LANIN THOMASMA is new to the Rolla theatre scene--he just appeared in Babes in Toyland and will be appearing in two shows this summer.
Pictured left: Lanin as Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof
Pictured below: as Lord Kitchener
1. So, Lanin, you’ve traveled the world and logged—you say—over 22,000 performances! Talk about that—how many different scripts did you have to know? How do audiences differ country to country? How do you keep a show fresh when you’ve performed it hundreds of times?
Covenant Players, the ministry for which I’ve worked for 30 years, has a repertoire that numbers over 3000. And while I haven’t done all of them, I have to confess that I lost count several years ago! I think I’ve done somewhere between 600 and 700 plays.
How do I keep them fresh? One word: character. Even if it’s a role I’ve done 2000 times before, whatever goes on is happening to my character for the first time. If I remember that, and experience the play from my character’s standpoint, it’s a new experience every time.
How do audiences differ from country to country? Surprisingly little. Despite language differences, folks struggle with pretty much the same issues wherever they are. A play with specific historical references might not go over in another country – or it might go over in a completely different way, depending on how that history is viewed. A play like “The Crucible”, for instance, might play quite differently among people for whom the McCarthy Era has no meaning, but who may still remember the State Police of East Germany or Communist Poland.
2. Where are you from and how did you decide to spend the summer at OAT?
I’m from Grand Rapids, Michigan originally. I’ve traveled for 13 years in Europe, live 10 years in California and 6 years in the Toledo, OH area. Last summer my wife and I moved back to her hometown of Steelville, and I’ve been eager to involve myself in the area’s theater productions ever since.
3. How did you get in to the theatre?
By way of Munchkinland. I was a munchkin in the Grand Rapids Civic Theatre’s production of “The Wizard of Oz”, back in 8th grade. I caught the bug then, and I’ve never turned back.
4. What’s one of your fondest theatrical memories as a performer?
We were performing for a small church in the Netherlands, a longer play in Dutch that we’d just learned. It was a courtroom setting – I was the judge and my wife was playing a witness in the case. Our 4 year old daughter was in child care downstairs, but her caregivers wanted to see the play, too, so they crept upstairs with her. Our daughter spotted her mother, and determinedly headed up to the stage and climbed onto her lap. I had to request – in character as the Judge, and in Dutch – that someone please remove this child from the courtroom. Such was our daughter’s stage presence that she went quietly once she’d had her cuddle.
5. What are you most looking forward to experiencing in Rolla?
I’m looking forward to working with the incredibly dedicated performers, directors and crew here at OAT! It’s that ensemble work that makes a production special – everyone pitching in and doing their absolute best. And that’s a quality that’s been evident in all of the productions I’ve seen and been a part of here.
www.ntoonz.com
