BWW Interviews: THE BOYS IN THE BAND Cast Takes On The Friday Five On A Thursday

Inspired by BroadwayWorld.com's Friday Six, welcome to Nashville.BroadwayWorld.com's latest installment of The Friday Five: five questions designed to help you learn more about the talented people you'll find onstage throughout the Volunteer state.

Yes, we have a calendar and we realize it's really Thursday, but what with Mart Crowley's The Boys in the Band opening tonight at Murfreesboro's Out Front on Main, what better way to kick off the weekend than with some insight into the men playing the boys.

Director Richard W. Browder (who plays Bernard) directs a cast that includes Asa Ambrister, Patrick Goedicke, George W. Manus Jr., Thomas Prunier, Ryan Vogel, Zach Parker, Peter Depp (from the Sundance Channel's Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys) and Blair Thompson (who took to his dressing room and refused to answer our questions-well, not really, but it sounds more interesting than "he missed the deadline, apparently.")

Now, here's the scoop on the men from The Boys in the Band. After reading these interviews, call the theater and make some reservations to catch the show before its run ends on June 17. For further information and for reservations, call (615) 869-8617 or go towww.outfrontonmain.com.

Asa Ambrister

What was your first "live onstage" taste of theater? Wearing a box and singing "I'm a Christmas Bell" for a church pageant when I was four.

What is your favorite pre-show ritual? Pacing backstage and driving everyone crazy.

What's your most memorable "the show must go on" moment? When the leading lady showed up halfway through the performance, got into a physical altercation with the director backstage, then went onstage like nothing had happened.

What's your dream role? It would be very inspiring to work with Pedro Almodovar.

Who's your theatrical crush? To quote my character in The Boys in the Band, "I love 'em all." Everyone in the cast is magnificent.

Ryan Vogel

What was your first "live onstage" taste of theater? My first acting role was George in Our Town when I was in the sixth grade. Loved it but got away from theater for a while and came back in college.

What is your favorite pre-show ritual? I don't have much of a pre-show ritual; I do have a post-show ritual. Somewhere along the line I was taught that if you are the last person to cross the stage as the building is being closed you are supposed to go center stage and bow, to thank the ghosts. Weird, I know, but I still do it.

What's your most memorable "the show must go on" moment? I directed a show and was acting in it as well, and one of the actors had a panic attack. We thought he would get it together and go on, but he never did, so we wrote a major character out of a show as it was going on. Quite a challenge but a major accomplishment for a superb cast to pull it off, the audience didn't even realize that we made it through the stage without an entire character.

What's your dream role? I have always wanted to be emcee for Cabaret but seeing as my singing ability isn't where I'd like it to be i don't see me doing that one anytime soon.

Jeffrey Ellis is a Nashville-based writer, editor and critic, who's been covering the performing arts in Tennessee for more than 25 years. He is the recipient of the Tennessee Theatre Association's Distinguished Service Award for his coverage of theatre in the Volunteer State and was the founding editor/publisher of Stages, the Tennessee Onstage Monthly. He is a past fellow of the National Critics Institute at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center and is the founder/executive producer of The First Night Honors, held during Labor Day Weekend, which honor oustanding theater artists in Tennessee in recognition of their lifetime achievements and includes The First Night Star Awards and the Most Promising Actors. Midwinter's First Night, held the first Sunday in January after New Year's Day, honors outstanding productions and performances throughout the state. Further, Ellis directed the Nashville premiere of La Cage Aux Folles, The Last Night of Ballyhoo and An American Daughter, as well as award-winning productions of Damn Yankees, Company, Gypsy and The Rocky Horror Show, with Ellis honored by The Tennessean as best director of a musical for both Company and Rocky Horror.

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