BWW Interviews: TUTS' Actor Michael Brian Dunn Talks VICTOR/VICTORIA

In this interview, I talk with Michael Brian Dunn. We discuss VICTOR/VICTORIA, Dick Van Dyke, Meryl Streep, and his experience working on the stage and screen.

---

BWW: Could you tell me about the narrative of VICTOR/VICTORIA?

Michael Brian Dunn: It's based on the film Victor Victoria starring Julie Andrews, which many people have seen and experienced. It's about a woman who stumbles into a nightclub in Paris in the 1920s. She's down and out and trying to get money and the means to survive. She stumbles upon Toddy, who is a nightclub entertainer and a very colorful, bon vivant type character. Together they decide that the way for her to make it in Paris is for Victoria to disguise herself as a man and to disguise that man as a woman. It's a woman (Victoria) disguising as a man (Victor) disguising as a woman (Victoria). [I Laugh] It's got a lot of great entertaining numbers that he performs in night clubs around Paris until she is eventually exposed.

BWW: What are a few of the numbers that you think will dazzle Houston audiences?

Michael Brian Dunn: "Le Jazz Hot" is probably the most famous one, and that's a big production number. It's Victor's introduction to the Paris nightclub scene. There is also a terrific number that King Marchan sings in the second act, "King's Dilemma." He's in love with Victor who he really suspects is Victoria, and he's trying to reconcile his feelings. He's a sturdy Chicago business man a la gangster type trying to figure out how he could ever make this work. It's not a big production number, but it's one of my favorites.

BWW: This narrative is very enduring. First, it was a German film. Then it was an English film. Then it was a musical. Honestly, it even seems very Shakespearean.

Michael Brian Dunn: I hadn't thought of that, but it really is very TWELFTH NIGHT or A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM.

BWW: What makes the narrative so appealing?

Michael Brian Dunn: It's great fun. It's fun to see all those colorful costumes. The set is enormous and huge and we go in and out of nightclubs and hotels. There's a very funny scene where there are two hotel suites side by side, and you're seeing what's going on in each of them simultaneously. It's an old-fashioned musical production in the end. It's about boy-meets-girl, boy-gets-girl, then boy-loses-girl, and they reunite in the end. [Laughs] That's what makes it so much fun.

BWW: When I was reading over the play, I thought of you as a villain. Am I wrong?

Michael Brian Dunn: No, not at all. I agree wholeheartedly. But, the thing that makes him not the typical villain is he's a bit inept. He takes himself very seriously, but at the same time, is very inept. Don't tell him that. [I Laugh] He is definitely fashioned after Inspector Clouseau. This is, of course, the creation of Blake Edwards, who did all of the Pink Panther films.

BWW: How did you prepare for the role?

Michael Brian Dunn: A lot of what I had to do is doing a French dialect. I had to do a little study and preparation on French accents. Watching the old Pink Panther movies really helped because of the stylized comedy.

It's an interesting process. The more you read the script, the more answers you find. Everything you need to know is there on the printed page. You just have to look for it and keep digging.

BWW: I am always in awe of physical comedians. How do you physically prepare for your role?

Michael Brian Dunn: Actors have to be prepared. We can't just sit around on the couch with a remote in our hand and a bag of chips. You're like an athlete. It's a continual process of being in good shape. Always be ready, even when you're not working for weeks at a time. That's the basis. Then, anything you do physically, you have to make sure, first and foremost, that it's safe. That's a step by step process. If you're going to get a stage punch, then you work it out with a fight director. Once you do that, you can add the humor on to it - whether it's a scream, an "ouch," or a slap. You layer that all on top, slowly.

BWW: It puts me in the mind of Dick Van Dyke.

Michael Brian Dunn: My favorite! That's exactly it. That famous iconic opening of the Dick Van Dyke show where he trips over the ottoman. He could not just go in and do that. Well, he may have just gone and done it because he's so physically adept. But, at some point, he had to break that down to know exactly which foot to step on and which part of the ottoman to flip over. It's a slow process. The challenge is to make it look as effortless as possible, which he accomplished 100 percent.

BWW: You've led me to one of my favorite questions: What projects have taught you the most? Actually, I'll amend the question: What have you seen that has taught you the most about your craft? I assume The Dick Van Dyke Show is one example.

Michael Brian Dunn: Watching other live performances. Whenever I stop and I go, "How did they do that," whether it's a physical comedy or a challenging role like King Lear. When you can't imagine, when you wonder how ever did they achieve what they've done. I recently had the great pleasure and honor of working with Meryl Streep. I was in Julie & Julia where she plays Julia Child. You look at a film script and it's just three or four lines, but then what she does to fill those lines with the character with a simple prop like a cigarette. I would watch her do it take after take after take. Every single one was infused with the timing. It was so inspiring to watch her execute - close, no more than 20 feet away - one take after another. Each one was masterful. It was a lesson in acting. It was a gift to be able to see that in person, to see her work through those things, and to do it with such ease.

BWW: You've worked in theatre, film, and TV. What are the differences? What do you like and not like about each?

Michael Brian Dunn: They can all be terrifying. If you think too much about any of them, you're sunk. In each one you have to get to the place where you just are thinking about your performance and the moment.

What I find challenging in film is it's so much more intimate. Most of my training, the bulk of it, is in theatre, and I'm of the generation where you have to hit the back of the house. So, I've always projected. In film and TV, you have to bring that down a lot. More and more, the amplification is lessening in theatre. I don't prefer one over the other. It's a gift to be able to do both. I'd like to do more of the film and TV. Aside from it being generally more lucrative, it's such interesting work to watch it come together, and, the process, it's a lot faster. You arrive on set and you pretty much have to be ready to go. You have time in theatre to figure things out and let things grow. Then, the challenge in theatre is to keep it fresh performance after performance after performance. I've done runs as long as two or three years with eight shows a week. Every single performance has to be like the first even though you're tired, and you're working on holidays, birthdays, etc. Whatever it is, you're there. You've still gotta churn it out. That's the challenge in theatre - keeping the consistency and the level high.

BWW: What sort of advice or encouragement do you have for people trying to break into the entertainment industry or even people working currently in the industry?

Michael Brian Dunn: Continue to watch theatre. Continue to expose yourself to great performances and not great performances. You can learn as much from any level of performance. Continue to study. Continue to find the humor in things. Realize that where one is at today does not spell the rest of your life - whether it's a very big high or a very big low. There are a lot of big ups and downs. But, if we kind of remove ourselves from it, and stay true to what we are, we're able to endure and rise above all of it, good or bad. And save your money when you make it!

VICTOR/VICTORIA is at the Hobby Center through September 28! Buy your tickets today!

Photo Credits: Claire McAdams and Theatre Under the Stars