Sunday, March 09, 2008
A+E, Theater, Reviews

The drifter

Travis Smith makes the transition from corny musicals to Shakespeare and Steinbeck

CREDIT: Courtesy of Atlanta Shakespeare
Drew Reeves and Travis Smith in “Of Mice and Men”

“OF MICE AND MEN”
Atlanta Shakespeare
$12-$32
404-874-5299
www.shakespearetavern.com
March 13-April 6
By Bert Osbone

You might never guess that actor Travis Smith was classically trained in Shakespeare, Chekhov and Moliere (at the North Carolina School of the Arts), if all you knew him from was his role in a recurring trilogy of corny musicals at Theatre in the Square (“Smoke on the Mountain,” “Sanders Family Christmas,” “Mount Pleasant Homecoming”), or from a couple of small parts at Theatrical Outfit (both “Lost Highway” and “Keeping Watch” also called upon his abilities as a singer and guitarist).

But that’s precisely what made it so stunning when Smith played the doomed Xerxes earlier this season in the Square’s Greek tragedy “The Persians”—and it’s what makes his new assignment as the ill-fated Lennie in Atlanta Shakespeare’s “Of Mice and Men” so intriguing.
 
“I really wanted ‘The Persians’ and I went after it hard, not because I thought it was such a great play, necessarily, but because it seemed like nobody in town knew me except as a guy who could only act when he had a guitar in his hands,” Smith recalls during a recent interview. “People see you kind of doing just one thing and before long they think that’s all you can do. I’m not saying that’s anybody’s fault, but it’s up to me to get past that, to go out and do something about it.”
 
To that end, even though Smith wasn’t initially called in to read for “The Persians,” he took it upon himself to ask for an audition. One thing led to another—twice. Not only did he eventually land the role of Xerxes, but the show introduced him to Maurice Ralston, who appeared in the supporting cast and who’s now directing him in the Tavern drama. John Steinbeck’s own stage version of his literary classic follows a pair of drifting Depression-era farm hands dreaming of a better life. Smith plays the simple-minded Lennie to Drew Reeves’ stoic George.
 
In general, Smith observes, “The whole story is about the relationship between these two men, and if that doesn’t work, the play doesn’t work. It’s a love story, really, and you never get to see love like that between two men anymore.” In particular, “There’s a distinct rhythm and pattern to Lennie’s speech that’s very specific. It’s not about me acting simple-minded. The last thing I want is for the character’s retardation to be a distraction. I’m kind of nervous about it. It scares me a little, but that’s also why I wanted to do it so much.”
 
Smith, 34, a native of Winston-Salem, relocated to Atlanta in 2003—by way of a couple of years struggling to find acting work in New York, and a few months touring Australia as a musician. Does he have a preference between musicals or dramas? “It just depends on the story,” he replies. “I didn’t know anything about Hank Williams before ‘Lost Highway,’ and now I’m a huge fan, so telling that story was just as rewarding as doing a serious play like ‘Equus’ [in college]. If the story’s good and worth telling, whether it’s told through music or drama doesn’t really matter.”
 
Ideally, Smith says he likes maintaining a balance between the two. During the run of the Steinbeck drama at the Tavern, in fact, he’ll also be rehearsing the gospel musical “Godspell” (playing both Judas and John the Baptist), which opens next month at the Outfit. This summer, he’ll reprise the role of Dennis Sanders in the Square’s revival of “Mount Pleasant Homecoming.”
 
Yet again. Say what you will about the quality of the scripts, but “those shows are probably the most challenging I’ve ever done, in terms of learning all the music [and] keeping the performances fresh for myself, night after night and year after year,” Smith says. “When it gets to a point where there’s nothing more I can learn or take from the experience, then it will be time to move on.” SP