[NEohioPAL] Article about actor Mitch McCarrell

[Bob Abelman]

The naked truth about actors

 

Bob Abelman

News-Herald, Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times, Geauga Times Courier

Member, International Association of Theatre Critics 

 

This article, one in a series of profiles of local theater personalities,

appeared in the Times papers 5/13/10

 

Everyone has had that frightening dream.

 

You enter the classroom on the first day of school, walk toward the front to take your seat, and you realize you are naked.

 

Or you show up for the first day of work, head toward your boss's office, and you realize you are naked.

 

The unconscious mind processes our deepest fears and most sensitive insecurities in disturbingly creative ways, including dreams that expose our most private self in the most public of places. 

 

Now, imagine actually finding yourself naked in public.

 

Center stage, during a Great Lakes Theater Festival performance, where you are playing the title role.

 

On press night in front of all the local theater critics.

 

And your Mom.

 

Welcome to Mitch McCarrell's Cleveland homecoming and what, for most people, would be their worst nightmare come true.

 

Not so for Mr. McCarrell.  He is quite used to exposing himself in public, albeit emotionally.

 

Born in Ravenna, raised in Lyndhurst, and educated at University School in Hunting Valley, Mr. McCarrell has been a working professional actor since graduating from Baldwin Wallace in 2006.  After finishing Cain Park's summer production of Hair as a newly ordained Equity actor, he moved to New York City and began the ominous task of baring his soul to producers in cattle call auditions for Broadway plays and national touring companies.

 

"I knew that once I entered the professional world I would play mostly juvenile, teenage roles," admits the short, boyish-looking actor.  "I assumed that being 22 years old and right out of college would work to my advantage.  Well, I quickly learned that New York is full of guys just like me, and many well into their 30s with great connections and more experience, who are still playing the young roles."

 

He also learned that most of the work available to New York actors is not in New York, but in the circuit of professional regional theaters across the country.  "Two months after moving to the city," says Mr. McCarrell, "I booked my first job elsewhere."  Since then he has worked in Florida, California, Pennsylvania and, as of last month, in downtown Cleveland at the Hanna Theater in Bat Boy: The Musical and the repertory production of A Midsummer Night's Dream.

 

It was in Bat Boy, a modern-day gothic story set to rock-gospel music, that a significant costume malfunction occurred.  "Bat Boy" tells the satirical tale of a half-boy/half-bat struggling to find a place in a world that shuns him and the love of a family that takes him in.   

 

In Act 1, Bat Boy attacks Dr. Parker the town veterinarian, played by GLTF regular Lynn Robert Berg, and amidst the sonic bat scream and pounding music, the distinctive sound of tearing could be heard.  "And felt," recalls Mr. McCarrell, as the seam of his pants split completely from front to back to reveal. everything.  Because of the nature of his Bat Boy costume, there was virtually nothing underneath the pants except what nature had provided and what the viewing public (and critics and Mom) got to witness.

 

All the while a musical number, aptly called "Parker's Epiphany," was being played out.  Not a smirk could be seen on the faces of the seasoned ensemble and, except for subtle changes in his choreography, Bat Boy carried on with the task at hand until intermission. "It's all about the song," says Mr. McCarrell.  "It's always about the song."

 

Critics in attendance called that evening "a new opening night" and a "sneak preview performance" but, for Mr. McCarrell and his cast, this mishap was pretty much business as usual.  In truth, actors have no modesty.  Any iota of humility or reserve gets shed quickly amidst shared dressing rooms, close living quarters, quick changes, and the occasional risqué role and adult-themed play that come their way.  

 

The naked truth about professional actors like Mitch McCarrell is that their worst nightmare is not being naked on stage.  Far from it.  Their worst nightmare is not having an audience to be there when it happens.

  

A Midsummer Night's Dream continues in repertory with Bat Boy: The Musical through May 16 at PlayhouseSquare's Hanna Theatre.  

 
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