Working At Home

With his 'Secret Garden role, Doug Sills gets to perform before
the home crowd.

•

SUZANNE CHESSLER

SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

hen Douglas Sills is
not playing the part of
Neville Craven during
the three-week run of
The Secret Garden at
the Fisher Theatre, he
will be playing host to
cast members and crew
enjoying their time off.
The former Bloom-
field Hills resident, on
tour with the production
for one year, is planning
to introduce these non-
Detroiters to some popu-
lar places in the area.
"The cast's interests
are so diverse that I will
probably recommend
things on a one-to-one
basis," said Mr. Sills, 32,
who also intends to
spend many of his free
hours with his parents,
Rhoda and Arthur Sills.
"I've really been look-
ing forward to this work-
ing visit," said the actor.
He portrays the villain
in the drama, although
he works at thinking of
the character in another
way.
"When I come here on
vacation, I'm always
dealing with that little
glint of an idea that I
should be in Los Angeles
or New York auditioning
because it's only through
auditioning that I get my
next job." But, since he's
working during this
visit, "I can really enjoy
this trip."
Mr. Sills, whose home
base has become Cali-
fornia, is bringing his
second touring role to
Detroit. He was in a
1989 production of Into
the Woods at the Fox
Theatre.
"Villain is a label we
put on people we are
judging, and actors cer-

tainly can't do that if
we're going to portray
characters," said Mr.
Sills, who has appeared
on "Murphy Brown" and
in Blake Edwards' Just
in Case for Disney.
"Any well-written piece
has places for the actor
to get underneath the
skin of the character and
look through his eyes as
opposed to looking at his
eyes. When I'm portray-
ing Neville Craven, I
must have sympathy for
him and learn to justify
what he has done."
The Secret Garden
explores an orphaned
young girl's • journey
through the grief of the
loss of her parents and
the ways she helps bring
her uncle through the
grief of the loss of his
wife. Mr. Sills takes the.
role of the uncle's broth-
er.
Neville Craven is a
doctor who lives in the
brother's house and
takes care of the broth-
er's sickly son, who was
born when the wife
passed away in child-
Sills enjoys performing at home. Below, Sills, left, is shown with Kevin
birth. He remains jeal- Doug
McGuire.
ous because he was in
love with his brother's
wife, who gave him no
attention.
Mr. Sills' approach to
characterization comes
from his theater train-
ing, which includes a
bachelor's degree in voice
performance from the
University of Michigan
and a master's degree
from the American
Conservatory Theatre in
San Francisco.
His interest in theater
1- )egan as he watched his
sisters, Claudia Sills and
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