52nd City

Interview with STLAS

"The Late Henry Moss" will have its last weekend of at the Gaslight Theatre this Friday-Sunday, so we caught up with two of the three principals in the St. Louis Actors Studio, William Roth and David Wassilak. (Apologies to "Henry Moss" director Milton Zoth.) Both Roth and Wassilak are part of the cast for "Henry Moss" and they responded separately to an e-mailed list of questions about the show, STLAS and the arrival of the West End Grill and Pub, which is now firmly attached to the theatre. We blend the Q's-and-A's below.

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52nd City: How has this particular performance gone for you? Seems that there's been more buzz around this show than some previous works. Or is that just me listening a bit more closely?

WR: Like a dream come true. I saw premiere with Sean Penn, Nick Nolte, Woody Harrelson, Cheech Marin, James Gammon, Shelia Tousey and directed by Sam in San Fran in 2000 and have been talking about this show and dying to do it ever since... I think the combination of doing Shepard with the fact that this is the first show that all three of us are in together has raised expectations some... (not to mention burning holes in our stomachs).

DW: This one's been good. But more difficult than I first thought. I really like Shepard's writing, because it is not only naturalistic but, has a rhythm to it also. That can make it more difficult to learn, but rewarding in the end. Not sure if there is more buzz for this show. Seems our whole season has gotten a lot of attention. Probably because we're new and folks want to see what we're up to.

52nd City: The restaurant seemed to land in your lobby in no time at all, though I know that's not the case. Are other people having the same response, along the lines of "wow, when did the Grill and Pub arrive"?

WR: It has all been in the plans from Day one, we worked on the theatre first because we had a production date for "A Delicate Balance"... the restaurant owners have been patiently tapping their fingers ever since... construction delays, you know how it is...

DW: Actually people have been asking all along when it was going to open. (Edit: Ouch!)

52nd City: You had a very unusual opening night. Have either of you been involved in a situation in which a show was stopped, before beginning again? How do you as a performer shift back into the mood of the show?

WR: I have seen a show stopped but not been in one and lucky for me I was in the green room at the time of this incident.

DW: Well... I've sort of stopped a show, or at least stalled it a bit when a cell phone rang during a production of "Waiting for Godot" that I was in. The phone rang and not only did the person take a long time picking it up, but she went to the back of the house to answer it. So I stopped what I was saying and using a line from another character in the show said loudly "That's enough." Since this didn't stop the cell conversation, another actor interjected another line from the show "Enough is enough." The audience laughed and applauded and then we continued. Hopefully it was a lesson to all about public rudeness. As for the interruption during "Henry Moss," it was a bit surreal, as the person obviously was in pain of some sort. I was stunned, but John Pierson who plays Taxi in the show, whispered me a show business joke, I had a quick laugh and we started back up. The audience was right with us a couple of lines in.

52nd City: Can you tell a bit about the Party Politics Gala on May 10? How is the last show shaping up? And what kind of feedback have you been getting from your regulars, in terms of what they're expecting from that program?

WR: You mean our first attempt at writing a script that will engage and excite a world wide audience? Like everything we are doing, creating new material is important to us and I suspect it will be well received.

DW: It' still in the writing process, so we're all looking forward to seeing how it will turn out. Our regulars are looking forward to it as much as we are. (I hope!)