I had been holding my breath for a while now, hoping for the next acting job. And by acting job I mean Theatre. In this town—Seattle—you just can’t get paid for film/TV. The opportunities are far and few and even the corporate/commercial work that occasionally comes to town is either non-union or non-paying, “something for your reel!”
So, the work I count on is tried and true: Theatre.
In the spring of 2005, I did a weeklong workshop at Seattle Children’s Theatre for a play called Jason and the Golden Fleece, a coming of age tale based on the Greek classic wherein I played Hercules, the strongest man in the world… I know what you’re thinking. Well, they threw in a line, “So, Hercules, you don’t really look like the strongest man in the world.”
And that was that. Problem solved.
Anyway. The show was intended for the 2006 season and when I auditioned for it this summer, I was somewhat surprised that they turned me down. After all, I did have the advantage of the workshop. Still, I had my sights set on Intiman’s adaptation of Richard Wright’s Native Son, hopefully playing the part of Jan, the young Communist and boyfriend to the girl Bigger murders. The script was way late in coming, tied up in rewrites and Intiman only recently held auditions for the role, which I did not get.
Things were looking pretty bleak. I couldn’t even get a part in ACT’s Christmas Carol.
But then I got a call, apparently, the person originally cast as Hercules at SCT, was also cast as Jan at Intiman. He opted for the Intiman role and SCT went to their #2: ME. Naturally, I accepted.
So, beginning October 13th and running through November 26th, I will be the strongest man in the world, which is nice.
Seeing is believing, so come see the show!
Amore, Shawn
I just wanted to say Congrats on Hercules! My daughter and I saw the show last week, and you were great! I recognized you from Gonzaga’s GUTS and Peter Pan!
Good luck and keep up the good work,
Kris