Interview with a heartthrob: The 'bare' necessities of John Hill!
By: Craig Brockman Apr. 22, 2004
The name John Hill has been on the lips of theatre people in the know for quite some time now. His buoyant presence, smoldering good looks and assured talent attracted attention in even the smallest of roles. Having created the adorable Fender in "Hairspray" and the rather greasy Mark Herron (and understudying Hugh Jackman) in "The Boy from Oz," he now tackles a starring role in the much talked about Off-Broadway musical, "Bare: A Pop Opera," which opened earlier this week. On top of all his other attributes, Mr. Hill is also quite the raconteur with a facile wit and quicksilver comic timing.
What was the first role you ever played professionally?
Well, how literal are we going to get? If a "professional job" means getting paid to sing, then my first professional job was in the country show at Fiesta Texas in San Antonio. My first really big Broadway show was Miss Saigon, and I left college early to be on the tour. I had never really known any Asians, coming from a small town in Texas, and then the next minute the only people I knew were Asian. They really taught me a lot - I had never seen people eat chicken feet before.
You've been in the chorus and now there seems to be quite a fan based for these hard working individuals. What can you tell us about being a chorus boy?
I did meet a lot of celebrities through Hairspray, but since I wasn't Marissa or Harvey, everyone pretty much walked right passed me. I met Nicole Kidman and was scared because I felt like I was at the circus; sorry about it. And I met Eugene Levy's wife who was really nice. So, even if someone dead had seen the show, they probably wouldn't have noticed me.
In the "The Boy from Oz," you played Judy Garland's fake husband Mark Herron. Did you do any in depth research into this real life character? Did you find any similarities between yourself and Herron? Mark Herron was a very interesting man. I did a minimal amount of research, mainly because I am lazy, but what I did find out was pretty juicy. He was one of those, you know...gay people, and the dynamic of he and Garland together seems to have been a very intense and volatile situation. He was an actor, and I purchased one of his films entitled "Girl in Gold Boots" where he plays a seedy bar owner. The movie is, for the most part, a pure waste of celluloid, but it can be really fun to watch late at night when your cable is shut off because you can't pay your bill.... wait a minute. It was really fun playing a weird gecko-like man married to Judy Garland, and it was nice to be paid to sit and watch Isabel Keating sing every night.You've been in the business I call show for a number of years now. Keeping this in mind is there anyone you would love to see burnt on a stake like a witch. If so, who? We need names!
In my vast years of experience in the theatre, the one lesson that has proved worthy of attention is to keep your friends close and your enemies even closer, so my lips are sealed as far as names go in this town. But, I guess I could muster up something interesting because there is one person who set my ego back a few light years and that person would be the agent who refused to work with me unless I underwent plastic surgery. He said "I am the only one who will be honest with you about this," at which point he grabbed my nose, shook it, and said "I am talking about this. You won't work until you fix this." I grabbed my bag and what remained of my dignity, and hobbled down Broadway. The thing is, he isn't wrong, I have a jacked up nose. It has been broken and it's crooked and crazy. But I could care less, because I don't want people to think I am good looking, that's not why I am in this business. So some nasty guy in a cubicle doesn't like my nose, I can cope. Believe me, if looks were why I became an actor, I would have had the thing hacked off by now. Regarding "Bare," How would you best describe your character in thirty words or less? My character in Bare, Jason, is a high school senior who is approaching the end of a chapter in his life. He has done a good job all through high school of neutralizing pressure put on him from his family, friends, and most of all, himself, but now he feels like he needs to make choices about things that were always able to be put off before. On the outside he is a charismatic, intelligent, confident guy who seems to have everything worked out, but on the inside he is trying to reconcile a lot of things that come naturally to him that he is being told are unnatural. Is that more than thirty words? Oops. This show has grown a passionate following of fans and supporters since it's LA mounting, how is this version different and did you have any knowledge of the previous production? The show's reputation preceded it definitely. I had heard amazing things about it, and had actually known Damon (Introbartolo) while we were both in college in LA while he was writing the show. So I definitely knew of the show. The only person I know who was in the LA production is Jenna and she is awesome to work with, so I can only imagine that the same is true for the rest of the LA cast. The "fans" of the show are amazing, and it makes such a difference when there is a support group out there cheering us on.The role of Jason is very different than others you have played on Broadway - how did you prepare to play him and what drew you to this role in the first place?I was drawn to this part because there just aren't roles written like this for people my age. I saw it as a golden opportunity to show people what I could do. In terms of preparation, I really just thought about myself in the situations Jason is in and tried to think like him. I wrote pages and pages of what his thoughts would be. Bad, good, secrets, I wrote it all down so that I had a bank of thoughts to choose from on stage and that allows me to never leave him. Well what do you hope people walk away with after seeing BARE?I hope people walk away from Bare touched. I don't want to think of it in a more specific way. I don't have any political agenda with this show. I just want people to feel something and enjoy themselves. I do hope that it brings change where change is needed, but that could be so many different things with this show, so I leave it up to fate what people walk away with. I just hope it's something they feel is valuable.O.K. Hill, without giving anything away it's safe to say that this show is emotionally intense for just about everyone on stage. What were rehearsals first like with a room full of strangers with this material? And give us the scoop on the relationship you have with the rest of the cast. There was a split second where I considered being self-conscious about where I had to go as an actor is certain scenes around new people, but that didn't last long because first of all, it's either sink or swim. If I doubted myself, that would be cheating the audience and myself, and the performance would have no resonance. Second of all, the entire cast demanded that full-force commitment to the show. Even down to the smallest role, everyone was giving everything that they had, so for me not to would have been so unfair. And this cast is amazing in so many ways. It's cliche, but we're a family, and the people I knew before have become even closer.One final question, what is the one Musical Theatre role you feel you were born to play but probably never will? The problem is that my knowledge of musical theatre is sadly lacking in breadth. I own two cast albums, "Assassins" and "The Full Monty", don't ask why. Oh yeah, and I have the recordings I am on. Other than that, I don't have a lot to go on. I am so freaked out when I walk past Colony, who knew there were that many musicals? I guess Javert from Les Mis is a dream role. I am nobody's tenor, even though musical directors everywhere try to tell me that I am. Other than that, I would say Elphaba in Wicked, because it would be fun to fly.
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