Over the next few weeks, the blog will feature interviews with the amazing cast of Spring’s Awakening, which opens July 8 at the Wilkerson Theatre in Sacramento. First up is the charming Kenny Sharman.
Spring’s Awakening will be Kenny Sharman’s first performance with The Alternative Arts Collective, but he discovered his love for the stage as a junior in high school when he played the Winged Monkey in The Wiz. He’s been performing around Sacramento ever since.
In Spring’s Awakening, he plays the innocent and tortured Moritz, who is trying desperately to pass to the next grade and understand his sexuality. Here’s what Kenny has to say about that role and his acting background.
Who is Moritz and what do you like about playing him?
Moritz is just a regular teenage boy going through puberty. He constantly strives to make his parents proud, but in doing so loses his ability to actually enjoy himself. I like playing him because he challenges me as an actor. He’s really conflicted with himself and his feelings, which adds so much depth to him as a character.
What is challenging about playing Moritz?
A whole bunch of things. But as I said that’s why I like him. Probably the biggest challenge is making sure I get the whole arc of his character down. He actually goes through a drastic change in the show, and if I don’t convey that properly I’ll just confuse the audience.
Probably the biggest challenge is making sure I get the whole arc of his character down. He actually goes through a drastic change in the show, and if I don’t convey that properly I’ll just confuse the audience.
What kind of input have you had into how your part is played and how has that helped you as an actor?
First off I need to say that Richard Spierto is an amazing director. He’s the kind of director who understands that character relationships run a scene as opposed to staged movements with a line here and a line there. He has worked a lot with all the actors on character development, and it really shows with everyone in the cast.
To me, personally, he understood where I wanted to take the character and ran with it. I’m still acting under the overall guidelines of how he wants the character to fit within the show, but when it comes to smaller decisions of places where I want the character to go, he allows for that experimenting.
How are you and Moritz alike?
Honestly, he is completely different from me. He’s timid, I’m social. He constantly over-reacts to things, while I let things go very easily. Probably the only thing we do have in common is the commpassion we both have towards others. But I guess that’s what attracted me to playing such a character.
What do you like about Spring’s Awakening?
For me the best thing about this play is how much comedy is in it. When most people think of Spring Awakening, they think tragic. What most don’t realize is that the original play is actually very funny. While the show is still a tragedy, the humorous moments add a lot more to the show and also enhance the tragic scenes much more.
When most people think of Spring Awakening, they think tragic. What most don’t realize is that the original play is actually very funny.
Did you know anything about the play before auditioning for it? Can you tell us about your audition experience?
I knew of both the play and the musical before my audition. I love the musical, and I saw it when it came here to Sacramento two years ago. I found out it was a play through my girlfriend who had to read the it for school. The audition was one of the first straight play auditions I had done in a long while, so it was a tad nerve-racking, especially when I was also auditioning for a different company where I knew practically no one. But the audition itself went fine.
What was your first theater experience?
My first theatre experience is also one of my biggest memories. I did my first ever musical at my old high school during my junior year. It was The Wiz, and I was cast as the Winged Monkey. The costume I was given was this full body unitard with a cape attached to it. How that didn’t scar me from musical theatre altogether I’m not completely sure.
When I came on stage for my first opening night ever I ran from off stage and jumped and slid for my entrace, as I had practiced. Only this time I lost my grip on my feet, slipped, and landed straight on my back. I quickly got back up and improv’d an “I-meant-to-do-that” look. It seemed to work–the audience assumed I meant to fall, and I got a big laugh for it. That is one I will definitely remember.
What has been your favorite show or role you have played?
One my favorite roles ever was Thenardier in Les Miserables. Les Mis is one of my favorite shows, and the fact that I was able to play a character in that show was amazing in and of itself.
Picking a favorite show is a lot harder because the comradery I make with every cast always makes the show worthwhile, but I guess if I had to choose it would be when I did The Wiz at Sacramento State. Everyone, from the cast to the orchestra band members, all felt like one big family. One big trifilin’ family.
Spring’s Awakening, the Frank Wedekind play that inspired the award-winning musical, opens July 8 at the Wilkerson Theatre, 25th & R, Sacramento. Runs through August 7, Fridays and Saturdays at 8, Sundays at 2. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased at www.brownpapertickets.com, or at the box office the night of the show. (Please note, the show contains sexually explicit scenes and may be inappropriate for a younger audience.)
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