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Comtra Theatre

Annie

directed by Robert Hockenberry

December 2013

Role - Oliver (Daddy) Warbucks

warbucksWhen I was a Senior in High School, I auditioned for Annie. I was asked at the time if I would shave my head for the role of Daddy Warbucks. I said "no" even though I really wanted to play Warbucks. The actor they did cast said yes and then refused to shave his head after we were too far into rehearsals to change anything. Damn my integrity.

Anyway, this is one of the roles I've always wanted to play. Emotionally, he's everything Annie is not. He's cold, lonely and distant and it takes a poor orphan to make him realize that he has been substituting the accumulation of wealth for friendship and love.

Sure, that's easy to say. Now try to portray that on stage. I think I did a decent job showing the audience Oliver finding his humanity without making the older man/ young girl relationship creepy. 

Oliver gets to sing a lot, maybe more than Annie, which is why I find it odd that a lot of productions I've seen of Annie have a Warbucks that is not a singer. I got to sing my favorite Annie song, "NYC", and the optional "Why Should I Change a Thing?"

I even shaved my head.

robin

Comtra Theatre

Monty Python's Spamalot

directed by Robert Hockenberry

October 2013

Role - Sir Robyn / Brother Maynard / Guard #2


What can I possibly say about Spamalot? This is the show I was born to be in. I am just as silly and sarcastic as anything the Pythons can dream up and I would have given my left kidney to do this show.

Oddly, I played Sir Robyn, the not so brave as Sir Lancelot. I find this odd, because of all the cast, I'm the only one who has ever actually worn armor and wielded a sword in battle (SCA).

Robyn's big number is "You Won't Succeed on Broadway" which is a fun, albeit vocally un-challenging, song.

Also, I made all the swords and most of the armor pieces. It's amazing how you can make foam look like metal.

kemp2Comtra Theatre

Young Frankenstein

directed by Robert Hockenberry

January 18 through February 2, 2013

Role - Inspector Kemp

Mel Brook's hilarious movie came to the Comtra stage for the first show of the 2013 season. I had the pleasure to play Transylvania's Chief Inspector, Kemp. The role required a ridiculous German accent (despite the fact that he's obviously a native Transylvanian) and some very odd physical comedy. Kemp had lost his right leg and left hand to the previous Frankenstein's monster and was all the more suspicious for it.

I hobbled about the stage spouting mostly unintelligible nonsense. My favorite line - "Ve must make damned sure ve are certain before acting. Ve must make sure he is following in his Grandfodder's footschteps."

kempI had a lot of fun with this role. Kemp has a solo ("He's Loose!") and is the fifth in the Babershop Quartet ("Welcome to Transylvania") and is Frederick's main antagonist.

The hardest part about this role wasn't the accent or losing my hand a couple of times but the eye patch. It really killed my night vision and getting off the stage between scenes was challenging. I walked into quite a few things.