
Is this your first Sheherezade?
This is my first time to act in Sheherezade or any Wily West production, although I arranged, composed and performed music for WW's production of Patricia Milton's The Believers.
Sheherezade is an ensemble piece, which means you are playing several roles between the plays. What are the roles you are playing this year?
I play a customer at an espresso bar, an FBI agent, a day trader and Norman Rockwell.
Knowing that we all bring ourselves to the roles we play, is there a character or character's experience that you connect with in particular?
In Steve Koppman's Almost Like Being Alive, I play a guy who learns that the best way to deal with one's own sorrows is to take an interest in someone else's. Been there, done that.
An emerging theme between these plays that has really jumped out at us is reality and perception. Tell us about an experience that you thought had been one thing only to discover it was completely different.
In February, I accepted an invitation from Quinn Cayabyab to participate in developmental readings of new scripts. For the actors, these are "cold readings," meaning we have never seen the scripts before. For the playwrights, these are "developmental readings," meaning they get to hear how actors will begin to interpret their plays. We had a delightful afternoon and I met interesting and talented people. Two days later, Quinn told me that, based on the reading of Unhinged, Krista Knight, the playwright, and Wes Cayabyab, the director, wanted to offer me the role I had read in Wily West's production scheduled for October. So the casual afternoon of readings turned out to be an audition. I am thrilled with the outcome.
What do you hope audience members come away from the show with?
I hope the audience will come away from this year's Sheherezade with a recognition that life is absurd, so we may as well have a few laughs and enjoy the ride.
What are you most excited about to share with the audience?
I am most eager to share with our audiences the resonance, the vibe, the thrill (call it what you will) I feel when working with actors as talented as those cast in Sheherezade 14.