Hometown: Glencoe, IL
Education: BFA --Juilliard (Group 37)
Select Credits: Aw jeez, alright -- Donogoo (The Mint Theatre); The Why Overhead by Adam Szymkowitz; Sometimes In Prague (The Tank / SOHO Ice Factory Festival / Joe's Pub); The Champion (BRIC Arts); tons of Ten Bones Theater Company's "Entirely From Memory" shows.
Why theater?: It's a question I ask myself a lot
Who do you play in Coping?: Lucas
Tell us about Coping: "The Big Chill" meets Pirandello; to say any more would spoil it.
What is it like being a part of Coping?: What ISN'T it like; it's like hitting a family reunion for the first time in ages -- intense, rife with feeling -- only you made said family a week ago. Intimate.
What kind of theater speaks to you? Who or what inspires you as an artist?: I want theater to shake me from my everyday, from my expectations of life. This is a golden age for television and -- great as it is (and, man, is it great) -- as Andy Greenwald said in a Grantland review of "Sense 8": it's safe. It dangles its characters over a deep ravine of terror and change but returns to the same beats time and time again. And again; I say this as someone who LOVES television (I'm watching "Rick and Morty" now, as I write this). So I want the opposite from theater -- I want a human experience whose underlying beats couldn't play in the background of anything, anywhere, ever. I don't care if said theater's three hours long or ten minutes long, naturalistic or not. I want theater to shake me, end of story. Almost everyone, everything. The four works that come to mind at the moment are Boogie's The Reach, which is a grossly good slice of socially conscious hip hop (stream it here), "Rick And Morty", that new CHVRCHES song (they've grown yet not at all, that track is artful comfort food) and "Golan The Insatiable," which follows its bliss to deeply strange places; it's great to watch a show get itself into trouble it can't get out of. Any roles you’re dying to play?: Konstantine, Konstantine, Konstantine (The Seagull.) Joe Strummer; I would love a crack at Matt Murdock; Shane in Take Me Out.
What’s your favorite showtune?: Oh God, straight toss up between "Being Alive" and "This Isn't Over Yet", with "Cut You A Piece" gaining ground.
If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: Ivo Van Howe.
Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: Justin Long -- "You Should Hear This Band"
If you could go back in time and see any play or musical you missed, what would it be?: The first Broadway run of True West
What show have you recommended to your friends?: I was stunned by New Country at Cherry Lane / Rattlestick; Wolf Alice, who are must-see live material: "Gravity Falls" on Disney XD. No, really -- please watch "Gravity Falls."
What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: I have zero guilt about what I watch or listen to, so: League Of Legends? Probably League of Legends.
What’s up next?: More Ten Bones shows at Videology and The PIT; a pilot for Vanity Fair; "Ambition's Debt", which features Peter McRobbie and Kathleen Chalfant; possibly League Of Legends.
For more on Coping, visit www.CopingPlay.com