BWW Interviews: John Steven Gardner of ONCE NATIONAL TOUR at Bass Performance Hall

In theatre, the phrase "triple threat" describes a performer who can sing, dance, and act (often all at once!). But how do you describe a performer who does all of this while juggling a half-dozen instruments, stage combat, and various accents? As a cast member and music captain on the national tour of ONCE, John Steven Gardner can do it all. On the phone this morning, Mr. Gardner confessed about how his obsession with ONCE songwriters Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová (who also starred in the 2007 film of the same name), inspired him to lock himself in his New York City room, learn new skills, and compete for a place in the ONCE touring company.

Of the challenging nature of the show, where the actors double as the show's musicians, Mr. Gardner explained, "Most musicals try to pin the audience to the back of their seats with sound. What [director] John Tiffany and the creative team asked us to do with ONCE is to challenge the audience to physically lean forward, [drawn] in towards us." To lean more about his experience around the country in the unique production, check out my interview below:

Full Name: John Steven Gardner

Hometown: "A small town in Virginia, called Harrisonburg."

Current Role: Eamon / Music Captain in the national tour of ONCE.

Kyle Christopher West: Growing up, what inspired you to perform?

John Steven Gardner: "My mom always tells me this story (I don't actually remember): I saw The King and I on Broadway on a family trip to New York when I was about three. She said I was always a pretty hyper kid and, the second the lights went down, I didn't move a muscle. When the lights came up, I was hysterical because I didn't want the show to be over. There was always something about being in the theatre and watching live performers that caught my eye. Also, my mom was an opera singer, so I kind of grew up with her doing gigs. On the other hand, my dad is a huge bluegrass and folk-music fan, so there were always instruments lying around. Whenever I was bored, I would pick one up and try to figure it out. I think the combination of the two of them inspired me, [and] made me fall in love with performing and music in general."

Kyle: Your resume lists six different instruments that you play (piano, guitar, mandolin, concertina, banjo, bass guitar). Which was the first to learn, and which was the hardest?

John: "Each instrument really takes it own unique thought process behind it. Technically, I started piano first, but that was when I was 8; I hated it and convinced my parents to let me quit. In middle school, I was in a really terrible punk-rock band, so I guess I learned guitar for that. I came back to the piano and [took] music theory classes in high school. Because I was in love with the movie, when I heard ONCE was becoming a musical, I starting learning as many instruments as I could. I knew the tour would be auditioning at some point after I graduated college, so I figured I had to get ready. I bought a pretty standard entry-level mandolin and locked myself in my room. I was broke in New York, so I figured that was a great way to stay in and save money."

Kyle: You're listed as the "music captain" for the tour or ONCE. What responsibilities does a music captain have?

John: "That has been a whole new world for me! The music captan is responsible for keeping track of what we put together in rehearsals back in August. The show is unique in that it gives the actors a huge range of creative freedom in what they do every night. The show's score, if you compared it to other musical theatre scores, is really empty. Martin Lowe [the show's orchestrator] told us in rehearsals, "I understand you might get a little bored, on a dark cold night in the middle nowhere. Feel free to try something new for a couple shows, but always come back to the baseline we created here." Everybody in this show is so amazing and so creative, and sometimes it tends to spin off to many other cool ideas. I keep people in check, but they're all so self-regulated that they make my job really easy. On top of that, I help the dance captain run understudy rehearsals every week. We [also] do a pre-show onstage that changes every single night. We have a repertoire of about 25 different songs, [and] I'm kind of responsible for putting together a set list [for the pre-show]. It's been a really great learning experience!"

Kyle: What can you tell me about your character and how he's involved with the story of ONCE?

John: "I play a character named Eamon. He's one of the final obstacles for [characters] Guy and Girl. He's a sound engineer at a recording studio. When we first see him, he's kind of cynical. He's really not sure what he's getting himself into by working with these two. He's expecting the worst, and he's very uninspired in his work at that time. I think Guy and Girl kind of provide that spark of electricity that he's been wanting for so long. He's got a really beautiful journey in the show. It's a short journey, because he comes in for the last quarter of the show, but I really love him as a character."

Kyle: How have different audiences around the country responded to the show?

John: "It's interesting, because different types of cities will react to parts of the show differently. Some of the cities that have been hit harder by the recession will respond a lot differently to early parts of the show. One of the brilliant things that [bookwriter] Enda Walsh did with the script is to make it known that none of these characters have any extra money lying around. I think the term "money" or the concept of money is mentioned ten times within the first few minutes, but it's very subtle. Certain cities had really connected to that, but I think everybody really seems to feel the music in a very visceral way with this show."

Kyle: What are the challenges associated with performing in a national tour?

John: "Touring does present its own set of unique circumstances. There will be stretches of this tour where we only do one week in each city, so our one day off is spent on an airplane or a bus. It does get really grueling at times. It's a tiny little bubble, especially with a small cast like this. Sometimes, you've got to step away and take time alone. No matter how well you get along - and this cast gets along really well - sometimes you need to take a step back: knowing when you need that is really important."

Kyle: Do you have a favorite city that you've visited on tour?

John: "I would say, if I had a top three, in no particular order: Toronto, San Francisco...and Seattle or Portland, Oregon."

Kyle: Do you have any warm-ups or rituals to get you ready for the show?

John: "When we get our half-hour call, they also let us know that the stage is cleared [and] all the instruments are tuned and ready for us. There are some pre-shows songs that I really need to run through a couple times. Especially on the songs that I play mandolin on, there are some really fast melodic jigs. If I don't get them in my fingers beforehand, that could be disastrous [laughs]. Also, just making sure that my voice is at a state of readiness. For many of us, the most vocally demanding part of the show is the pre-show. We hit the pedal-to-the-metal from the get-go, so if you're not totally warmed up, you feel it, and you notice it during the pre-show."

Kyle: Can you recall any onstage mistakes or mishaps?

John: "We, the characters in this show, move all of the props, the tables, and the chairs in the scene transitions; it gives the show this fluid, magical feel to it. Every now and then something will happen with one of those transitions, so somebody else has to jump up and finish it. At the end of Act One, there's this really beautiful, big number, where there's a lot of sitting down and coming up out of chairs. One night, four months into the tour, the mic-pack on my guitar strap got hooked under my chair. I stood up, and my chair really loudly careened across the stage. It's supposed to be this really intimate moment, and here's this guy downstage, walking over to his chair and picking it up. Things like that happen really few and far between, but when it does happen you can feel everybody onstage snap to attention in a very kind-of primal way."

Kyle: How do you balance your life as an actor verses your life as a musician?

John: "It kind of comes and goes with what you're doing. Many of us right now, because of the nature of the show, are into the musician stuff because we were presented with this set of instruments and getting to play the band every single day. Those of us interested in picking up this instrument or that instrument, we now have the opportunity for that. If I was doing a tour of, I don't know, The Sound of Music, it might be different. Living back in New York, it's a real trick finding the balance of that."

Kyle: What is something not listed in your bio that you'd want people to know about you?

John: "Oh, that's a good one! Related to theatre, I would say one of my proudest things I've ever done is, in college, I studied abroad at the Moscow Art Theatre, which is where the modern school of acting was born back in the early 20th century. I lived in Moscow for four months, and it was such an amazing experience. We got to meet so many people there; it was an eye opener for me. Outside of theatre, I'm kind of an obsessive football fan; I'm a huge fan of the New York Giants. In college, when I watched them win their past Superbowl, I was standing in Times Square watching it on the Jumbotron when they won."

Kyle: Once you've completed your ONCE tour contract, what would be the ideal next credit on your resume?

John: "I think there are three possibilities: I've always dreamed of being on Broadway. [That] would be an absolute dream come true. I'm also exploring being in the TV and film world. Getting to work on a TV show or movie in New York would be amazing. One of the other things that has been a dream of mine for a long time, and might actually be a reality, is I've been writing music for a long time, and I would love to jump in a studio with a band and record an album, and start - really start - playing out in New York more. That's something I'm very passionate about."

ONCE returns to the DFW area from February 18th-22nd at Bass Performance Hall. For tickets and more information about this show visit www.oncemusical.com or www.basshall.com. To learn more about Mr. Garnder, visit www.johnsgardner.net.

 

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