Arts & Entertainment

Young & Handsome

Stratford season includes two plays featuring an up-and-coming star of the musical stage.

Suzanne Chessler
Special to the Jewish News

osh Young has traveled to Metro
Detroit with a national touring
production of Les Miserables and
now hopes Metro Detroiters will travel
to the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in
Canada to see him in productions of Evita
and Kiss Me, Kate.
Evita, which runs May 28-Oct. 31 at the
Avon Theatre, features Young as Che, the
narrator of the Tim Rice-Andrew Lloyd
Webber musical that tells the story of Eva
Peron and her place in Argentine history.
Kiss Me, Kate, which runs through Oct. 30
at the Festival Theatre, casts Young as Paul
the dresser, spotlighted in the number
"Too Darn Hot" as part of the Cole Porter
musical about feuding co-stars.
Other productions being mounted
this season are As You Like It, Dangerous
Liaisons, Do Not Go Gentle, For the
Pleasure of Seeing Her Again, Jacques Brel
Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris, King
of Thieves, Peter Pan, The Tempest, The
Two Gentlemen of Verona and The Winter's
Tale.
"The two plays I'm in are pretty much
as different as can be so I'm sure this is
going to be a very interesting summer','
says Young, 29, who was raised outside
Philadelphia, studied theater at Syracuse
University and has been a steady per-
former since.
"In one of the best rock operas ever, I
play one of the most famous revolution-
aries of all time — Che Guevera. Our
director, Gary Griffin, is going to surprise
audiences with [an interpretation of the
Che role that varies] from the original play
and movie, and I think people are going
to love it.
"As Paul in Kiss Me, Kate, I'm singing a
standard. The feeling of the play is that it's
total musical comedy."
Young, making his debut with Stratford,
only has been in Canada once before. His
visit was part of the Les Miserables tour
and brought him to Saskatchewan.
"I auditioned for Stratford in New York
City," Young explains. "My agents called
and told me they were casting the role
of Che. About a month after one tryout, I
learned that I got the part."
Young decided he wanted to be an actor
when he was 17. Until then, he thought
of his appearances in middle- and high-

j

impacted my work on the shows."
In a very different workshop assign-
ment, scheduled after Stratford, Young
will be part of the developing musical
Amazing Grace. It tells the story of John
Newton, a slave-ship owner who mended
his ways by becoming an ordained priest
and working to free slaves.
Newton wrote the song "Amazing
Grace which gives the production its title.
"This is very distant from my Judaism,
but I can relate to the passion of the
character," Young says. "I can connect to
the person he was as he tried to do great
things, developing the morals and beliefs
that drove him."
Young learns his parts by repeatedly
working with a tape recorder. After taping
a string of cue lines, he plays them back,
stops the cassette and speaks his own
lines aloud.
With two Stratford parts to learn and
perform in rotation, Young does not have
much time for his usual free-time activi-
ties, which include going to movies, jazz
clubs and the beach with friends. He is
hoping to find the time to bring a favorite
New York pursuit to the Stratford area and
produce a concert introducing the work of
new musical-theater composers.
"I started Cutting-Edge Composers to
showcase
new composers bimonthly, try-
Josh Young can be seen as Che in Evita and as Paul the dresser in Kiss Me, Kate,
ing
to
find
the next Andrew Lloyd Webber
both at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Ontario, Canada.
or Stephen Sondheim," says Young, who
recently released a self-titled recording
that features a collection of his favorite
West
Side
eled
internationally
as
Tony
in
school musicals simply as fun.
songs.
and
went
on
to
roles
in
regional
Story
"The stage is where I've come to feel
"Right now, I feel I'm living my career
Hairspray,
A
Little
theaters,
appearing
in
most at home,' says Young, who is single
goals.
I feel connected to every part I've
Othello.
A
and
Night
Music,
A
Chorus
Line
and the son of a dentist and a nurse and
done,
and
I'm focused on cultivating new
West
Side
regional
theater
production
of
the brother of two lawyers. "Being in front
musicals.
introduced
him
to
director
Josh
Story
of lots of people while singing is my favor-
"I didn't know very much about
Bergasse, who developed his dancing tal-
ite place."
Stratford,
but it's such an honor, especially
ents
in
Michigan.
Young's talents were noted in high
as
an
American,
to be cast here. I'm one
Young,
who
grew
up
regularly
attending
school, when he was accepted into the
of
a
very
small
group
of Americans who
synagogue
services
and
had
his
bar
mitz-
Pennsylvania Governor's School for the
get
to
experience
this
amazing repertory
vah,
brought
his
religious
experiences
to
Arts and allowed to concentrate on both
company."
assuming
roles
in
workshop
productions
voice and drama. His musical theater
of two new plays about the Holocaust
program at Syracuse University brought
— Warsaw, based on the uprising in the
him a bachelor of fine arts degree based
The Stratford Shakespeare Festival
Warsaw
Ghetto, and Wallenberg, based on
on equal training in acting, singing and
runs through the end of October.
the
heroic
acts
of
World
War
II
rescuer
dancing.
Ticket prices are $50-$132. For
Raoul
Wallenberg.
"I feel that acting goes along with sing-
complete schedules and travel
The
creative
teams
are
aiming
for
ing," he says. "When I'm singing, I'm also
information, call (800) 567-1600 or
Broadway.
acting. I get to do a little bit of dancing
visit www.stratfordfestival.ca . For
"My
grandmother
was
in
Vienna
dur-
in each Stratford play. There are different
more on Josh Young and to order his
ing the Holocaust so I talked to her
styles, which makes it more fun."
self-titled debut CD, go to
about
those
times
and
was
able
to
get
After touring with Les Miserables as
http://josh-young.com .
background
information,"
Young
says.
"It
Marius, his first major show, Young trav-

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May 13 • 2010

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