Interview: Nick Arapoglou Talks Portraying a Superhero in THE TOXIC AVENGER at Horizon Theatre

Atlanta's favorite green superhero is back for a weekend in the park.

Nick Arapoglou (Suzi Bass Award-winner, AVENUE Q) and the cast of Horizon Theatre's THE TOXIC AVENGER have returned to the stage for an encore weekend, bringing the musical to audiences for free in Piedmont Park. This makes Arapoglou's second consecutive summer leading a Horizon Theatre musical revival in the park, having led AVENUE Q last year. Below, see what he has to say about this whirlwind show and fulfilling his dream of being a superhero!

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What can you tell me about your run so far of THE TOXIC AVENGER?

The show is going great. We've had excellent audience response from it. It's probably the strongest cast I've worked with in a long time like, person per person. It's an excellent cast. They keep describing it as five musical theatre powerhouses. [laughs] But it really is a special show because by the end of it, everybody is sweating; they look like they probably could fall over. I mean the amount of energy expended in that room is insane. Rock singing and dancing, so many costume changes, musical instruments being played, it's a wild show.

I know you did Princeton in AVENUE Q last year again, and didn't you do ROMEO AND JULIET for a while. So is this one of the first new roles you've created in a while?
Yes, all of the shows- I did GIFTS OF THE MAGI three times, then ROMEO AND JULIET twice, then AVENUE Q three times. All of those shows are super special for different reasons, and I'm really glad that I did them, but I was definitely excited to do a new role, new show. It's time. And this was kind of the perfect one to do because I'd never seen it, I barely knew the music- just enough to get a sense of the show- and the creative team trusted me enough at this point to work with them to use my own creativity, so I'm not just copying something that's already out there. So I felt like I had a lot of creative license to let a lot of stuff fly and have a lot of fun. We're not even supposed to play musical instruments- it's not written in there, we just put it in. There's a lot of stuff that we put in there that I think makes our production unique, which is kind of how it is with that creative team.

So how, specifically, do you feel like you bring yourself to your character?
I mean, completely I do, because, well first of all, he starts off as a huge nerd, and I think I'm kind of a huge nerd. And then he transforms into something else. Basically, the long and the short of the story is that Melvin is an aspiring earth scientist and he lives in a town where there's been a lot of toxic waste that's been dumped, a lot of pollution and it's controlled by this big corporation. And so he kind of starts to uncover all of this and he takes it to the mayor and stands up to her at the advice of Sarah, who's the town's blind librarian who he's in love with, and she kind of psychs him up to talk to the mayor. The mayor obviously doesn't like that somebody's digging up dirt on her, so she hires some guys to throw him in a vat of toxic waste, and it should have killed me, but it doesn't as the superhero story goes.

I mean it's fun- who doesn't want to play a superhero? It's a weird superhero, he's not one that's much talked about although he was a Marvel character with his own comic book and was mildly successful. It's a fun thing to come out and have super strength and there is something about putting the suit on, and the lights flashing and there's smoke and as much as it's goofy and a joke, there is something fun about that! As far as how I'm bringing myself to it, I think my sense of humor is very present in the role. And because I've never seen the show, all my choices are completely mine. I have no idea what the guy before me [Off-Broadway] did. I'm sure he was excellent, I just don't know it.

What's been the most challenging part of this role?
There are a few. I don't know that I can choose just one. Finding the voice for it- being able to place it- I have to make Melvin very different than the Toxic Avenger, so finding a place in my voice that was deep and sounded like someone who'd gotten thrown in toxic waste without hurting my voice was important. It's hard singing. And going from a nerd version which is basically just a heightened version of my voice to a Toxic Avenger who's got more of a rock and roll, growly sound and to sustain it for eight weeks was a challenge, as well as the actual suit and mask. It's very hot.

The team has been super helpful finding ways to make it better for me or safer. At first, it just didn't breathe anywhere, and the mask wasn't vented and we didn't know what to put under it. The first full run, I came out and I was like, white. So they've vented it a little. I wear a sweatband underneath, with a Dryfit shirt that I change at intermission, I drink an entire bottle of PediaLite, which is basically Gatorade for kids, just with less sugar. Athletes drink it, because it's an incredible amount of electrolyte. It's like drinking an IV, sort of.

It's a challenge, because you really do have to take care of yourself in this roll. I know for the other cast members, three of them have incredibly hard quick-changes. But it's crazy because there's two guys who play like 25 characters each or something crazy- they play women and dress in full heels in a dress- and it's full costume changes. It's not just, throw a jacket on, it's full costume changes. And then Leslie, who was Christmas Eve in AVENUE Q with me, has a whole song where she sings to herself as two different characters, sort of like a comedic Jekyll and Hyde thing. It's incredibly difficult. She doesn't make it seem difficult, but it's a really funny song. Definitely a show-stopper.

Have y'all received some really good audience responses?
The responses have been amazing. People are always like, "This should be in New York!" But after a while, it's sort of like, "Well, aren't you glad it's here though?" I love Atlanta! But the audiences have loved it. I think anyone who was skeptical, very few people will leave not glad. They're glad they came. Everybody's laughing. We've had a standing ovation at the end of every show; I don't think we could have a better reaction. I think it's a tricky show to sell in the beginning, because people hadn't heard of it. So we were just relying on word of mouth. Towards the end [of the original Horizon Theatre run] we were getting great houses, and it's been nice to see people spreading the word.

What's been your favorite part of the process?
Honestly, it's probably my cast. Like I said, we're a really tight ensemble. Everyone really trusts each other out there, so there's new ideas and jokes happening every day that catch you off guard, but you have to think on your toes. I've had a really great time. I've obviously worked with Leslie a lot, so we have that kind of comedic trust with each other where we bounce ideas off each other and we never really know what the other person's gonna do, so there's always a minute, a little look in her eye or mine, that says, "What are you about to do here?" But it's fun! The audiences love when you switch it up just a little bit to keep it fresh. But it's a great group. We really enjoy each other's company. Everybody's equal in energy and commitment to the show. So it's like an energy pinball bouncing off everybody, and the audience feels that. So my favorite part is working with all of them.

Have there ever been unexpected things that happened that threw you off, and you had to recuperate?
Well it's live theatre, so absolutely! And with all the understudies coming in, they've done a great job, but of course things have gone... a little differently than others. My mask has ripped open on stage, my zipper broke on my suit, so it was open, I mean there have been all sorts of things that have happened, but we just roll with it. That's live theatre. There's a part where Julissa brings out a plate of French fries- they look like French fries, but they're obviously just foam, and they're hot glued together on this plate. So there was a strand of hot glue that was just hanging off the dish, and just one French fry was dangling, but it's a clear thread of hot glue, so it looked like it was just levitating. So she comes in, and there's this one fry hanging back and forth, and I could hear the audience kind of making a sound about it, so I was thinking, "Should I just keep going, or do I need to acknowledge the fact that there's a phantom French fry..?" So I was in the middle of my line, and I was like, "I need to leave right a- how is that happening?" and just watched it [laughs]. The whole audience cracked up. It's so silly. If those are the things people like to see, then when a prop goes wrong or somebody misses their entrance- that's the kind of thing people like to see. It's fun.

What's coming up for you next?
I have like four or five different films that are supposed to be released this year. Some of them are blink and you miss me, so we'll see if I make the cut, but some of them are some nice roles. But I'm focusing a lot on the camera side of things. It was nice to start off the year with this, because I love theatre. I tend to book more things on camera when I'm doing theatre, because I feel like entering this invigorated and active when I do theatre, so I do a better job when I'm on camera. But that being said, it does take a lot of time. I'm in a movie called TABLE 19, starring Anna Kendrick, Lisa Kudrow, Craig Robinson. One called THE ACCOUNTANT that I'm in with Ben Affleck, a movie called THE BOSS starring Melissa McCarthy. And then I have some pending roles that I'm hoping I'll book. If a theatre opportunity comes up, I'll always look at it and see if I can do it, but I'm focusing on camera this year.

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Nick Arapoglou is thrilled to be back at Horizon, where he last appeared in the remount of Avenue Q as Princeton, a role that won him the Suzi Bass Award for Best Actor in a Musical. Other credits include: My Name is Asher Lev, Gifts of the Magi (Theatrical Outfit), Bobby Strong in Urinetown (Fabrefaction), Romeo in R&J (Shakespeare Tavern), and Spring Awakening (Actor's Express). On Camera credits: Over 30 National/Regional Commercials and TV appearances on AMC, FX, BET, OWN, and VH1. Look for him in upcoming movies Table 19 and The Accountant (both starring Anna Kendrick), and Michelle Darnell (starring Melissa McCarthy).

Catch Arapoglou in The Horizon Theatre's THE TOXIC AVENGER through tomorrow, June 12! For more information, click here.