Interview: Theatre 40 Regular John Combs Finally Joins THE MANOR - MURDER AND MADNESS AT GREYSTONE

Theatre 40’s hit immersive drama The Manor- Murder and Madness at Greystone returns for its nineteenth season at the Greystone Mansion January 18, 2024.  Martin Thompson directs the cast of Darby Hinton, Eric Keitel, Daniel Leslie, Carol Potter, Nathalie Rudolph, David Hunt Stafford, Amy Tolsky, John Combs, Katyana Rocker-Cook, Gail Johnston, Kristin Towers-Rowles and Peter Mastine. John managed to carve out some time to answer a few of my queries.

Thank you for taking the time for this interview, John!

You have done a lot of shows at Theatre 40. What initially brought you to act at Theatre 40?

Initially, I had recently moved to L.A. from New York in 1999.  Right away, I did a wonderful play with Circle-X Theatre Co. called Louis Slotin Sonata, which was a huge success, and a director from The Antaeus Theatre Co. saw me in that, and I did The Man Who Had All the Luck with them. I eventually got involved with Theatre 40 through an Antaeus colleague, who directed me in The Real Inspector Hound. That would have been around 2003. I continued to work with multiple theatres, and it wasn’t until about 2013 when I gave more of my attention to Theatre 40.

How many versions of The Manor have you done?

This will be the only version of The Manor that I’ve been involved in. Years ago, I remember I had auditioned for a role in it, but there was a job conflict and I couldn’t do it, so it will be very exciting to finally have an opportunity to do this wonderful play in the Greystone Mansion.  

In The Manor, the audiences divvy up into groups and follow different sets of actors. Is the room-to-room movements strictly choreographed? Or is there room for improv according to the temperature of the audience?

I don’t think that I’m speaking out of turn here, and this being my first experience doing The Manor could perhaps surprise me, however, I’m pretty sure that the movement of different groups of audience members is very strictly adhered to, and will be rehearsed very precisely just like any play is done. I think that part of the “magic” of theatre is making it feel like it is very real and happening for the first time, which usually takes much rehearsal and hard work that the audience doesn’t see.  

What was the most unexpected audience reaction/response you experienced watching The Manor?

I have seen it a couple of times, and I can remember the absolute surprise the audience had when “certain” events take place - right in front of their eyes! It feels like you are right there watching history repeating itself. Very exciting stuff! 

What would your three-line pitch for The Manor be?

Oh, it might go something like this:

Join us at The Manor and follow actors as they walk you through history as it actually happened in the Greystone Mansion of Beverly Hills. There is murder, madness, and true entertainment to be had in this sell-out 19th year of the best show in town! Theatre 40 presents The Manor for only 11 performances beginning January 18, 2024. 

With all your work with Theatre 40, is there anyone in the cast or creatives that you haven’t worked with before?

There will be several actors that I have not worked with previously, and several that I have worked with over the years. The director, Martin Thompson, and I have worked together in several shows onstage at Theatre 40, and he is not only a superb actor, but a great director and acting teacher. I’m looking forward to his guidance as a director, and I know it will be great fun to work with Martin on this project.

You have performed the role of Joe Keller in All My Sons three times already. Would you say you have an affinity with Joe?

I would say yes.  My affinity with Joe Keller in All My Sons is probably the fact that he is a very ordinary man who finds himself in extraordinary circumstances throughout the course of the Miller play, and the previous actions he has taken come to haunt him in the end. The thing I understand about Joe is that he was doing the right thing in his mind, all for the love of his family. I can relate to a hard-working man who is only trying to provide for those he loves, even if he makes some terrible mistakes.

I see you credited as John Combs and John Wallace Combs. Why the dual moniker? And which do you prefer to use professionally?

You know, I am usually always credited simply as “John Combs.” At one point, several years ago, I thought that I should maybe change it up a bit, and even though my professional union name is “John Combs,” I added the “Wallace,” which is my real middle name, in some biographies, and perhaps some auditions that I had. So, the “John Wallace Combs” has been floating around here and there. But, I’m credited and known as “John Combs” most of the time.  

As a six-grader, you played a boy being eaten by a tiger. Did you always want to become an actor?

I think I did, from the time I was about six years old or so. My big problem was that I was a very shy kid, and was afraid of so many things in life, and so I think that I lost myself in the fantasy of television and movies. At a certain point when I was very young, I realized that these were actors that I was watching on the screen, and that they had practiced the things I saw them doing. I found the whole thing so fascinating, especially the comedies! I felt back then that I would love to make people laugh like Red Skelton, and Dick Van Dyke, and Lucy. It wasn’t until high school that I did some comedy performing that I wrote for a talent show and, Oh Boy! did I love the laughter! In college I decided to face my fears and take some acting classes — and at that point I knew for sure — that acting was the thing I should do in life. By the way, that “tiger” who was eating me in the sixth-grade play, got loose during the performance, and I had to chase it through the audience. Maybe it was a small taste of live theatre, where you never know what could happen, or go wrong!

If financial compensation were not a factor, in which field of entertainment would you prefer to exercise your acting talents – television, film, theatre?

In my heart I’m first a stage actor and will always consider myself a stage actor. I spent over twenty years in New York City taking acting classes and doing plays in small theatres all over the city, in churches, loft spaces, outdoors, and even on the subway train. There is nothing like being on stage, doing a great role in a really fun play. In New York I had the chance to work on a lot of “new” plays, and work with playwrights and theatre companies that were producing first-seen works and adaptations of classical books, such as Picture of Dorian Gray, and so the excitement of being a part of something brand new is really unmatched. I think that the best actors have done a lot of stage work. I do love working in front of a camera as well, but film and TV is really so highly technical, which on the one hand makes it a fascinating craft, but there is also so much time spent waiting for the technical stuff to be set up. That can make it feel tedious.

What is in the near future for John Combs?

I have never really planned anything out in my life, but rather tend to take things as they come. As I get older, I am aware that learning scripts becomes more difficult, and it takes more effort and repetition. I’ve been working quite a bit doing commercial work, and I love the fact that I can shoot a commercial for one day, or just a few days, and then the job is done! Little rehearsal, easy script (usually), and then time off! When I was a bit younger, I made it my motto to say “Yes” to most things, but at this point I’m getting just a little more discerning. I suppose now that I’m more successful as an actor, I can take a small step back, but I usually still say “Yes” to a role in a great play! There is nothing better than acting for an audience!

Thank you again, John! I look forward to literally following you at The Manor.

Thanks!

For tickets to The Manor- Murder and Madness at Greystone through February 3, 2024; click on the button below:

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