Q&A: IU student actor John Armstrong
John Armstrong, a master of fine arts acting candidate in the IU Bloomington Department of Theatre and Drama, speaks to "Live at IU" about his numerous and diverse summer and fall projects. He is currently performing in the toe-tapping family musical Smoke on the Mountain at the Brown County Playhouse in Nashville, Ind., and next month will participate in IU's inaugural New Musical Development Workshop, which will provide support for new musicals that otherwise might never get produced. In the fall, he will star as one of dramatic literature's most legendary characters -- John Proctor -- in Arthur Miller's The Crucible, to be performed at IU Bloomington in November. In this interview, he talks about the challenges of creating and switching roles, singing gospel tunes, taking part in a national tour and learning -- for the first time -- to sing and play an instrument simultaneously.
IU theatre student John Armstrong stars in the musical "Smoke on the Mountain" at the Brown County Playhouse in Nashville, Ind. The show is directed by IU professor George Pinney.
LIU: It's been written about Smoke on the Mountain that the show is a "guaranteed cockle-warmer" and "a laugh-a-second evening," and that "anybody with a sliver of South in their souls is guffawing…even wiping away a tear." Cockle-warming and loud guffaws aside, how would you describe it?
JA: Smoke on the Mountain is a fun evening of entertainment that offers something for everyone. No matter your religious or musical preferences, anyone can appreciate the clever humor and well-arranged music. Audiences of all types have been walking away from the theatre smiling and tapping their feet.
LIU: What should audiences be prepared for? A traditional musical? An old-fashioned revival meeting? A good-old hootenanny?
JA: Well, Smoke definitely isn't a "traditional" musical. The show bills itself as a real life Saturday night revival. The cast of genuine characters addresses the audience directly and treats them as the "congregation." So, everyone in the theatre plays a part in the show. There's lots of audience interaction which makes for a good time for all.
LIU: Were you a fan of bluegrass and gospel music? What was it like singing such familiar gospel hymns such as "In the Garden" and "I'll Fly Away?"
JA: It has been a bit nostalgic for me to revisit all the old gospel tunes I sang as a child. Although my focus has gone elsewhere, I was kind of raised on country and bluegrass, so it has been a lot of fun to put that style back into my voice.
LIU: Is it true that you and your fellow castmates will be performing the gospel group's instruments? Are you an actual musician, too? What instrument will you be playing?
JA: I never felt more inadequate than the first day of rehearsal when the music director said, "alright, everybody get out your instruments," and I was completely empty handed. Before long we had guitar, banjo, ukulele, flute, cello, fiddle, piano, two accordions and a whole slew of "old-timey" percussion instruments. I soon found out that I would have to learn how to play the autoharp. It's not a complicated instrument, but for someone who has NEVER attempted to play and sing at the same time, it was extremely difficult. It gave me a whole new appreciation for instrumentalists who sing (like those in the current Broadway production of Sweeney Todd). You don't realize how much you rely on a conductor to set tempos and an accompanist who does nothing but sit at the piano until they are both vacant. It was a completely new experience performing with a band, which we have now become. Admittedly, the autoharp isn't a vital piece of that band, but nonetheless...we are doing all the music live every night, and it's really starting to take off.
LIU: What's it like to work with a real live Tony nominee (director George Pinney)?
JA: George Pinney and I have a long history and a fantastic working relationship. This is our seventh musical together (not including cabarets and benefit performances), and we have developed a great trust with one another. I trust him to create an environment where creativity is most accessible, and he trusts me to be creative. He always challenges his actors to find the real truth in a role, whether it be Sondheim or Smoke on the Mountain.
LIU: Beginning in late July, you will take part in Indiana University 's inaugural New Musical Development Workshop, which will serve as an incubator for new musicals that might otherwise not get an opportunity to be produced and developed. How important is this project for the future of musicals?
JA: This project, and others like it, are vital to the survival of musical theatre. It is incredibly hard to get a musical produced in the professional theatre. And if you do manage to get one produced, and you haven't done the appropriate readings and rewrites, and the musical isn't well received, years of hard work could be flushed down the drain. That is why programs like this one are so useful to playwrights. It gives them a chance to work on their pieces with actors and directors, and gets them in front of an audience to gauge the reaction. But being in Bloomington, they do not run the risk of bombing in front of a high profile public audience like they would in a large city. For that reason, I think it will attract lots of important people and really put IU and Bloomington on the national theatrical map.
LIU: What does the workshop mean for you, as an aspiring young actor?
JA: It's a great chance to create a role without a preconception based on who has done it before you. You also get to create the role with the person who wrote it, so you can get input on the author's intentions....as well as give feedback on how you feel the character is drawn. And of course, it is an opportunity to network and hopefully be seen by some important people.
LIU: You were the understudy for the Cat in the Hat in the national tour of Seussical the Musical. How valuable an experience was this? More importantly, did you find yourself suddenly conversing in rhyming verse?
JA: Touring was a great experience. It was difficult -- you learn some pretty inventive ways to sleep upright. The schedule was tough, but it was great seeing the country and working on a great show. Also, I had the pleasure of meeting Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty (the Tony-winning composer/lyricist duo who wrote shows like Ragtime) who did some rewriting for us...it turns out they were very pleased with the production, which made us all really proud. I can't say that we rhymed a lot, but we did think of lots of alternate "Seussian" lyrics to the songs....not always entirely appropriate.
LIU: You've been the Cat in the Hat and a member of the Sanders Family Singers and, this fall, you will appear (for your master's thesis project) as John Proctor in Arthur Miller's The Crucible. Do you enjoy the variety of performing different roles?
JA: From Smoke on the Mountain to The Crucible. These two shows, I think, will represent the absolute extremes in my body of work...and sometimes I chuckle when I think about going from one to the other. But, playing a variety of roles really keeps you on your toes. It is always my job to find the truth within the parameters of the style of the show, no matter the genre. I returned to graduate school to concentrate on acting and have had the chance to play some great characters in dramatic literature (John Proctor will be the most exciting), but it has been really nice on occasion to take the acting training and apply it to musical theatre, my first love. Music communicates in a way that dialogue cannot....and it really speaks to me
LIU: What's in your future? Broadway? Movies? The Disney Channel original movie Grad School Musical (just kidding)?
JA: Heh heh....who knows? I came to get my master's because I want to have a place in the theatre for the long term. I did the starving artist thing in New York for awhile, and I was able to get work....but I just know there's gotta be a better way to go about it. So, my wife and I are trying to plant the seeds for a fertile future in the theatre. Broadway would be a dream and maybe someday we'll find a path there...but for now, we'll just enjoy our beautiful son, Jack, and take life one opportunity at a time. Unless one of your readers would like to become my private benefactor!
LIU: Thanks, John. Break a leg!
For more about the productions that John Armstrong will perform in this summer and fall, visit the IU Department of Theatre and Drama's Web site at http://www.indiana.edu/~thtr/.
