Charles Swan appears as Ralph Berger in
AWAKE AND SING!, playing at our Rice Village location. Get to know a little more about Charles as he answers MST's Q&A...
Full given name: Charles Thomas Swan
Hometown: Houston, TX
Zodiac sign: Aquarius
Audition Monologue/Song: Mono: “All in the Timing” – David Ives; Song: “Run Away With Me” Kerrigan / Lowdermilk
Special skills: Can set houses on fire in Germany (On stage! Not in real life!), works with horses, bungee jumping (is that a skill….?) plays piano, and body-rolling (Did I ever tell you about time I lost out on the national tour of “The Wedding Singer” for my lousy body roll…..? Needless to say, I’ve MASTERED it now!)
First Houston show ever saw: Miss Saigon when I was 8 – what were my parents thinking?! Loved every second of it!
Current show you have been recommending to friends: ummmm….Awake and Sing! Duh! But I also loved Mauritius at the Alley….they always do great work.
Favorite show tune: Anything from Parade….and have you heard the latest recording of “South Pacific” - Good lord! Gorgeous.
MAC or PC? MAC. Forever.
Most played song on your iPod: “Easy (acoustic)” – Barenaked Ladies
Last book you read: Relentless Pursuit – A Year in the Trenches with Teach for America
Must-see TV show: who has time for TV?!?!
Last good movie you saw: Shelter – a little cheesy, but so incredibly poignant – a profound look at family, what it could be, and the direction we need to move as a nation.
Favorite board game: Taboo – though I loose every time I still like to refer to myself as the Taboo-King – oh! And Uno. Can’t forget Uno….!
Performer you would drop everything to go see: Gary Beach still continues to inspire me. I think he is a terrific role model and a great actor.
Pop culture guilty pleasure: OK, I’ll admit it…I love Hilary Duff’s “Wake Up”. There I said it.
First stage kiss: My first stage kiss was also my first kiss ever! So wonderfully awkward! It was my sophomore year of high school in the musical “Anything Goes.” I was so nervous I think I almost passed out. What a nerd!
Favorite post-show meal: The nearest chips and queso joint.
Worst onstage mishap: I fall a lot on stage! I’m not sure why….it’s like that narcoleptic dog on Youtube – down he goes…maybe I should have that looked at. And one time – at the Great Caruso R.I.P. - I was trying to kick my face in “Footloose” and split my pants – all I was wearing was a dance belt so the audience definitely got their money’s worth that night!!! (Or perhaps they all wanted their money BACK!)
Worst costume ever: Easy. Being a RAT at HGO was the most ridiculous costume…and job I’ve ever had. We crawled around the Wortham Center for a good three hours in rat helmets and these big hula-hoop lookin’ rat suits…..ugh. It was like Tweedle-Dee and Dum for rodents.
Favorite cereal: Frosted Flakes – they’re grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreat!
Who would play you in the movie? A combination of Chuck Norris, Bruce Lee, Mandy Moore, Sutton Foster, and Vern Troyer.
Worst job you ever had: My worst job was also one of my favorites. Last summer I was performing in Germany which was phenomenal because the country is stunningly beautiful and the people were so wonderfully interesting. But we shared a stage with a live animal ‘spectacular’. Our shows were back to back so there was no time to clean up any of the “messes” left behind from the horses, birds, and dogs before us. The working conditions were awful – we were constantly adjusting choreography to not step in anything….I will forever be grateful for that “unique” opportunity, and I am keenly aware of the beauty that is Actor’s Equity!
TV or commercial gig you most enjoyed: A few of us were hanging out at Harvard one day when we were asked to be in a Sam Adams Commercial. The guidelines were to drink beer all afternoon and have fun. How can you not love that? It was one of the most special, fun days I’ve ever had. We ended up being that commercial for all of .25 seconds!! Totally worth it.
AWAKE AND SING! plays our Rice Village location through June 7, 2009. For tickets, please call 713-524-6706.
And that's the word on the street!
MST is proud to announce the casting of its Theater for Youth Season! Returning favorites as well as some great new talent will grace the stage this season. Who can you not wait to see?
Awake and Sing! is a drama about a Jewish family and their friends living in the Bronx during the Great Depression. All of the characters struggle to achieve their goals in life, despite the challenges they face. The main characters are the Berger family and Moe Axelrod. Bessie Berger, the mother of Hennie and Ralph Berger, has sacrificed many of her own hopes to make sure that her children are taken care of, making her bitter and quick-tempered. Her husband, Myron Berger, drinks to escape his own negative emotions. The two children also face problems. Bessie forces Hennie to marry a man whom she does not love, while she forbids Ralph to marry his girlfriend. Bessie’s father, Jacob, is an immigrant who has been disappointed with capitalist society and seeks relief in the Communist teachings. Throughout the course of the play the characters face many difficulties that spring from conflicting ideas about the true course to happiness.
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