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MICHAEL SMITH World Scene Writer 04/03/2005 Tulsa World (Final Home Edition), Page H3 of Arts
"DAMN YANKEES" is the musical theater favorite celebrating the 50th anniversary of its debut on Broadway, a baseball version of the "Faust" legend featuring songs including "Heart" and "Shoeless Joe From Hannibal, Mo." In this musical, Chronister's devil goes by the name of Mr. Applegate, who deals with a middle-aged fan willing to sell his soul for a chance to play for his favorite team. The fan is transformed into young Joe Hardy, a phenom who becomes the team's top man on the mound as well as at the plate. Despite his success, Joe longs to return to his wife, but helping Applegate seal the deal is his seductive helper, and "Whatever Lola Wants," the luscious Lola gets. The ingredients that bond this devilish duo are enough to give Chronister some comically improvisational ideas on how to create his character. Director Rick Hildebrant laughs at some of these schemes and incorporates them - while laughing at and declining others. "There's this scene where I introduce Lola to Joe, and I was kind of brushing her hair with my hand, and Rick said, 'It looks like you're petting your dog,' and I said, 'Well, Rick, she's my pet in this show,'" Chronister said. "I want to show her off. I want her to look beautiful." So just like in the case of Nurse Betty, Chronister sticks to his belief that in portraying a character, if an idea is genuine to the character, he can go as far as he wants in rehearsals - with a director like Hildebrant that he trusts to rein him in. "Rick said, 'Well, try patting her hair, don't rub her head like that. It looks like a dog.' So I bring up ideas, and we work from there. I've asked for a dog, but he still says no to that one." While Chronister, 24, played comedy while majoring in theater at the University of Tulsa, he was most often noted for his work in dramas, playing many "sensitive males," he said. In community theater, he's become known for his comic timing. So well-known, in fact, that "DAMN YANKEES" - which also features Mitch Adams, Cerese Cook and Lisa Stefanic in the cast - was his first audition in almost a year, after appearing in several plays at directors' requests. As a sales coordinator for Williams & Williams Auctions, Chronister thinks the company could have found someone with more job experience, but apparently they also thought of his presence as "good energy, kind of a breath of fresh air and life" around the office, he recalls. It's good to be wanted, but Chronister wasn't always so confident. In high school, the 6-foot actor was a couple of inches shorter and more than 30 pounds heavier. He gravitated toward comedy, thinking he'd never win any romantic leads. He still refers to photos from those years as "my fat pictures." "When people see them now, they say, 'Wow, you were big,' and 'Wow, you had hair' " he said, laughing. He admits the role of Mr. Applegate was too intimidating for him to seek during his Sand Springs High School years. He now regrets he didn't try to play the devil that first time around. When he heard Theater Tulsa was mounting the production, he again had reservations, but in a more comical vein. "The tendency is usually to cast a middle-aged man in the role (Ray Walston starred on Broadway). I'm 24. So either I look middle-aged -- which I assume is not the case -- or they liked my reading of it. I'm going to go with that second one." theater "DAMN YANKEES" Who Theater Tulsa When 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. April 10, 8 p.m. April 14-16 Where John H. Williams Theater of the Tulsa Performing Arts Center, Second Street and Cincinnati Avenue Tickets $15-$17 at 596-7111, www.tulsapac.com Michael Smith 581-8334 michael.smith@tulsaworld.com | ||||||
