Over the past six years or so, Broadway and off- Broadway fans have had several chances to see the talents of
Wayne Alan Wilcox, who currently stars in
Chaplin as Sydney Chaplin, brother of Charlie. Maybe you caught him off-Broadway with
Blythe Danner in
Suddenly Last Summer or most recently in
Carrie. If you haven't seen
Chaplin, perhaps you saw him in
The Normal Heart or
Priscilla Queen of the Desert or in his Broadway debut in
Coram Boy.
Fortunately, you 'll get the chance to get to know him even better, whether you've seen him perform or not! Recently, I had the opportunity to interview Mr. Wilcox and ask him all about his career so far. As you'll see, he's funny, thoughtful and open. And it's one of the best interviews I've ever had to pleasure to do! Here is the first half of that conversation - including a few of the questions some of you submitted.
JEFF KYLER (JK): What great two years or so
you’ve had, huh? It sounds to me like an
actor’s dream!
WAYNE ALAN WILCOX (WW): Thanks,
man! That’s quite a compliment.
JK: How has it been to go from
the all-star revival of The Normal Heart to the highly-anticipated
revival/revised and notorious Carrie, and now a major supporting role in
Chaplin?
WW: This
is the easiest thing to answer.
Ready? All I’ve ever wanted to do
as an actor is have a career that allows me to play as many different, varied,
opposite roles as I can think up. I
thought I was lucky when I first graduated from Boston University and I got a
play. Then it was a musical, and then a
few more plays and musicals. Then I got
a television show, and I thought, “Yes! Yes! Yes! I want to do this, too!” I mean, when I discovered that I COULD do
more than just one thing, that I wanted to be more than just one character type
or genre type… Is that even a thing, a “genre type”? I guess it is. There are models that do runway, and other
models that do beauty ads, right? Why
not? I digress. Then I got hungry to see
how many different things I could do.
 |
| That TV show was Gilmore Girls. |
 |
| He played Marty, otherwise known to fans as "Naked Guy." |
JK: Considering how vastly
different the shows and your roles in them are, how do you adjust?
WW: Adjusting
is the fun part. Getting excited about
all the new challenges and study (and, with a couple of parts, new diets and
workouts), from one project to the next is why I decided I wanted to make
acting and art my life. Change is good;
adjusting is always eye-opening. As an
actor, and as a person, we need it. How I adjust is by taking on the new role,
new medium, new project by diving in from the start. I’m not really afraid of doing something
new. I want to do it. I want to learn it. That’s how I adjust.
 |
Suddenly Last Summer (Far Left)
with Gale Harold, Blythe Danner and Carla Gugino |
 |
| Coram Boy: That's Wayne, center stage, with his back to us |
JK: Unfortunately, I missed
your Broadway debut in Coram Boy. From what I’ve read, despite its short
Broadway run, everything about it was epic.
Was your debut everything you dreamed it would be?
WW: You
know, when I found out I got Coram Boy,
I was already in and off-Broadway production of Suddenly Last Summer at the Roundabout, and I thought I was lucky
but that it wouldn’t last. Before that,
I had been bar tending for awhile, and I was beginning to think that was gonna
be my life. I thought, “Yeah, I’m going
to own and run my own bar.” I was in a
relationship that was not the best thing for my heart and my spirit, and I was
trying to make that work. It
didn’t. When we got to rehearsal for Coram Boy, there was a giant turntable
in the rehearsal studio, and our director, Melly Still, started getting us into
the world of that play. It was this
giant theatrical event, and I felt like a little boy again, like I got to play
in this giant sandbox. All of a sudden,
I knew I wasn’t just lucky, that I had worked hard for this moment, and that I
wasn’t going to run a bar. (I’d be terrible at it, I know. I’d just want to give too many free drinks
away. I think everyone needs a free
drink once in awhile.) So, yeah, Coram Boy was a dream come true. I knew that I was home.
JK: What did you take away
from that production that stays with you to this day?
WW: From
that show, I learned to trust my instincts.
Like I said, I understood completely that I wanted to do this for a
living, and that I had earned that role.
I continued to trust myself, and it led me to a much more fulfilling and
honest and thoughtful performance. I
call Coram Boy my little growth spurt
because I felt like I came into my own a bit there.
JK: I remember the energy and
raw emotion in the house throughout The Normal Heart. Could you feel that from the stage?
WW: The Normal Heart was the most engaging play I
had done up to then. I mean, as soon as
we came out on stage, from the first preview, you could feel everyone in the
audience lean forward in their seat. By
the time we got to the end of Act 2, we all felt like we were carried through
on the waves coming from the audience, and then they got to cry it out. We heard sobs every night – not just
whimpers, but big, grown man I-don’t-cry sobs.
JK: Considering the constant
intensity of the piece, how did the audience help (or hinder) the company in
getting through it so many times each week?
WW: The
audience didn’t hinder anything. (Except
the ones trying to take pictures and bootleg videos. Shame on you!
It’s live for a reason.) They were with us the whole time and their
energy was electrifying. They carried us
through.
JK: The Normal Heart had a pretty swift birth on Broadway. How was it having to get the show on its feet
so quickly?
WW: Well,
everyone showed up pretty much off book on the first day, to say the
least. George Wolfe is incredibly
talented, and all of his energy was focused on getting the play up well and
right. He wanted us to do it well and
right, too. The short time that we had
to do it in wasn’t really a factor once we all adopted his focus. I mean, I’m sure the designers were tearing
their hair out. But the cast just knew
we could do it, because George told us we could. So, we did it.
 |
| The Cast of Priscilla Queen of the desert |
JK: How was it to be a part of
Priscilla Queen of the Desert?
WW: Oh, Priscilla. Never in a million years did I think I would
do that. I always wanted to, but never
thought I would. Again, I wanted to
stretch myself and play that different role.
And I got it. And I did it. And I loved it.
JK: The show looked like a TON
of fun to do. Was it as fun as it
looks?
WW: Yes,
it’s a TON of fun. Everyone had a good
time in that show. And Tony Sheldon gave
me a great gift for Chaplin. He’s a gentleman and a scholar, and I hope we
get to work together again.
JK: How does a guy from
Tennessee find his inner-Aussie, and in drag no less?
WW: You
can take the kid out of Tennessee, but you can’t take the Aussie drag queen out
of the boy from Tennessee… [That was a] lame joke that should be saying I
always had an inner Aussie drag diva in me.
I’m glad she came out and said, “hello.”
I hope everyone gets to let their drag diva out.
Talk about versatile! He works out AND walks on high-rise ledges!
SHORT ANSWERS FOR READER
QUESTIONS
Before I interviewed Mr. Wilcox, I Tweeted my followers
asking for some short answer questions, and here are a few of them, from silly
fun to pressing fan questions!
Mounds or Almond Joy? Plain or Peanut MandMs? Fruit or vegetable?
Almond
Joy. Peanut. BOTH! At least 3 servings every day.
 |
| Here's that make-up in "real life" light |
The make-up in Chaplin:
is it creepy to see backstage or is it as cool as it looks from the house?
It’s
cool. We all get a kick out of it.
If you could play any role
in Chaplin besides your own, what would it be and why?
Charlie. He gets to do so much cool stuff.
Wayne Wilcox: Bowler. Tea drinker.
 |
Chaplin: "Brothers" on Opening Night.
Who is taller? |
If your cast mates had to
describe you in 5 words or less, what do you think they’d say?
Tall. Eats.
Bowls. Teacup. Saucer.
How tall are you? You look so much taller than Rob McClure!
I’m
6’2”, not that much taller than Rob. I
look really tall on stage, I think.
(If you want to ask questions to Broadway folks in the future, be sure to “follow” me on Twitter and watch for the question request!)
Click the Chaplin logo in the left column to get a discount on tickets to see the show!
Look for Part 2 of this interview, including Chaplin dish and more of your questions, next week!
Before you go...
...have you voted in this week's HOT or NOT: THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD ENSEMBLE EDITION? CLICK the show logo on the upper left column of the page!
...have you ENTERED to WIN tickets to GOLDEN BOY? CLICK that show's logo in the left column to enter by Friday, November 2!
...have you met this week's FACE OF THE FUTURE? She's a real headline-maker! CLICK her picture in the right hand column to find out more about this Newsies gal!
Comments? Questions? @jkstheatrescene (Twitter); jkstheatrescene@yahoo.com (Email); or leave a comment below and check a box!
