THE FRIDAY FIVE: TWAIN AND SHAW'S Brian Hill and Michael Roark

Inspired by BroadwayWorld.com's Friday Six, welcome to BroadwayWorld Nashville's freshest 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. This week the spotlight falls on two actors who are sharing the stage in the Nashville premiere of 2012 First Night Honoree Chambers Stevens' Twain and Shaw Do Lunch, directed by veteran director Melissa Carelli: Brian Hill and Michael Roark, arguably two of Music City's finest actors, onstage together playing literary lions Mark Twain and George Bernard Shaw, respectively.

First up is Brian Hill...

What was your first "live onstage" taste of theater? The first show I saw on Broadway was the original production of Mame with Angela Lansbury in 1966. The first show I acted in was an all-child production of The Mikado. I played Nanki-Poo at the age of nine9. It was a hoot. Mothers running everywhere, helping us with our costumes and applying our make-up, bringing us drinks (with straws, so we wouldn't destroy said costumes or make-up), etc.-it was a pretty cushy experience. These days I'm happy if I get a bathroom to myself for a few minutes to change.

What is your favorite pre-show ritual? Phones: off. Opera : Italian. Bath: long, hot, bubbles optional.

What's your most memorable "the show must go on" moment? I'd been asked at the last minute to replace a director for a local production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. Our twins were not quite a year old, and I wasn't planning on doing much theater during that period. But I agreed, ended up taking the kids with me to rehearsal most nights (they would roll around in little scooter seats, get in the way of the cast, who were all very good about it, but would sort of shove them across the rehearsal room floor if they got in the way) and it was a largely wonderful experience.

The show opened well, but, on the night of the second performance, the phone rang just as I sat down to my first real meal with the family in a long time. One of the actors had fallen and injured himself during the opening number, had to be taken to the hospital and I had to rush down to the theater to replace him. I think they pinned some sort of costume on me, the actual costume still being worn by the actor at the hospital.

What's your dream role? Actually, nothing in particular comes to mind. I'm more of a "dream role come true" kind of guy: Any part, large or small, where I can work with a good script, a creative director, genuinely talented actors, who operate out of a sense of professionalism and performing in front of appreciative audiences.

Who's your theatrical crush? Ann Reinking. I must have seen the original production of Pippin about a dozen times in the early '70s. Standing room tickets were only $5 at the rail back then, and I'd return regularly just to watch her performance in the chorus of that show. Locally, it would have to be Megan Murphy Chambers, who I feel is currently the finest theater performer in Nashville.

And now Michael Roark...

What was your first "live onstage" taste of theater? I was Doc in my kindergarten production of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.

What is your favorite pre-show ritual? I can't say that there is any particular ritual I do before a show. Each role tends to dictate different routines. For example, before the last play I found myself staring at myself in the mirror, as if looking into the darkness of my soul. But that was specific to Martin Dysart in Equus. Of course, whether a ritual or no, I do find it necessary to pee before going on. An empty bladder is important (and more comfortable) when gracing the boards.

What's your most memorable "the show must go on" moment? I think I've been lucky in that there have not been any real disasters on stage, like set pieces falling down or lights dropping from the rafters. Of course, when I (and it's usually me) or another actor on stage goes up on a line and we need to get back on track, it feels like the hugest of disasters. Though in actuality it's only a glitch, and often unnoticed by the audience. Order is usually restored with some clever ad-libbing (which can be amusing in hindsight), and thus the show goes on.

What's your dream role? Well, it turned out that both Norman in The Dresser and Martin Dysart in Equus turned out to be dream roles (ones that I unwittingly wanted to play). However with the right Martha at my side, I think George in Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? would be an exciting challenge.

Who's your theatrical crush? Bernadette Peters is cute as a bug's ear, but Edward Albee gets me where I live.

Twain and Shaw Do Lunch, a comedy by Hendersonville native Chambers Stevens is inspired by the 1907 meeting of Mark Twain and George Bernard Shaw, and premieres November 7-15, for four performances at The Filming Station in downtown Nashville. Presented by In Another Life and Maverick Entertainment Group in association with Genuine Human, Twain and Shaw Do Lunch runs two weekends: Friday and Saturday, November 7-8 and 14-15, at 7:30 p.m. Stevens will be on hand for the second weekend.

Based on an actual meeting between Mark Twain and George Bernard Shaw, the comedy hurtles through a good deal of biographical, political and literary ground in the Shaws' London home. Having bumped into Mark Twain at Victoria Station, the prolific Irishman Shaw invites the aging American novelist home for lunch. Meanwhile, Shaw's wife Charlotte, herself an Irish heiress, has been doing battle with a dewy-eyed admirer of her husband. Will Shaw and Twain avoid coming to blows over their feelings for Wagner and Joan of Arc? Will Charlotte keep a star-struck young woman from gate-crashing the afternoon? Will anyone survive Charlotte's abysmal cooking?

Directed by Melissa Carrelli, the production features Brian T. Hill as Mark Twain, Michael Roark as George Bernard Shaw and Caroline Davis as Shaw's wife, Charlotte. Scott Orr is producer. Tickets for Twain and Shaw Do Lunch are $25 (includes complimentary beverages and secure parking next to the venue) and are available via (615) 734-9932 or ticketriver.com/event/12650.