Saturday, August 15, 2015

Spotlight On...Jack Herholdt

Name: Jack Herholdt

Hometown: Milford DE

Select Credits: I just completed a run in A Midsummer Night’s Dream Off-Broadway with the Masterworks Theater Company. Some other favorites include an annual production of Truman Capote’s A Christmas Memory and my play Bacchae Redux where I played Dionysus.

Why theater?: I seriously believe that I can’t do anything else, it’s all I’ve done my entire life. It’s the only place I feel %100 alive.

Who do you play in Night With Guests?: I play ‘Boy’ who is the youngest member of the family that is at the center of the play.

Tell us about Night With Guests: It’s a ‘physical verse’ play written by Peter Weiss about a family that is set upon by an intruder. It centers around two children and the fable of how they were introduced to the brutal realities of life with terrorists. It’s about the efforts of their parents to teach them how to deal with a dreadful intruder, while the parents themselves struggle to manage their own fate and all-too-justified fears. It’s a political allegory about the horrors of war, occupation, and rule by murder, told from the point of view of a civil and compassionate family. That being said, it’s wildly theatrical and combines elements of Kabuki, Punch and Judy and basic German fairground performance techniques into something that is immensely entertaining.
 
What is it like being a part of Night With Guests?: Fascinating. I rarely get to work on something with this kind of extreme physicality, so it’s been very challenging and very rewarding. Also, the verse Peter Weiss wrote is wonderful to work on.
                                                             
What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: I like theater that is challenging and surprising for both the audience and the performers. What inspires me is life in general. We are pretty complex creatures and exploring humanity and the choices people make never gets old.

Any roles you’re dying to play?: The list is ever expanding. Richard II for sure, the Emcee in Cabaret, Mordred in Camelot. I’m currently obsessed with Lucky in Waiting for Godot so I’m going to throw that out in the universe too.

What’s your favorite showtune?: The entire score of Sweeney Todd.

If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: Stephen Spinella and Brent Carver, who I happen to idolize.

Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: It would obviously be called "Schmacting and Shenanigans" and would star a complete unknown who was hopefully very young and very attractive.

If you could go back in time and see any play or musical you missed, what would it be?: Threepenny Opera with Lotte Lenya.

What show have you recommended to your friends?: Hand to God. All of my friends have been recommending Hamilton to me, so that’s the next thing I have to see.

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: "Game of Thrones" fan theories, yep you heard me.

What’s up next?: In September I’ll be participating in an all day event called “Hour by Hour Susan Glaspell." It’s September 12 at the June Havoc Theater. We will be exploring the works of Susan Glaspell, who many people don’t know but she was a true pioneer of modern theater. The event is being produced by the American Bard Theater Company of which I am a member. It’s going to be an incredible day.

For more on Night With Guests, visit http://bloodstonetheatrical.com