Interview: Scott Hyder

Scott Hyder is a third-generation Phoenix native. He has performed in many theaters around town since 2009. He has appeared in many productions around town, including Gypsy (Herbie), Grand Hotel (Preysing), The Little Mermaid (Scuttle), Noises Off (Frederick), Mary Poppins (Mr. Banks), Deathtrap (Sidney), Almost Maine, Follies (Buddy), Music Man (Mayor Shinn), One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest (Dale Harding), 9 to 5 (Mr. Hart), God of Carnage (Alan), Over The River and Through The Woods (Nick), Lend Me a Tenor (Saunders), Light Up The Sky (Sidney), The Sound of Music (Uncle Max), and Man of La Mancha (Sancho). He received AriZoni nominations for his performances in Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (Pseudolus), Boeing, Boeing (Robert), and The Producers (Max Bialystock). Scott has also performed in several music revues at the Herberger's Lunch Time Theater. For the last 21 years, he has practiced law in Phoenix, and he now operates his own law practice. He and his wife Claudia have been married for 14 years and live in North Phoenix.

I have seen Scott this year in two different productions of Gypsy. He played the character Herbie in both of them. I'm inordinately fond of that show and have been a little in love with Herbie since I first saw the film sometime in the late '60s, with Karl Malden in the role. There have been many fine Herbies along the way, but none hit as many of the character's emotional and dramatic notes as did Scott in both productions, even surpassing Malden, in my view.

Thank you for taking the time to talk with me, Scott. You are crazy busy. Not only are you a prolific actor here in the Valley of the Sun, but you're a full-on practicing attorney! How do you do it? Are you ever home?

I have a very supportive wife, and no children. Other attorneys always ask me this, and I say, "The time I spend doing theatre is probably equivalent to the time you spend with your kids and playing golf." Luckily, I have my own firm, and I am my own boss. When I am in rehearsals, I usually have to start my day a couple of hours earlier and eat a quick lunch at my desk, just so I have enough time to get everything done. I return a lot of phone calls during my long commute to rehearsal each night.

You're a wonderful actor - centered and dimensional, very grounded in reality. When did you first do theatre? You have tons of credits from the past 8 years - is that when you started? I mean - did you burst full grown from Stephen Sondheim's forehead?! How can you be so good, have started so "late," and have no formal training (unless I'm missing something...)?

That is very kind of you. I played a few bit parts in a couple of plays in high school and was in the drama and speech club. I never did a play again for over 20 years, focusing primarily on school and career. I was coming home with work on my mind, griping and moaning about this or that. One night, my wife Claudia said, "You need to get out of the house because your griping and bad moods are driving me nuts. You used to like to karaoke when we were in college. Go take a singing lesson or something. But for the love of God, just get out of the house." I started taking voice lessons, and one day my teacher said, "They are doing the Sound of Music at Fountain Hills Theater. Go audition." That started this whole insanity.

Whenever I watch a performance that impresses me, it is usually because the actor is truthful and not over the top. When you are older, I guess you can draw from the various life experiences (and scars) that you have endured to help ground the performance in reality. It is the hardest part about acting. It should look easy. It is anything but easy.

I regret not having formal training, especially with singing and dancing. Not just to learn and fine tune the skill, but also to develop the necessary confidence. It is hard to train my brain to stop the bad habits I have fallen into all of these years.

Well, you'd never know it. You look as if you've been singing and dancing all your life. What is your process? How do you work on a role?

Ha! I have a process? I'll never forget when I did The Producers back in 2011. It was my first leading part. One of the younger cast members who was new to theatre asked me during rehearsal: "What is your process? You have been so prepared since day one." And I said, "It is called 'listening to the cast recording for the last 10 years.'"

Friends and family always make fun of my emotional rollercoaster "process," from the audition to closing. First, I stress about the audition, saying to myself, "I'm not going to get it. There is too much competition". Second, I get the part and I complain "how am I going to memorize the lines, the lyrics, the choreography? I have no time for this!" Third, we start rehearsals, and I tell my wife, "Big mistake! Please, I am begging you, tell me what I was thinking when I got myself into this?" Fourth, I come home and proclaim, "They are going to fire me by the end of the week." Fifth, the week before I open I say, "You know, we might actually have a decent show here". Sixth, we open and I say, "You know, it was a pretty good opening!" Seventh, we close, and I say, "What an incredible experience! I'm going to miss this show." And the vicious cycle starts all over again. That is a portrait of a sick mind.

Yes, indeed. It's a sickness we all share.

When I am reading [a script], I am always asking myself, "How would this character talk in real life?" The biggest challenge for me is to get my confidence high enough so that everything flows naturally, as if I am saying these lines for the very first time during each performance. Confidence is the key to everything, yet stay humble, and always remind yourself that you can still make it better.

What are your dream roles?

I have been incredibly fortunate to have played many of my dream roles already: Max from The Producers, Alan (the arrogant attorney) from God of Carnage, and Sidney Bruhl from Deathtrap come to mind. I would love to play Father Flynn in Doubt, Applegate (the Devil) in Damn Yankees, and Oscar in The Odd Couple.

Oh, yikes. Yeah. You'd be terrific in ALL those roles! I wonder, with all the agony you go through - what do you love most about theatre and acting?

I want to do it well, give it my full concentration during every rehearsal and performance. There is no way I am able to think about any stressful or troubling thing in my life during those 3 hours or more of rehearsal or performance. When I am having fun and am happy doing what I love, everything else in life falls into place. Relationships get better. Work gets better. Finally, the people involved in theatre are the most accepting, caring, and fun people I have ever met.

What do you hate about acting and/or theatre?

Sometimes I get frustrated with the politics of casting. That being said, we all have suffered and benefited from that. Just like anything, opportunity is not just about talent and giving the best reading at the audition. Relationships and reputation in the theatre community are key.

What's next?

Right now, I have no plans for the rest of 2017. I intend to audition for a couple of plays early next year. Until then, I need to catch up with work and getting things done around the house!

Keep us posted, dear man. Carry on!