WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Mark Delabarre

Covering theater for as long as I have definitely has its privileges. I've had the opportunity to witness some very talented people come and go from the various stages in my life (and at varying stages in their careers). While keeping up with them nowadays may be as easy as signing onto social media, their contributions to the cultural fabric of a major creative hub like Nashville (a city where virtually everyone sings, writes, makes music, has a development deal in the works) may be unknown to a great many people now walking in their very footsteps.

More importantly, perhaps, since I know where the bodies are buried-both literally and figuratively-I am provided a unique perspective on the personalities that have shaped theater in Tennessee for at least the past 30 years (I was five years old when I started in this gig). Today you will be introduced to one of the finest actors to ever walk onto a Tennessee stage via our brand new feature series...WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Apropos to the occasion of this inaugural entry in the series, our first subject is Mark Delabarre, who who spoke with us from his home in New York City.

How would you describe your career arc for people who don't know you? From the sublime-studying Shakespeare with the incomparable John Barton at Oxford-to the ridiculous: hawking toilet paper with legend Dick Clark, I have gratefully had a beautifully diverse career. Theater: working with such notables as Mark Medoff and Sheldon Harnick, touring the country as Will in The Will Rogers Follies and winning a First Night Award for starring in Singin' In The Rain. TV: Ten years doing sketch comedy on Letterman's Late Show, A recurring role on NBC's Believe, written and directed by Academy Award-winner Alfonso Cuarón and various national commercials (Vonage, T-Mobile, Domino's, Pizza Hut, Sargento, among others). Upcoming in 2015: One Bad Choice for MTV.

What brought you to Nashville in the first place? I was doing Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia, and then Tampa, Florida. My then-wife Su Hyatt got a job at the late Opryland (moment of silence) and, as luck would have it, both of our best friends already lived in Nashville. When she started rehearsals on her show, I discovered what would be my second home: Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre.

How did your time in Nashville prepare you for where you are now in your career arc? I've said this many times but my time in Nashville was the single greatest time for setting my foundation in all aspects of the performing arts.

In six short years, I did over 50 shows (I know!), and broke into every aspect of the industry: theater, film, TV, commercials, music video, recording, print, children's theater, touring, dance and improv/sketch comedy. Not only did I get all of my union cards in Nashville, but I was way ahead of the curve when I came to New York because I already had a solid resume.

What's your most vivid memory of your time in the Volunteer State? The people. Full stop. Twenty-two years later and I still consider my friends and the theater community in Nashville to be The Best. Not only does Nashville have an insanely powerful talent pool but, perhaps most importantly, a community that supports each other. Larger markets can be rather isolating and, as such, artists tend to be rather stingy with their time and information. In Nashville, when an audition was listed, there was a veritable phone tree shouting "Get off yer ass-we got work to do!"

Who were some of the people in Nashville/Tennessee who had a lasting impact on your and/or your career? Dunno if there's enough room to list everyone because, honestly, I learned and grew with everyone I met. The highlights, in no particular order:

• John Chaffin, who would make up work to do around the theatre just to keep me employed between gigs;
• Michael Edwards, who gave me my first show in town-Sugar Babies with an amazeballs cast. Over many, many shows together, I got a legend's master class in comedy. The number of bits stolen from that man alone would fill a book. (Ask your parents to explain this thing we called "book.")
• Don Jones who brought me to Tennessee Rep for the first time and Mac Pirkle who made up reasons to keep me there.
• Mark Cabus, who, as a castmate and/or director, taught me what preparation and actual dedication to the art looked like as well as the single most honest acting I had ever seen. Again, much theft involved.
• Denice Hicks who I loved and still love, who also made up stuff for me to do. She would call and I would say "yes" before saying hello. She is so distractingly beautiful on stage in anything she does. I was always so grateful to be working with her.
• Shannon Woods who had the temerity to open a new theatre called Darkhorse with the express direction to do new work. I did quite literally hundreds of readings there with Tony Award winners, Grammy Award winners, and scores and scores of First Night Award winners. It was truly a safe space.
• Pam Atha and Marci Murphree who let me visit their amazing world of dance and, even more impressively, made me look good doing it!
• Last and really first, my fellow artists who became and remain family: Many who are leaders in the community now and teaching the next great generation of artists.

What advice would you give to someone taking their first steps to becoming a part of the theater scene here? Say yes and (to steal from Amy Poehler), add "Please." Do anything and everything: don't be afraid to suck. If there is no work or you don't get that gig you were "so right for," screw it-get your buddies together and do a reading of something -anything. Work on a life. Get a day/night job. It's easier to represent humanity if you've been out living in it. See everything, Listen to the insane range of music available nowhere else in the world. Art is art-do whatever gets them juices flowing. Be good to your bodies, your brains and your community. Volunteer and be grateful, you never know whom you'll meet or where it will take you. I met Grammy winner Lari White when she was doing a small supporting role in a volunteer fundraiser for Tennessee Rep, which is now known as Nashville Rep!

Finally, as Ellen DeGeneres says: "Be kind to one another." It's a hard enough business already. If you want support, support someone else. Above all, enjoy your time in Nashville. I'm jealous.