A Moment With 'Almost An Evening' Star Del Pentecost

Currently running at The Theatres at 45 Bleecker Street, Ethan Coen's 'Almost an Evening' sold out before performances began in its first home at the Atlantic Theater Company. Here, actor Del Pentecost sits down with BWW's Faetra Petillo and talks about his experiences working with Ethan Coen, doing his first nude scene, and his favorite parts of the show.

Faetra Petillo: Congratulations on an amazing show and the extension of the run…I know you do a lot of work in film. Is this your first time on the stage in awhile?

Del Pentecost: I have worked in theatre before. Last year I did Fatboy by John Clancy at the Ohio Theatre and also at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and I played 'Fatboy'. It was a lot of fun.

FP: Do you prefer one to the other?

DP: I would love to be able to do theatre because you get to work on something for a longer period of time. But sometimes you can work two days on a film and make as much money as you do in a few months of doing theater. So until my creditors say I can pay them with something other than money, I need to make money. (laughs).

FP: As an actor, what do you find the main differences are in performing to a live audience as opposed to performing to a camera? Does the audience help you or hinder you?

DP: In theatre the performance needs to be a little bigger. And in a space like this one, you need to be performing to three sides as opposed to having the cameras right up in front of you. In this case I'm glad I'm performing in theatre because I would not want my naked body to be captured on film. Although I am thinner than I Used To be, I'm still not too thin…

FP: How did you start out acting?

DP: In high school I did it as a lark. I played football and needed an easy class so I took "drama" which is what they called it in Texas. And I met a girl and she was so cute and she was loving theatre so I loved theatre with her. We wound up breaking up and then I was in college studying social work and just floundering and not really going anywhere and I took a beginning acting class and thought, "This is cool". I called my folks and told them I was going to stay in school, because at that point I thought I might drop out, to study acting. Then after that I moved to Louisville and starting working with the Actors Theatre. Then we moved here to New York/New Jersey and I got my MFA from Rutgers.

FP: What's been the biggest change you've had to make in the transfer over to The Theatres at 45 Bleecker Street?

DP: You know it's actually been a bigger audience over here but it seems more intimate. I don't know why that is but with the other space you only had a few seats on either side and then everyone else was right up in front. So somehow the way it's set up here is a lot more intimate.

FP: Is there a difference in the crowds in uptown versus downtown?

DP: Yeah, definitely.  Downtown, for the most part, seems like they are coming to have a good time. I don't know, maybe they have a bar out in the lobby or something…but they are coming in and laughing a lot and having a great time.

FP: What were your first impressions of the script?

DP: Well when they asked me to audition I read through the script and I thought it was great, it was Ethan Coen and the Atlantic Theater Company and that was all I needed to know and I said, "Sure". Then I went back and re-read it and I guess I had just assumed that the nudity was the other character because I had never been asked to do nudity before. So then that night I started working on it and I realized, "Oh, that's me!". I didn't know if I could do it. I came on in to the audition and I thought there was no way they would ask me to do that scene so I took that pressure off myself. I got the offer on my birthday when I turned…old, and I thought that I had to do it. I probably would not have done it had it not been Ethan or the Atlantic Theater Company.

FP: So it made you uncomfortable at first?

DP: Yes, but when we got into the fourth or fifth day of rehearsal I thought I had to try it out, I had to do this because if I couldn't do it front of ten people I couldn't do it front of a hundred.  They were very cool about it. Two days later, we set it up and they shut the door and turned the lights off as much as possible. So I did it, and now I actually flash people on the street. In fact I wanted to do this interview in my second act costume. (laughs).

FP: How were you approached to do the show? I know you mentioned you came in to audition but you've worked with Ethan Coen before in O Brother, Where Art Thou?, so did he have you mind?

DP: I'm not actually sure. I'm guessing it was him, because I've never worked with the Atlantic before. I had auditioned for Ethan a year ago for something else and I've lost weight like I mentioned, so when he remembered me from O Brother, Where Art Thou? I was a lot heavier. So I walked into the room and he was like "Hey, Del!" and he did a double take and looked at me like I was almost anorexic.

FP: Since you have worked with Ethan before, what you love about him as a writer and an artist?

DP: In both film and theatre he does all the heavy lifting for you- if that makes sense. He doesn't make your choices, but he makes what he wants clear so he kind of edits the scene before you get to it. When I worked with him on the film, he and Joel had the story board in their head and that's what they wanted and that's what they shot. Some people you work with, they will shoot and get distracted. On O Brother, Where Art Thou?, if they got through their day in ten hours, that was their day, they didn't keep shooting- which is great.

FP: You are one of the only cast members that is in all three pieces. Do you have a favorite piece or a favorite character that you play?

DP: Well my favorite character is naked Earl in "Four Benches". My favorite piece is "Debate" probably because I get to watch the most and Mark Linn-Baker and F. Murray Abraham are just so funny. All the actors are great in that piece. Ethan tackles these important questions but he makes them fun and he doesn't try to answer them.

FP: Who is your favorite character that you don't play?

DP: Probably either God Who Judges or the Pram Lady. Johanna does that and she is just brilliant. It's very deeply layered. She comes off the stage and I am just moved.  (laughs)

FP: Why do you think the shows have been so well received?

DP: I think you have the combination of Ethan Coen's name bringing people in and then you have a stellar cast. I also think there's a lot of problems going on in the world and I think it's important to take eighty minutes to laugh and forget and have fun.

FP: So what is next for you?

DP: I'm doing a little thing on the "John Adams" TV movie, just a little thing- but from that I have another thing where I get to kill someone on a horse. So that will be fun. With the writers strike things have been slow, and now with the potential of an actors strike…I'm not really sure. But I've had some great auditions, so hopefully everything will work out and there won't be a strike.

'Almost an Evening' will be running at The Theatres at 45 Bleecker Street until June 1st, 2008. It is written by Ethan Coen and directed by Atlantic Theatre Company Artistic Director Neil Pepe. In addition to Del Pentecost the cast includes the talents of Tim Hopper, F. Murray Abraham, Mark Linn-Baker, Joey Slotnick, J.R. Horne, Johanna Day, Mary McCann and Jordan Lage. For more information please visit www.almostanevening.com

Top Photo Credit Peter James Zielinski 

Production Stills By Doug Hamilton