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Meet Aaron Graham
Hometown: Deerfield, Illinois
Roles in RTSF '08:
Dromio of Ephesus in The Comedy of
Errors
Florizel in The Winter's Tale
How did you get involved in acting?
I got
seriously hooked after playing Harold Hill in The Music Man during my sophomore
year of high school. Although I didn't decide to pursue a professional
acting career until I graduated college (I majored in American
history). I always loved performing, but I was busy in college trying
to be "responsible" and head towards a "reputable career". That didn't
take, apparently.
What was your first
acting experience?
My very first? I'm thinking it was during a
Fourth of July variety show in my hometown, called "American Pie". I
was probably no more than 8 years old. And as I recall, all us men did
the big macho dance number from Fiddler
on the Roof. Wait, can Fiddler
be macho? Probably not. But we tried. I'm it was very cute and all the
wives and mothers kvelled.
What has been your
favorite role?
Harold Hill in The Music Man will probably always
be one of my favorite roles, just because of how much that experience
meant to me, playing it in high school. In 2007, I played Tateh in Ragtime with Porchlight Music
Theatre in Chicago and that was an amazing experience for many reasons.
A close second favorite would be Dr. Mendel in Falsettos.
What is your
favorite play?
Hmmm...there are many. I like Hamlet a lot. And MacBeth. Romeo and Juliet is lovely of
course. August: Osage County
is an excellent piece of work, if you don't mind me skipping ahead 400
years or so. And if you want to include musicals, well, I'm a big fan
of Into the Woods, Sweeney Todd, The
Last Five Years, Bat Boy, Urinetown, Parade, Light in the Piazza...modern
shows like that.
Who is your favorite
Shakespeare character?
Probably Richard III, or Iago. Although I
would love to play MacDuff someday and have a good cry when he learns
his family has been slaughtered. That'd be sweet.
Why does performing
Shakespeare interest you?
Music has always been an important part of my
life, and learning the language of Shakespeare is absolutely akin to
learning a unique type of music for me. I love the challenge of
deciphering the code inherent in his poetry. He was brilliant at
communicating to his actors through his punctuation, meter, and word
choices, but it often takes a bit of effort to suss out the "true"
meaning (for me it does, anyway). So for me, it's a very exciting
challenge to perform Shakespeare's musical language, so that what's
finally communicated to an audience is clear and honest.
Who are your heroes?
My mom.
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