BWW Interiew: Art That Resonates Within: Talking with Gregg Goodbrod

"We do art because of what it does for us - how it transforms us," actor Gregg Goodbrod states with quiet conviction. "Being an actor helps me to understand other people and see their lives and my own from a different perspective. That's why doing a play like Ghost becomes a journey that really resonates for me."

Goodbrod is speaking about his emotionally and physically demanding role as Sam Wheat in the new chamber version of the original 1990 movie and 2011 stage musical, which is currently playing at Maine State Music Theatre. He uses an example of the scene in which Sam, now a ghost, watches his beloved Molly sort through his belongs. "I am really very Method as an actor, so I try to get into it completely and feel the actual feelings. And as I am watching Liz [Shivener] play this scene, it suddenly hits me that all these things are not what are important. If I were go, I know it is the love that I would miss. That's why I am an actor - so I can take these journeys and learn new lessons."

And what are the lessons that Ghost The Musical embodies? "That love crosses death itself," Goodbrod says without hesitation, opening up about his take on the character created on screen by Patrick Swayze. "The show is very spiritual without having any religious overtones. When I discussed my character with Bruce [Joel Rubin, the writer], we decided that Sam is afraid of losing what is good in his life. Personally, that's why he says 'ditto' rather than 'I love you, too' - because he can't fully commit to something he is afraid to lose. Only after he is dead, does he realize how truly important love is."

Goodbrod, who had the pleasure of creating the role of Sam Wheat in this new chamber version at the Fulton Theatre on April 21 and of working with the original movie and musical's creators, Bruce Joel Rubin, Glen Ballard, Dave Stewart, Jerry Zucker, in the highly acclaimed production developed and directed by Marc Robin in collaboration with Maine State Music Theatre, says that reprising the role here in Maine is allowing him and the entire cast to find new layers of meaning. "The world premiere in Lancaster was extraordinarily special. We got to shape something new; nothing was set in stone, and Marc Robin always asks you as an actor what you feel, and he is willing to try anything. We got to help form this version of Ghost, which is the one people will do from now on. Now here in Maine after a few weeks off, we all come back to it, to a different place and a different audience. And we are in different places as well. After I close a show and have some time to reflect, I think about some things I might have tried or done differently. So now in Maine I am getting to tweak a few things. It is like another premiere all its own!"

Asked what distinguishes this new incarnation of Ghost, Goodbrod replies: "This is a play with music. There are only a few songs which stand out; the rest are there to push the story along. The movie was not a musical, and the Broadway show was packaged into a huge hi-tech experience. The stage version had been a West End hit, but when it got to New York, the producers felt they had to sell it as an extravaganza. Really, what do tap dancing ghosts in a hospital have to do with this story? What this version does is scale back from the big effects to find the story again."

In addition to the scale of the present version, Emmy-award-winning composer Glen Ballard rewrote portions of the score. "There are no big production numbers and no dancing; he rewrote the hospital scene music and rewrote my Act II song. And there are a few musical moments that are completely new to this version."

So while this role is a brand new experience for Goodbrod and for the audience, the actor is a familiar and much loved figure on MSMT's stage, where he has starred in productions of LES MISERABLES, Sunset Boulevard, Jesus Christ Superstar, Miss Saigon, Aida, South Pacific, and The Full Monty (2006). "I love this audience, this state, and this community. Maine is one of my favorite places in the world, and MSMT is like a big family," he says echoing sentiments frequently articulated by artists who work with the company.

Not only does Goodbrod feel at home at MSMT, but he has close ties to director Marc Robin, and has also worked frequently for Robin at the Fulton. He credits Robin - together with Michael Mitchell, Robin's predecessor at the Fulton - as being one of the major influences on his artistic career. "When I played Archibald Craven in The Secret Garden at the Fulton in 2004-2005, I was feeling very artistically unsatisfied. I was even thinking of leaving the business. Michael and Marc cast me in The Secret Garden, and I thought, 'I'll try this one more show before I go.' Somehow everything came together. We really focused on the art of the piece. Both Michael and Marc have given me chances no one else has. When I auditioned in 2009 for Enjolras in the Fulton's LES MISERABLES, it was Marc who saw me as Valjean. I wasn't sure if I was ready for that challenge at that point, but Marc felt I was. It was a huge moment for me because he invested in me his trust and vision."

Robin's keen eye reaped rewards. Goodbroad has now performed in five productions of LES MISERABLES, and it has become one of his signature roles. In his most recent undertaking of Valjean here at MSMT in 2013 - a production Goodbrod calls "one of his all time favorites" - he was warmly praised for the intensity of his portrayal and the searing power of his voice. He says that each time he comes to the portrayal he feels it deepen and layer itself, and he finds new things with each new partner with whom he works. He feels the same is true of his characterizations in The Secret Garden, Aida, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Beauty and the Beast, recounting how in this last he loved "working with a Shakespearean director who made us pull apart the Disney script until we found something deeply human."

Clearly, Gregg Goodbrod is a dedicated and serious actor who believes that theatre should focus on artistic choices . "It's one of the reasons I love Marc Robin so much, he adds. Marc reminds us that we must remember the real reasons we do what we do." This sense of mission, however, came to Goodbrod later than it might have to many others. He chuckles as he tells how he grew up in southern Virginia wanting to become a marine biologist who worked with dolphins. "My last year in high school, I took a drama class rather than be in study hall, and my father assumed I was interested in theatre. So he brought me to audition for a community theatre in Bristol, TN and to my amazement I got the role! I enrolled in college as a biology/chemistry student, but gradually I was doing more and more musical theatre, and so I finally enrolled at Shenandoah University and was graduated with a BFA in musical theatre."

Immediately upon receiving his degree, he moved to New York City and landed a role in the original Broadway cast of Thoroughly Modern Millie in 2002. He appeared in a number of off-Broadway productions and was often featured in concert revivals such as the 2006 Carnegie Hall South Pacific (Lt. Cable) or in the City Center Encores of Great American Musicals in Concert series. Besides his New York performances, Goodbrod began to work extensively in regional theatre in leading houses such as MSMT and Ogunquit Playhouse in Maine, Pennsylvania's Fulton Theatre, New Jersey's Paper Mill Playhouse, Florida's Maltz Jupiter Theatre, Indiana's Beef & Boards, or Denver Center Theatre. He was also seen as Joe on the national tour of 9 to 5 in 2010-2011. The one area of his resume which he would like to enhance is acting in straight dramas. "I haven't done all that many straight plays, but I really would love to."

For the moment, however, he is looking forward to this second "go" at the very meaty role of Sam Wheat. "It's such an emotionally and physically exhausting part. There are fights and lots of running around and wrenching emotions to put out there." He hopes this Ghost might find a life after the MSMT production, though he understands "there are never any guarantees. I would love to see it go to New York or on national tour. It has been such a labor of love, that we will all be terribly sad to see it over." Because, for all the demands the show makes on Gregg Goodbrod, he finds the artistic rewards commensurately great. And for the audience, who cannot help but be riveted by his prismic vocal and dramatic performance, Goodbrod gives them something cathartic and uplifting to treasure and take away.

Photos Courtesy of Maine State Music Theatre, Ghost photographer, Kinectiv

Gregg Goodbrod stars in Ghost at MSMT, Pickard Theater, 1 Bath Rd., Brunswick, ME from June 8-June 25, 2016. www.msmt.org 207-725-8769.

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