10 on Tuesday with GENTLEMAN CALLER's Rudy Galvan

As Tennessee Williams in the world premiere production of Philip Dawkins' critically-acclaimed play GENTLEMAN CALLER, Rudy Galvan waxes poetically as the legendary American playwright. Galvan also proved he is no slouch himself when he sat down with our rapid fire 10 on Tuesday. Here's what he had to say:

1) Show you first auditioned for (and did you get the part)? The first show I auditioned for was a Christmas pageant at my grade school. The part was for a nerdy navigator on a cruise ship. I thought I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted to do with it (I was eight, I think) but now, looking back on it, I'm pretty sure the director gave me a line reading at the audition. At least I was flexible!

2) Where are you originally from? I was born and raised in Chicago. We moved around the city a lot when I was little, and then we settled in Dunning, a neighborhood on the northwest side.

3) When did you first know you wanted a career in theater? I knew I was good at theatre, and it was something I really enjoyed doing, but I really didn't decide it was what I wanted to do till the end of high school. I didn't have much direction, and was kind of at a loss with what I wanted to do with my life. My two options I had for myself was either to go into the military, or go to Columbia College to study acting. I ended up choosing the latter. I'm grateful for it, because the theatre has, in many ways, saved my life.

4) What's your dream role/production? This one's difficult. I'd say from the Great American canon, I've always wanted to play Mitch in Streetcar. I've got some good ideas for it.

5) Favorite post-performance haunt? Right now, we like to go to Fritzy's across the street from the theatre. I've worked at Raven a few times, and that's always been headquarters...it's close and the crowd is usually manageable, so you can have a conversation with your neighbor.
6) Living or dead, who would you drop everything to see perform? Peter Falk.

7) What's your greatest vice/guilty pleasure? Binge watching weird horror movies. I once made it a personal goal to watch every movie on Netflix that had a description along the lines of "Ten strangers are trapped in a killer's game, and must find their way out/the thing that connects them/that nothing is what it seems....I did a pretty good job of tracking them all down. Some were really good, most were not, but I loved watching them all. I love watching weird B-movies, I'm an MST3K nut. I like the 50 horror/thriller movies on 20 disc collections. I love it. I don't really think of it as a guilty pleasure, because there are so many gems and great movies out there in the bargain bins, and even if you spend your time slogging through some terrible film, you are also bound to see some stuff you won't find anywhere else. Mad geniuses abound!

8) What are you currently listening to/watching/reading? Right now I'm listening to a podcast called "Presidential" that was put out by the Washington Post. It's really terrific, the episode on Chester A. Arthur I just listened to was really good. I also like to listen to "Casefile" an Australian true crime podcast. Right now I'm reading The Death Gate Cycle by Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman, it's a high fantasy series and I'm loving it. I had been reading a lot of heavy non fiction, so I wanted to take a break and read a multi volume fantasy series, which I have not done in many years. It's awesome.

9) The one song you don't ever want to hear someone perform at an audition: I don't know about songs you shouldn't sing, but I've always thought it would be great if a group of friends collectively decided they would sing the whole score of a musical for an audition. Like, the first actor goes in and sings The Ballad of Sweeney Todd, then the next actor sings There's No Place Like London, etc., all the way to the end. It would take a lot of planning, but I think it would be worth it in the end, and I'm sure the casting directors would appreciate it.

10) Describe the Chicago theater community in three words: Perseverance, vulnerability, courage.

Rudy Galvan appears as Tennessee Williams in GENTLEMAN CALLER at Raven Theatre (6157 N. Clark) through May 27. Tickets $43-$46. Call 773-338-2177 or www.raventheatre.com

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