BWW Interviews: Jodi Darling - Stars in Her Eyes

Jodi Darling is yet another of the incredible women performing at Great American Playhouse in Oro Valley, just north of Tucson. When I saw their most recent offering, Quest of the Cavemen, I mentioned in my review that GAP ought to put on a Diva show, because of their complement of woman triple threats, and, sure enough, they've got one coming up later this summer. I couldn't wait to hear more.

JS: Please tell me about the Diva show coming up at the Great American Playhouse - what's the structure, numbers, other content, etc.. and who all is involved?

JD: It will be Jacinda Rose Swinehart, Jen Ackerley , Colleen Zandbergen, Amy DeHaven, April Lisette and me. We will be doing solos, duets, trios and a couple group numbers thrown in. Sly Slipesky will play piano. Some of the numbers are In His Eyes from Jekyll and Hyde, I Will Never Leave You from Sideshow, Pretty Women from Sweeney Todd, Unexpected Song from Song and Dance and At the Ballet from Chorus Line, just to name a few.

Sounds fabulous. How did you get interested in performing?

I had always been the little kid that got up in front of anyone who would listen at parties, BBQ, family dinners and belt out Fame or Tomorrow. I started working at the Gaslight doing Christmas shows when I was 8 and I was hooked from then on. I also did shows at the University of Arizona when they needed kids and several shows for SALOC (Southern Arizona Light Opera Company).

What are your most vivid memories of working with all those adult actors? Did any of them inspire you in any major way?

I just remember watching them intensely, memorizing the olios from watching them over and over, admiring their timing and expert ways of landing a joke. I have always been a sponge and I have and still have stars in my eyes when I see a performance that moves me. They were always just so nice to me.

I was born in New Jersey, lived there until I was five, Chicago for three years, then moved to Tucson when I was eight. I went to Tanque Verde Elementary, Emily Gray Junior High and Sabino High School. I went to college at Norther Arizona University in Flagstaff, where I got a vocal performance degree. After my junior and senior years I was accepted into College Light Opera Co in Falmouth, Massachussetts where we performed 9 shows each summer - 18 total and there I met musical theatre nerds just like me. From there the transition to NYC was pretty smooth. I lived there for 10 years working as an actor, sometimes waiting tables or temping in between. I did a few tours including two years on the national tour of Showboat as Magnolia. I also did several regional shows including Hodel in Fiddler on the Roof, and Laurie in Oklahoma opposite Sandy Duncan. I earned my Equity card during that time (which I have managed to keep.).

How much union work have you gotten here (before GAP)? What, in your view, are the pros and cons of being union in Tucson?

Lots of work singing for church and benefit concerts, things that didn't effect my Equity status. I worked at the Arizona Theatre Company doing My Fair Lady, ensemble. The D-Word was an Equity Guest Artist contract. It is not an easy thing to keep in a smaller city. For me, it was not an easy thing to earn. It is very expensive as well, I felt as if I was paying that thing off forever! The pros are having pension, in some cases having health insurance having the union protecting your rights as an actor. There are many cons. It's much harder to get work here. Not many theatre companies even realize it's possible to hire a union actor. There are many levels of contracts from Production contracts to smaller bare bones contracts depending on the company. You have to really prove yourself all the time and there's a constant feeling of wanting producers to recognize you are worth the extra effort if hiring through the union.

What brought you back to Tucson?

After 10 years in NYC, my husband, actor Chach Snook, and I had been there during 9/11, got married, bought a condo in North Bergen and had a daughter Julia, and our priorities shifted. We decided it was time to move back to Tucson to be closer to family. We didn't know how we would make a living but figured maybe we had some stuff to offer. My husband, en route with a Penske truck in tow, was offered the choir/ theatre teaching position and Flowing Wells Junior High. I taught private voice and musical theatre after school. We both started singing with On Broadway with Armen Dirtadian as well as several cabaret style concerts of our own. On Broadway was a group of 8 singers. We would sing mostly showtunes, or Broadway medleys at Tucson Country Club, perform the second half of Armen's concerts. It was run by Lonnie Henning who past away recently. Armen and I also did Pirates of Penzance at SALOC in '91.

Somewhere in there we had another child , Gabriel who is now 7. I was cast alongside Jacinda in The D-Word by Jeannie Linders. The D-Word: Ditched, dumped Dovorced and Dating. Jacinda went on to do it in Florida. We did the very first workshop of it here in the Cabaret Space at the Temple of Music and Art. Jeannie Linders wrote Menopause: The Musical.

Then a friend texted me about a new theatre that Nancy Viola was opening in Oro Valley. I wasn't sure if she would hire an Equity actor. I had auditioned for other theaters when I had moved back to town but they did not want to deal with the union to acquire a Special Appearance Contract. Nancy, however, was willing, and for that I am very grateful. The Caveman show is my fourth show with the GAP. I am not doing the summer show so I can spend some much needed time with my kids but if they will have me back, I will be back for the next show, Beetlejuiced.

Have you worked much with your husband? Does he get to do much acting nowadays?

I do when we whip out one of our concerts. Two of the best songs we sing together are The Prayer and Tonight from West Side Story, which is funny because he is actually Hispanic and I am white as can be. He does perform still. He subs for Presidio Boys, he just sang with Backbeat and he will be playing "Enjolras" this summer for Arizona Onstage Productions' Les Miserables (our daughter, Julia, will be little Cosette).

You're very natural onstage - it doesn't look as if you're performing at all. What's your process?

I like to learn all my lines and music really well and then once we start rehearsing I try to react and respond as honestly as possible. Especially at the GAP with such wonderful actors to play off of, it's easy to find an natural rhythm with everyone. I would love to do more straight shows. I have not since college - I did The Heidi Chronicles.

I loved doing all the ingenue stuff but now that I'm 40, obviously the roles are different for me. I am also a lover of the older musicals where sopranos could really shine. I am so open to whatever the future holds for me. I feel like things have always come to me at the right time in my career the GAP being a prime example.

This is one of those wild ridiculous hypotheticals - if you could only do one more project in your life, and you had to decide right now, what would it be? In this pretend universe money is no object, and you have access to the best, brightest, most fabulous actors ever - living or dead. What would you do?

First, I would love to do a variety show with Judy Garland and belt out some crazy duet. She could poor her heart into a song like no one else. She sang a version of old man river on her show that to this day brings me to tears. "I'm tired of livin ' and scared of dyin' ". Gives me chills!

I would also love to be in a version of Les Miz. That is a show that I, like my husband, would love to do. I think at this point I could still pull off Fantine. You never know...

Right on, lady. You go....

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