Q: When did you get into the arts?
A: I was nine years old when I started singing in the Chicago’s Children’s Choir. Then, when my father who owned an advertising agency in Chicago needed kids for some radio commercials, my sister and I did them. A little later, I got cast in “Three and Me” at Pegasus Players in Chicago. My next venture into the professional world was when I was thirteen at the Goodman Theatre when Gregory Mosher directed “Enemy of the People” with Paul Winfield and William Marshall.
Q: Do you come from a family of artists?
A: Both of my parents were creative. My father was a musician, not professional, but he played piano. Everyone in his family played something. He grew up with music and my brother, sister, and I grew up with music. My mother is a fulltime and freelance writer and editor. Both my parents received Clio Awards for a series of song length advertising sung by Johnnie Taylor and Wolfman Jack for the Citizen’s Alliance for VD Awareness in Chicago. My mother wrote the lyrics and my father produced.
My parents made sure we were exposed to the arts - opera, symphony, theatre, ballet. We grew up to be very different people but we’re all well rounded. My parents were always very supportive of whatever we wanted to do, they just wanted to make sure we did it right. They were great that way and I thank them very much.
Q: Did you always want to be an actor?
A: In undergrad, I decided not to act anymore. I was going to go into pre-law, to become a lawyer. In my application essay to Lawrence University, I wrote about my theatre experiences. The Associate Dean of Admissions was an advisor to the black student organization and encouraged me to audition for the “Dutchman” by Leroi Jones which was being produced for black history month that year. I ended up doing it. Another advisor for the black student organization was the head of the Theatre Department and said to me - “you need to come and take some classes,” so I did and fell back into theatre and ended up with a Bachelor’s degree in theatre.
Q: What was your first exposure to Shakespeare and did you like it?
A: I saw a lot of Shakespeare at the Court Theatre in Chicago when I was a kid and always liked it. In high school, some friends of mine and I in an advanced English class designed a class where we read Shakespeare plays aloud with a teacher for three or four days, however long it took, and then spent the last day or two discussing the plays as readers and actors. The other guys were actors too.
As an undergrad at Lawrence, I worked with the ACTER Program which is a program where members of the Royal Shakespeare Company and National Theatre of Great Britain do residencies at various universities in the United States. Those experiences are the foundation of my love for Shakespeare and led me to focus on the classics in my career. If you can do Shakespeare the rest is easy.
Q: How did you get into teaching?
A: Teaching and directing came about naturally and by being open to opportunities. I teach at the Shakespeare Theatre Company (STC) and the National Conservatory for Dramatic Arts (NCDA) and coach private clients. Just to see my students progress and grow is always moving. It’s great to help people build that wheel then watch it roll away. It’s lovely to see and it’s fun. I can go into a classroom feeling grumpy, then come out feeling really great.
I tell students that acting is the simplest thing in the world, but it’s very difficult to do well. Acting is about playing objectives and tactics in given circumstances, under heightened situations, at extreme moments. The idea is simple. The hard part is getting it down to something that’s universal and understandable. You’re always going to bring yourself to a character, but the goal is to inhabit that character without getting too much of yourself in the way. It’s really simple in theory, but very difficult to execute well.
At the STC and NCDA, I’ve worked with children as young as six all the way up to senior citizens. At the STC, I work mainly with high schoolers but I’ve also done residencies for middle schoolers and worked with some really talented and interesting people, both students and colleagues. The age range of NCDA students runs the gamut - from just out of high school to second career folks - all in the same classroom, which is really cool. My NCDA colleagues are terrific, too.
I really have to thank the folks at both those organizations for teaching me so much. I talked to Dawn McAndrews, Education Director at the STC, for about five minutes at the intermission of a play, which led to five years of ongoing education and employment for me. NCDA has given me room to explore what I can do as a teacher and more especially as a director sending me to places I didn’t know I could go. For instance, when the resident Commedia dell’Arte specialist at NCDA, Ray Ficca, was out of town doing a show, I took over the directing and now I have a pretty firm grasp on what Commedia is about.
Q: So you’re directing, too?
A: Yeah, I enjoy directing. I enjoy the rehearsal process. It’s about what’s happening in that room and space at that particular time and getting from zero to sixty in however many weeks we have to work on the play. It also allows me to constantly learn.
Directing is along the path of a very long journey for me. As a director, I strive for the same things I strive for as an actor - clarity and specificity, and telling the story as truthfully as possible; but as a director, I also get to guide people - and I’m good at it. I don’t say that to toot my own horn, it wasn’t something I really had ever thought about until some of my teachers in graduate school started telling me to explore directing, saying - you’d be a good director, you’ve got a good eye for what the story is about and how to articulate it so that it’s understandable on almost any level whether to an actor with a vast amount of experience or to an actor of little experience.
Q: What would you ultimately like to do?
A: Everything - teach, direct, and act. My ideal combination is directing a couple of shows a year, being in a show, and teaching. I’m in talks with colleges about doing residencies where I teach classes on styles of acting or theory, and direct a play, or perform as a guest artist.
Q: What advice do you have for actors?
A: My biggest recommendation for actors is to train, train, train and after they’ve finished training, train some more. Actors should always take classes and train no matter what level they’re at because there’s always more to learn, a new perspective, a new vocabulary, or a new game to get them to that place they’re trying to get to, which is the truth. If somebody can look at what you do and recognize a truth that he or she didn’t know already or wasn’t able to articulate, then you have a chance of changing somebody’s life which is pretty amazing.
Also, professionalism goes a long way in this business - show up on time, know your lines, and leave your personal lives outside. Your reputation is probably one of the most important things you have, especially since the acting business is a small world, so guard your reputation well. Everybody knows everybody else. I’ve done plays all over the country and have never been in a show where I either didn’t know somebody or somebody knew somebody I know.
While there’s always a certain amount of ego involved in anybody being actor, there has to be because you have to build that toughness or you aren’t going to make it because it’s a rough business - remember it’s not about being a star, it’s about the work. Always behave professionally.
Learn how to deal with rejection. It’s not always about you. All those reasons that you think might have caused you to not have gotten the job - oh, I was terrible that day, I had a cold, my voice was awful - might not have anything to do with it. You might be too tall, too short, too black, too white, too old, too young, just not the type they’re looking for. It could be a thousand things that have nothing to do with your talent or skill.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I’m thinking of producing a show with actors with less experience working with more seasoned actors. That would be a learning experience for both. A lot of students worry about getting it wrong or disappointing the teacher. Their focus is pulled away from the real objective, which is the story and the other actor on the stage; it should not be in pleasing the teacher or getting it “right.” When you’ve got two students approaching the scene, character, and each other tentatively, it’s hard for them to move forward. It’s the rare student actor whom I’ve met who will go out and commit. The internal editor is always berating them. I tell students all the time - nobody is going to die if you mess up, and maybe you won’t, just go out there and try it, just go all the way, commit to it, take a risk. When students work with professional actors who commit to a role from the start, they can set aside that inner critic and focus on the true goal, which is the truth of the moment. This way, seasoned actors pass on their experience to lesser experienced actors who can then see what it’s like to work with somebody who’s already there. I know that works because every once at the NDCA I’ve filled in as a scene partner for a student who isn’t in class. I can commit to the role and not worry about pleasing the teacher, ’cause I am the teacher. I’ve had students come to me and say it was a whole different experience for them. I’d like more students to have that kind of experience. I’ve seen how it helps them grow as actors. The pros get a chance to play and remember why we do this crazy thing and maybe see the value of passing the craft on. Of course, I have to find a budget for this, but that’s how it goes. Georenman3@aol.com