‘Memphis’ runs Jan. 31-Feb. 5 at the Fox Theatre. Tickets: Ticketmaster, 800.278.4447.
In any Broadway-style production, the leading actors usually get more than their fair share of the limelight. But quite often it’s the lesser-known supporting players who help the headliners shine brightest. The national tour of Memphis features two ensemble members with deep Georgia roots – Christopher Gurr of Americus and Jody Reynard of Austell.
We caught up with them as they returned home, to learn more about their careers, what makes the Tony Award-winning Memphis special, and what they’re most looking forward while they’re back in the Peach State.
You were both raised in fairly small Georgia towns. How did you get interested in theater?
Christopher Gurr: I started very young. The public schools in Americus had a very good music program, and I did my first play – an operetta, really – when I was 7. All I ever wanted to be is an actor … who sings … and maybe dances a little. That’s exactly what I’m doing in Memphis, 40-some-odd years later.
Jody Reynard: I started performing when I was accepted into the Cobb County Center for Excellence in the Performing Arts at Pebblebrook High School. I was a vocal major for three years and a dance major my senior year. I had many performing opportunities there, and I’ve been seeking out new ones ever since.
How did you break into the business?
CG: I left Americus right after high school and went to Webster University in St. Louis. Four years later I had a BFA in musical theater. I booked my first professional gig the summer between my freshman and sophomore years … unless you count a few days I worked as an extra on a “Wonderful World of Walt Disney” TV movie shot in Lumpkin when I was a little boy. I’m pretty sure I got paid for that, too.
JR: I went to Kennesaw State University and graduated with a theater degree, all the while auditioning all around Atlanta and seeking out any and every performing opportunity I could find. I worked with the Atlanta Opera, the Atlanta Shakespeare Tavern and Theater of the Stars at the Fox. That’s how I broke into the business – pounding the local pavement and getting enough experience under my belt to feel confident pounding the pavement of New York City.
Memphis won a slew of awards on Broadway, including the Tony Award for best musical. What makes the show special?
CG: What I responded to when I saw the show in New York was the dancing and staging. The movement of this show is still, I think, my favorite part. It’s the part I contribute the least to as a performer – I’m an actor/singer in this show – so I can stand back and just be a fan of the motion of the world of Memphis.
JR: It’s a simple, original story about a man with an idea to change things in a time when social change was imminent. That’s always an intriguing story in my book.
What’s the best part about coming back to Georgia to perform?
CG: My family and the Fox Theatre because that’s where I saw my first Broadway show, the national tour of A Chorus Line. I still can’t believe I get to do what I’m doing in my life. I’m a very lucky man.
JR: I enjoy performing at the Fox tremendously, and I can’t wait to get some good Southern cooking.
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Bret Love is the founder of ecotourism/conservation site GreenGlobalTravel.com; the national managing editor of INsite magazine; and music editor for Georgia Music Magazine. He freelances for more than a dozen other national and international publications, and performs on numerous improv teams with Jackpie at Relapse Theatre.
