On being a comprimario.

I have a friend, an excellent singer and actor, who decided to quit singing because noone would hire him to play leads. They only wanted him to be the funny little sidekick. He refused. I could never wrap my brain around that. Character parts are so much more fun than leads. Have you ever had the experience of working for hours and hours on a project, only to have someone come in at the last minute and totally steal your thunder? That's what comprimarii do. Coming in for 5 minutes, blasting it out, and then leaving with the furniture is so much more rewarding than the slog of romantic melodrama. I'll let the skinny shits work like dogs and deal with the crazy divas. I just want to be a pirate, or a chef, or a retard, or a soldier, or a toady.

And give me my motherfucking check.

Of course, there are a few pitfalls. One downside to being a secondo is being treated with a lack of respect. I guess people are so used to small parts being performed like shit, they get used to the idea that the people that do them are in some way diminished. I had quite a few people come up to me after the last performance and tell me they have never heard my role sung that well. Seriously? I feel horrible for people that had to endure a bad Antonio, or Remendado, or Magician, or Li'l Bat. Companies are so used to young artists playing these roles for no money, they get dismissed half of the time. That really is a shame.

Sometimes is can be a disadvantage to one's career to be good in small parts. Anton Coppola told me many times he couldn't hire me as Don Jose because he would have a way harder time casting the gypsies. He said having people in small roles whom he doesn't have to worry about is worth its weight in gold. Having seen how a bad walk-on can derail an entire production, I can see his point.

I sincerely hope there are more henchmen in my future. I have a Beadle and another pirate coming up, not to mention the giant garbage pail kid in the ring cycle. This big performer loves coming in small packages. Wait, that didn't come out right. There are no small roles, only small actors, and I am in no way small. Wait...aw fuck it. You get the point.