BWW Interviews: Will Butler, On Becoming Eugene Morris Jerome in Circle Players' BRIGHTON BEACH MEMOIRS

Will Butler is pretty jazzed up about playing Eugene Morris Jerome in Circle Players' upcoming production of Neil Simon's Brighton Beach Memoirs which might be due, in part, to the fact that he's pretty certain he's got all the lines down pat. But the real reason he's excited is that Brighton Beach marks his return-it's kind of a comeback for the young actor-to the Nashville stage since his "senior capstone project" at Belmont University in 2010.

"Brighton Beach Memoirs is the first play I've been in since Extremities in March 2010," he explains. "No one in Nashville has really seen me do anything since college. I'm excited to be making my comeback, in a way, and for some people, this will be the first time they've ever seen me on stage."

It is, he maintains, "an exciting time in my life" and Butler can't wait to share the experience with the rest of Nashville's burgeoning-and altogether supportive-theater community.

After he closes Brighton Beach Memoirs, directed by Johnny Peppers (Nashville theater's "hardest working man in show business"), he goes to work on Southern Fried Nuptials, the comedy follow-up to Nate Eppler and Dietz Osborne's Southern Fried Funeral, which debuts in a production from Bethlehem Players in April (where Funeral debuted in 2010).

"I'm thankful to be getting to do what I love and hopefully as the year progresses, so does my career," he suggests. "Here's to many more shows in 2012!"

Butler graduated from Belmont in 2010, working as the In-School Suspension teacher at his high school alma mater (Portland High School), before becoming operations manager at Kaine Riggan's Nashville Dinner Theatre. And after leaving NDT, he headed to New York City to pursue fame, fortune and a satisfying career.

He lived in Washington Heights-which is where Neil Simon grew up, perhaps presaging his role in Brighton Beach Memoirs-for six months before realizing that it wasn't the right time for him to be there. Luckily, for his family and many friends back in Nashville, he decided to move back to Tennessee "to figure out what [his] next step would be."

While Brighton Beach rehearsals continue and the company heads toward opening night (the show runs at The Keeton Theatre March 2-18), he found time to talk about his role and the process of bringing Simon's award-winning play to life onstage.

When did you become involved in theatre? I was in my first play in middle school. However, I began taking tap, jazz, ballet and voice lessons when I was younger. I was a principal model for Caster Knott and the Boy Scouts of America, and a featured dancer in John Michael Montgomery's music video, "Ain't Got Nothing on Us" (look it up, I'm really adorable). It wasn't until high school that I decided I wanted to pursue a career as an actor (Thanks, Mrs. Allen!).

What have been some of your roles prior to this? The first role I had in Nashville was Tommy Djilas in Circle Player's production of The Music Man. Some of my favorite roles have been Jafar and others in Actors Bridge Ensemble's production of The Arabian Nights, Rama in Ramayana, and Raul in Extremities, which was my senior capstone production at Belmont.

So how are you preparing to become Eugene Morris Jerome? With a lot of beer and ice cream. Seriously though, Eugene has been a fun character to develop. I've had a blast going back in time and recalling how a 15-year-old thinks and acts. Like most boys that age, Eugene's attitude changes at the drop of a hat. It's been a rollercoaster ride figuring him out. He is both naïve and bright, selfish and loyal. He very often goes from one extreme to the other, sometimes after only a line or two. From early on in the rehearsal process I wanted to figure out Eugene's physicality; how he walks, stands, sits, lays on his bed, etc. I wanted there to be a certain amount of awkwardness infused into his physicality since he is still growing into his body at this point in the story.

Some other characteristics of Eugene I've had to focus on are his love for baseball and his obsession with girls. I've never been very athletic. I play golf recreationally and swam in middle school, but baseball never interested me. In fact, the first night of workingrehearsals, our director, Johnny Peppers, had to teach me how to throw a baseball (embarrassing, I know). Once I got the baseball glove and ball we're using for the show, I started bringing it home with me so I could practice throwing and catching to get more comfortable with it (and hopefully not make a fool of myself onstage). It actually stays on my nightstand so it is always within arm's reach when I'm lying in bed. Remembering how to be naïve about girls and sex was a challenge. In real life, I'm nine years older than Eugene and I'm not inexperienced with those things, so reverting back to the time when I was has been particularly challenging, but I'm confident I've been successful in finding some raw naïveté in the process. Although it's been challenging sometimes, I've enjoyed discovering who Eugene is and being able to bring him to life a little more every rehearsal.

What's the rehearsal process been like for you? The rehearsal process has been great so far. I've really enjoyed working with Johnny. He's been very helpful in finding new things about Eugene that I had overlooked or misinterpreted. We've been able to bounce ideas off each other until we find the right choice together. That takes a special connection between an actor and director that unfortunately doesn't always get to be developed during a rehearsal process. For example, there was one rehearsal that I felt completely unaccomplished. I didn't feel like one scene in particular moved forward during rehearsal and I couldn't figure out how to get myself there emotionally. It happened to be the first day we had ever worked that scene. I tend to be a perfectionist, and I was expecting myself to be at performance level that day. Johnny realized this, took me aside, and encouraged me to play more and over think less. Sometimes, that's what I need to hear because I don't realize how much pressure I'm putting on myself to do things right. Fortunately, Johnny picked up on that early on, and ever since then, I've enjoyed playing at every rehearsal, and with the absence of pressure gone, or at least suppressed, it has helped me discover new things about Eugene every night.

How is the cast coming together as a family? One reason I love theatre is because by the end of the run of a show everyone in the cast has become a family. With this show, we had to become a family immediately. This is the first show I've been in where it is about a family. For that reason, I didn't know what to expect when we began rehearsing. How do you gather a group of actors together, most of who have never met each other before, and expect them to make a believable family?

I've been amazed at how quickly we've been able to do that during this process. Jennifer Bennett, who plays my Aunt Blanche, and I carpool to rehearsal, which has been a great way to make a connection with her in a very short amount of time. Jordan Ravellette, who plays my brother Stanley, and I talk on a daily basis and spend time together outside of rehearsal. As an ensemble, we encourage each other for things that are happening outside of Brighton Beach Memoirs, other plays or auditions, for example. Everyone is working hard to make it believable that we are, in fact, a real family, and I think we're doing a pretty good job at it.

Do you have hopes of doing Neil Simon's entire "Eugene Trilogy," which include Biloxi Blues and Broadway Bound? I'm asking this to suggest to Circle Players that they do the entire trilogy, just so you know. Actually, I was in Biloxi Blues in college; I playEd Roy Selridge. However, my roommate, Daniel Hackman, played Eugene in that production, and has been very helpful in my development of the character. I would definitely love to play Eugene in Biloxi Blues and Broadway Bound. I think it would be fulfilling as an actor to portray this character in his theatrical entirety.

I always ask this question of actors: Why should people come to see Brighton Beach Memoirs? The play is about family. What is more relatable than that? No matter what age, race, gender, or religion you are, you're going to relate to this play. Every family, in their own way, is dysfunctional and crazy. My family certainly is. This play is dramatic and comedic; it will make you laugh and cry. I think it makes for a truly enjoyable evening at the theatre and everyone will take something from it.

- Circle Players presents Brighton Beach Memoirs by Neil Simon, directed by Johnny Peppers, running March 2-18 at The Keeton Theatre, 108 Donelson Pike, Nashville. Thursday through Sunday performances are at 7:30 p.m., with Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. Tickets are $18 for adults, $15 for students and seniors ages 60 and up. Children six and under are free. All Thursday night tickets are $11. Tickets are available online at www.circleplayers.net or by telephone at (615) 332-7529. Tickets are also on sale at the Keeton Theatre box office one hour prior to each performance. 

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