funeral, now directing and cast members Jenny Norris, Jenna Pryor, Layne Sasser and Joy Tilley Perryman all reprising their 2017 roles. On the night I saw Nuptials during opening weekend, Perryman was unable to appear, due to illness, so Debbie Kraski filled in, having been a part of the 2011 Barn cast. Cast member Tammie Whited is also familiar with the Southern Fried family, having appeared in prior mountings of both Funeral and Nuptials.

Having last appeared on stage at The Barn in God’s Favorite, Jenny Wallace stars as Dorothy Frye, the widowed matriarch of the family. Wallace seems to have found her Dorothy somewhere squarely between Steel Magnolia’s caring mamma bear, M’Lynn Eatenton and always prim and proper Clairee Belcher. 

Jenny Norris, fresh off her wickedly fun turn as Miss Hannigan in Chaffin’s Annie, once again takes on the role of Harlene Frye, the family’s eldest daughter, whose pending nuptials are the focus of the piece. In the original, Norris’ Harlene is seen as the prodigal daughter, returning home for the funeral of her father. In Nuptials, Norris plays Harlene a bit harried, but always stunning. Even when she’s playing a scene in which she’s put on her wedding dress backwards, a scene strictly written for laughs, Norris beauty shows through, revealing her to be a beautiful bride regardless. Norris possesses a magnetism no matter whether she’s sparring with her character’s sister, sharing a tender moment with her on-stage brother or in a heated argument with either of her leading men. 

Of her leading men, Harlene seems to have settled back into life in her hometown with all eyes on her as she prepares for her wedding to childhood sweetheart and successful young lawyer, Atticus “Atty” Van Leer. Played to the seersucker-clad hilt with all the southern charm he can muster, J. Robert Lindsey exudes a star quality that shines brighter each show he’s in. Note to all area theatre companies….after seeing Lindsey as Atty, I now long for the day he’s cast as that other famous southern lawyer named Atticus….Atticus Finch. Maybe it’s the suit, maybe it’s his stage presence and comfortability…whatever the case, with each role, Lindsey continues to be one to watch amongst Nashville theatre community.

Of course you can’t have a southern family wedding without unforeseen complications. Enter Chaffin’s newcomer, Gabe Achley as Carter Canfield, who…shall we say…knew Harlene during the time she was the aforementioned away from the Fryes. With good look, a swarthy manner and a voice to match, Archley’s Carter Canfield gives Norris’ Harlene reason to temporarily reconsider her marital plans. A perfect indication of Archley’s on-stage appeal, following last weekend’s performance I attended, as the actors stood in a receiving line to chat with patrons, my own sweet little southern mama grinned at Archly and said, “she should have chosen you”.

Returning to the role of the Frye family’s middle child is Jenna Pryor as Sammy Jo Frye-LeFette. Of course she comes with her own news for the family and alongside hubby Beecham LeFette, played by frequent Chaffin’s actor, Austin Olive, the two nicely navigate the ins and outs of young marrieds as they wrestle with the right time to share some news that could potentially take the focus from her sister’s wedding. 

Rounding out the Frye family is Daniel Bissell as Dewey Frye, Jr., affectionately called Dew Drop by his family. Judging from the way Dewey acts…let’s just say…he might be a few fries short of a happy meal…he might have gotten that nickname because he was dropped on his head as a baby. A bit simple, as we southerns might say, Dewey is nonetheless endearing, especially where his duties as official present-cataloger for his big sister’s wedding haul is concerned. A plot point involving Dewey from the original work also nicely figures into the resolution of big sister, Harlene’s nuptial thorn.

As is typical of a southern family, oftentimes family isn’t limited to blood-relations. Southern Fried Nuptials pays sweet homage to this within the relationships between Dorothy Frye and the remaining characters. First there’s family friend Vester Pickens, a successful local pickle magnate with an eye for Dorothy. Benny Jones plays Pickens with a gentle kindness as he initially evades the romance at hand.

As mentioned above, during opening weekend, Joy Tilley Perryman was unable to appear, necessitating other actresses stepping into the role of Ozella Meeks, New Edinburgh’s resident busy body and know-it-all neighbor and friend of the Frye family. With a hilarious beehive ‘do that brings to mind the adage, “the bigger the hair, the closer to Jesus”, the night I attended the show, Debbie Kraski stepped into the role of Ozella, and she did so with perfect comedic timing. Prior to the show’s start, the house manager made mention of the late-hour substitution and explained that Kraski would be performing on-book, meaning she’d have her script on stage with her. As luck would have it, within the story, Ozella becomes the wedding planner, so it seemed perfectly natural that she’d always have a notebook in her had and Kraski played it off seamlessly.

Also among the friends of the Frye family is Tammie Whited as Martha Ann Fox, Dorothy’s best friend and business associate. Having originated the role of Martha Ann in both premiere productions of Funeral and Nuptials, Whited eases back into the role as the often unsolicited, but necessary voice of reason to bestie Dorothy, but it’s her role as straight man to some of the show’s truly thigh-slapping, hee-haw laughter inducing moments that allow her to shine. With brilliant deadpan looks she sets them up and her scene partner knocks them down…with laughter.

That scene partner being Layne Sasser, a true Nashville theatrical treasure once again reprising her role as Fairy June Cooper. With hints of The Golden Girls’ Rose Nylund mixed with Designing Women’s Bernice Clifton, Sasser’s Fairy June is a delightfully daffy joy to behold. You know how some performers simply steal the limelight every time the walk on stage? Well, I’m here to tell you Sasser doesn’t steal the spotlight, she OWNS it. She plays the daft but delightful kooky friend and neighbor we all know and love to the hilt. During a particularly funny scene when she’s relaying a particularly winding story about an over-indulgent dog that may or may not have anything to do with the Frye family’s current predicaments, I found myself laughing so hard tears were welling up. 

While the plot might seem as thin as watered down gravy on the second Sunday after a big family dinner, manage to elevate the story with a few unexpected twists and turns, while simultaneously staying the course to provide a down home comedy with more than a few thoughtful family moments. Coupled with director Maudlin’s inherent appreciation of the genre and his gathering of retiring favorites and newcomers to the roles, Southern Fried Nuptials is one wedding that’s blissful with laughs.

Chaffin’s Barn Dinner Theatre’s Southern Fried Nuptials runs through August 24 with performances Thursday-Sunday. Thursday matinees begin at 12 noon (doors at 11a.m.), while Thursday, Friday and Saturday evening performances begin at 7:30p.m. (doors at 5:30). There will be a 2 p.m. (doors at noon) Sunday matinee on August 18. The Thursday, August 22 noon matinee will is SOLD OUT. 

Thursday matinee tickets are $19 for show only or $27.50 for show and a Box Lunch. (Wednesday matinee will also offer the Box Lunch option). Evening show tickets are $13 for children 12 and under, $20 for youth/students and $35 for adults. As always, Chaffin’s also offers a full buffet option or a la carte menu items for their evening and Sunday lunch matinee performances. Chaffin’s delicious buffet, featuring a choice of entrees (including a veggie option), and a number of side items is available for an additional $15.95, while the a la carte menu items range in price from $6.95 to $10.95, plus there’s a wide array of desert options to choose from $2.50 to $5.00. CLICK HERE to check out the menu.  CLICK HERE to purchase tickets or call 615.646.9977 to make reservations with the box office. Following Southern Fried Nuptials, Chaffin’s will present Sherlock Holmes The Final Adventure from August 29-September 14. CLICK HERE for tickets or more information. 

On Friday, August 2, Act Too Players’ professional theatre company, AT PRO will open their production of Matilda: The Musical at the historic Franklin Theatre nestled just off the town square in Franklin, TN. Based on Roald Dahl’s beloved children’s book, the 4-time Tony Award-winning musical features music and lyrics by Tim Minchin and book by Tony-winning playwright, Dennis Kelly. Directed by Act To Players’ theatre arts director, Sondra Morton, with musical direction from Jamey Green, the title role of Matilda will be shared (at alternating performances) by two young actors, Reese Benton and Reagan Schmicker and will feature a number of other youth performers and Act Too Players students. As for the adult cast, Tennessee native, Thomas DeMarcus, who now resides in New York, will take on the role of Ms. Trunchbull, with local theatrical mega-star, Megan Murphy Chambers playing Matilda’s less-than-caring mother, Mrs. Wormwood. Among the other adult cast members are Jeremy Maxwell as Mr. Wormwood, Erica Haines as Ms Honey and Jennifer Whitcomb-Oliva as Ms. Phelps. 

Just yesterday, while the cast was in the final hours of tech week, before Friday’s opening night, I had the chance to chat with DeMarcus and Chambers about their roles, working together, collaborating with Morton and the youth cast of Matilda for my latest Rapid Fire 20 Q. As always, the conversations were enlightening and entertaining, perfectly fitting considering the subject is Matilda.

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RAPID FIRE WITH MATILDA’s MRS. WORMWOOD, MEGAN MURPHY CHAMBERS

JHP: Who is Mrs. Wormwood to you?

MEGAN MURPHY CHAMBERS: Mrs. Wormwood is the delicious personification of rotten, upside-down Megan. She is shallow, blunt, arrogant and narcissistic. I am loving every single minute of wearing her leopard print skin. 

JHP: Exactly how many shows have you been involved in in collaboration with Sondra Morton?

MEGAN MURPHY CHAMBERS: Roughly 9,000, I think. 9,001 if you count the show that was being in the delivery room when her son was born.

JHP: Sometimes I feel like Sondra, Act Too Players and other youth theatre programs around town don’t get the praise they deserve. What’s something you would like to say to Sondra about her work with Act Too?

MEGAN MURPHY CHAMBERS: I agree that anyone who works with kids in this capacity is an unsung hero. The performance opportunities these kids get are extraordinary, and the miracles Sondra works to get these shows put together blow my mind.  Above all, though, the community that gets built during the process is unlike anything I’ve seen before.  I’ve heard so many of our students say that they feel like a most authentic version of themselves when they’re at Act Too, and I’m really proud to be part of that.  Sondra (and Erica, and Jamey!) are absolutely amazing. 

JHP: One aspect of Mrs. Wormwood’s personality is her lack of concern where her children are concerned. Knowing what little I do about you as a person, I can say with certainty that couldn’t be further from the truth, especially considering when not on stage at Act Too Players, you are among the staff of Act Too Players. How vital is it to encourage the creativity of youth in the performing arts?

MEGAN MURPHY CHAMBERS: Being part of high school theater and choir changed the trajectory of my life forever, so you won’t find a bigger advocate for youth arts programming than me. Regardless of what path a kid decides to follow, there are so many essential life skills that the kids pick up when working on a show. They become better communicators, collaborators, and empathizers. Watching these programs get pillaged breaks my heart, and does such a disservice to society in general.  Art makes us complete, makes us better versions of ourselves!

JHP: As a staff member of Act Too Players, your official job title is Experience Manager. What exactly does that title involve?

MEGAN MURPHY CHAMBERS: More than anything, I maintain lines of communication with our parents and families. I love that part of my job, and I love when show time rolls around, and that communication turns into actual face time with both the kids and their families. 

JHP: While your character isn’t exactly maternal, Matilda does find a friend and mentor in Miss Honey. Who encouraged your creativity and free-spiritedness as a child?

MEGAN MURPHY CHAMBERS: My childhood home was always filled with music, and my parents stocked us up with paper to draw on and Legos to build with; they’re both really interesting and creative people themselves, and my sister’s and my imaginations were encouraged to thrive. My 2nd grade teacher, Mrs. Brown, also threw a lot of gasoline onto my fire. She created a beautiful bound version of a book I wrote when I was 8 called Confetti about, no surprise, a dog. 

JHP: As Matilda’s on-stage mother, you are working with not one, but two young actors who are alternating in the lead role. What can you tell me about your two young co-stars, Reese Benton and Reagan Schmicker?

MEGAN MURPHY CHAMBERS: Reese and Reagan are delightful, capable, professional young ladies, and we are truly lucky to have both of them in this show. They have a huge role to tackle and are doing it with real grace and enthusiasm, not to mention talent. It’s also been lovely to watch them work together as a team. I’ve seen zero competitiveness whatsoever – just authentic support and enjoyment of each other. I love being awful to both of them!

JHP: Do you find being the uncaring Mrs. Wormwood on-stage has caused you to be extra nice to the youth cast off-stage, or do you avoid them in an effort to stay in character?

MEGAN MURPHY CHAMBERS: First of all – any of my friends reading this right now are laughing out loud at the idea of me ever being extra nice to kids 🙂  Coddling anyone other than my pit bull goes against my very nature. My character doesn’t impact the way I treat the kids at all.  My favorite thing about doing an Act Too Pro show with them is getting to just be a fellow actor (rather than a stage manager or child-wrangler or person in a leadership position).  In this environment, I treat them all the same as I do any other colleague. We have a great time, and I expect the same level of professionalism (and fun!) from them as I do any of the rest of my cast mates.   

JHP: What’s the best part of having Jeremy Maxwell as your on-stage husband, Mr. Wormwood?

MEGAN MURPHY CHAMBERS: I love watching Jeremy work, and he is always 100% game to experiment on stage with. Jeremy is super alive in a scene, and up for anything. It’s also lovely to watch someone who is so naturally patient and good with kids be so horrible to our Matildas.

JHP: I’m about chat with another of you co-stars, Thomas DeMarcus. If memory serves me you were both among the cast of Boiler Room Theatre’s Gypsy in 2004. When did the two of you first meet?

MEGAN MURPHY CHAMBERS: Thomas and I were friends looooong before Gypsy. We went to high school together, and he is one of literally two people that I’m still in touch with from those days. It has been so fun to be in a show with him again, so I’m overjoyed that we were able to lure him away from NYC for a little while. Getting to work with someone I’ve been friends with since 1993 is a gift, and I hope we’re still playing 25 years from now. There is no one I’d rather see play Trunchbull than him. 

RAPID FIRE WITH MATILDA’s MS. TRUNCHBULL, THOMAS DeMARCUS

JHP:  Tell me about your portrayal of Ms. Trunchbull.

THOMAS DeMARCUS:  I have loved Ms. Trunchbull since I helped the original Broadway production on their special events team. She’s so deliciously cruel and righteous that you can’t help but stare and be intimidated by. She has this wonderful pattern to her speech with so many different ways to insult you and has zero regards for your feelings. Everyone always wonders what it’s like to play the villain but the villain never knows they’re the villain. They’re behaving and reacting honestly to their own ideals. Agatha is a joy to play. Her costume and her makeup and hair do so much of the work, I just need to remember when Matilda is being a maggot and when Matilda is being a disgusting little toad. Ms. Trunchbull chooses her words carefully.

JHP: Appearing in Act Too Players’ Matilda is a bit of a homecoming on a couple of levels in that you grew up near Franklin n nearby Brentwood and you have a bit of a history with Act Too Players’ founder and Theatre Arts Director, Sondra Morton, having appeared in a few shows at Morton’s beloved and much-missed Boiler Room Theatre. What’s it been like to come back home, be a part of this show and work with Sondra again?

THOMAS DeMARCUS:  Coming back home feels truly wonderful. I miss Brentwood. A fun yearly game is figuring out which new restaurant has popped up at the place where that old restaurant used to be.  My parents are still here in the same house I grew up so they are thrilled to have me join them for a little bit. Sondra is one of those people that I will always have fond memories of. She was in my first show at the Boiler Room Theatre (The 1940’s Radio Hour) and the Boiler Room is where I met some of my greatest friends (some of them can be found in this production of Matilda!). To know that Sondra has built this company and sustained it for so long in an ever-growing and always-changing landscape of middle-Tennessee is nothing short of remarkable. She always has fifty irons in the fire and yet can answer a specific question without missing a beat. She’s immensely creative and a champion of trying something to see if it fails. She truly supports these kids and beams at their successes. I’m beyond grateful that she called me me in!

JHP: You attended the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. While there, you switched your focus from math to theatre. What prompted the change in your course of study? 

THOMAS DeMARCUS:  I know I never considered theatre a profession coming out of high school. I believe I told my guidance counselor that I wanted to teach math and help coach the basketball team at some middle or high school that would hire me. But once I devoted 100% of my time and energy into the theatre department and kept meeting great artists brought in from all over the world, I began to see theatre as a career. I still LOVE MATH. Ask anyone. There’s an aspect to problem solving that I find so relaxing. I can make the (broad) connection between math and theatre through problem solving. Instead of solving for x, I’m trying to figure out why this character would do or say that. Look, it’s a loose connection but I’m sticking with it…just let me solve my sudoku in peace.

JHP: Anytime I chat with anyone who has a connection to UT, I have to ask….did you have the opportunity to study under my friend Carol Mayo-Jenkins, who I of course remember first for her portrayal of Miss Sherwood in TV’s Fame?

THOMAS DeMARCUS: Carol returned to Knoxville just as I was leaving so I never had her for a teacher, however, I was extremely fortunate to work with her onstage in The Glass Menagerie. She played Amanda and I was the gentleman caller brought over to dinner to try and make a love connection with her daughter, Laura. My character doesn’t come onstage until Act 2 so I got to watch the masterclass Carol would put on every night from the wings. She is truly an angel and could not have been warmer or more lovely to this young college student. We also had one of those lovely only-in-live-theatre moments where a candle would not stay in the candle holder and her commitment to staying in character was nothing short of brilliant. She is every bit a professional and she could read the salads off of a menu and receive a standing ovation. You know you’re doing something magical when the city of Knoxville dedicates a day in your name.

JHP: What do you recall most about your time at UT?

THOMAS DeMARCUS: I had always been an excellent student but when I got to UT, my discipline turned wholly to the theatre department. I flung myself at every audition, took every theatre class, and treated my education as if I was at a BFA program versus a BA program. I couldn’t wrap my head around the need for an astronomy class or two semesters of French when all I really hungered for was more sonnets and more scenes. To say I regret my years at UT is misleading because the time I wasted there is through no one’s fault but my own. I learned a significant amount while I was there, but I could have been more upfront with what I was truly looking for. There’s a line from one of my favorite musicals, Passing Strange that says “Do you ever think it’s weird that your entire adult life is based off the decision of an 18-year old?” Sometimes I think college is wasted on the young and yet I don’t want this to come off as anti-college and certainly not anti-UT. I love Knoxville, I miss Knoxville and UT gave me so many opportunities. And storming the field after a victory over Florida ranks very high up on my greatest days list.

JHP: During your time at UT, you were involved in All Campus Theatre (ACT), a student-run troupe. What stands out in your mind about your time with ACT and what have you noticed about your time in this production at Act Too?

THOMAS DeMARCUS:  All Campus Theatre was a vital part of my undergraduate training. Because The University of Tennessee has a professional, resident theatre on campus (the magnificent Clarence Brown Theatre), there weren’t many opportunities for the undergraduates to be in mainstage productions. Outside of classwork, the well was fairly dry when it came to performance, design, or direction. ACT was completely student operated and became the secondary theatrical energy I was looking for. I remember we were all wide-eyed and ambitious as we would have Barefoot in the Park followed by One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. We were one of the first, if not the first production of Steve Martin‘s Picasso at the Lapin Agile after its New York run because we simply wrote him a letter asking for his permission (He agreed, and we had a gold chair reserved for him at every performance). What’s great about Act Too Players is I can see Sondra giving these kids such great opportunities they may not be getting elsewhere. It’s beautiful to see them dive into the work.

JHP: Ms. Trunchbull isn’t your first time to play a campy drag character onstage, having appeared in the National Tour of Spamalot, playing, among others, Dennis’ Mother. What are the best and worst aspects of tongue-in-cheek gender switched roles?

THOMAS DeMARCUS: The best part, other than perhaps an easy laugh, is the instant recalculation for the audience. There tends to be a double-take even if they know the drag is happening. They become more attentive as they try to figure out just what’s happening and what’s appropriate to laugh at or with. I’d say the worst part is there is always a tendency to over do the character. I have to remember that Agatha Trunchbull is a woman and nothing is particularly cartoonish about Agatha’s behavior in her mind. She may be brash and bold but it needs to come from a real place or the audience will know it’s all for show. The audience is always smarter than the actors.

JHP: Among your other theatre credits, you were also among the cast of the touring company of Peter and the Starcatcher. What was your favorite aspect of touring with that particular show? 

THOMAS DeMARCUS:  I LOVED That Company. Our time together was all too short as we only toured for three months. That show was the definition of ensemble and we only had about eight days to learn the Broadway version. If you assigned a color to everyone’s walking path onstage and put it on a chart it would make a fine Rorshach experiment.  Everyone is essentially onstage for the entire play and you cannot lose focus. You are constantly moving. One hour of every rehearsal was dedicated to cardio and circuit training. You might be part of a ship or part of a mirror or part of the crocodile or lifting this actor or catching this actor okay now put this coconut bra on because now you’re a mermaid!  You couldn’t have asked for a more committed group. That show is about trust and focus and sweat! We were lucky to have a few days with the late (and a true class act) Roger Rees, who directed the Broadway version.

JHP: You now call New York home. I imagine the young cast of Matilda have been full of questions about living in THE theatrical center of the world. What advice might you offer your young cast mates who are thinking of pursuing their theatrical dreams?

THOMAS DeMARCUS:  One of the first things I was asked was whether or not I had seen Hamilton and then I got to watch their jaw drop when I said I’d seen it three times. Being in NYC and being able to watch (and occasionally work with) some of the biggest names in theatre is a complete joy. I’m not always sure how to be an advisor for younger actors, but I suppose what I wanted to hear at their age was to always enjoy art.  Whether performing, volunteering, or just watching. Enjoy it. Theatre is so beneficial to a young mind. Not  becoming a dancer who can recite Shakespeare while belting Dear Evan Hansen. Those are all great, but theatre should inspire you, and cultivate your imagination and help you grow as an individual. Follow that dream. FOLLOW IT. Also, it really will help you with math. 

JHP: What do you see as the moral of Matilda?

THOMAS DeMARCUS:  Matilda might say it best herself: “Sometimes you have to be a little bit naughty.”   

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To catch Act Too Players & AT PRO getting a little bit naughty, be sure and get tickets to Matilda at Franklin Theatre from Friday, August 2 until Sunday, August 11. Opening weekend showtimes are Friday, August 2 at 7 p.m., Saturday, August 3 at 12 noon and 6 p.m. and Sunday, August 4 at 2 p.m. The show then continues the following week with shows Tuesday, August 6 thru Friday, August 9 at 7 pm., Saturday, August 10 at 12noon and 6 p.m. and Sunday, August 11 at 2 p.m. Tickets range in price from $15 to $49 CLICK HERE to purchase tickets and to view special ticket prices for the August 6 & 7 performances.

If you’ve enjoyed this Rapid Fire 20 Q, CLICK HERE to check out previous conversations. For more about Act Too Players, CLICK HERE and be sure and follow them on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

Interested in coverage for your latest entertaining endeavor? Click the contact page and drop me a note. You can also follow JHP Entertainment on Instagram and Facebook.