BWW Spotlight Series: Meet Multi-Talented Triple-Threat Actor John Devereaux
By: Shari Barrett Apr. 23, 2020
With the current theatre world on hiatus, I have created a Spotlight Series on Broadway World which features interviews with some of the many talented artists who make our Los Angeles theatre community so exciting and vibrant thanks to their ongoing contribution to keeping the Arts alive in the City of the Angels. And just like all of us, I wondered how they are dealing with the abrupt end of productions in which they were involved.
This Spotlight focuses on John Devereaux, a multi-talented triple-threat actor who I shared the stage with in Little Shop of Horrors at the Westchester Playhouse a year after he arrived in Los Angeles from Houston, and who has gone on to charm audiences across the country in touring productions of Rent and Hamilton. John also appeared locally in Dreamgirls at The Pasadena Playhouse, Spamilton at the Kirk Douglas Theatre, and during the Hollywood Fringe Festival in the world premiere of Recorded in Hollywood, 
among many other productions. I was looking forward to seeing him take the stage in Hamilton at the Pantages Theatre soon, but unfortunately the national tour in which he was appearing had to shut down along with the rest of the world's theaters. So what's he up to now?
Shari Barrett (SB): What would you like readers to know about your theatrical background?
John Devereaux (John): I grew up in Houston, Texas and moved to LA in 2012 to continue my career in performance, beginning with studying Improv at The Groundlings.
I've been fortunate enough to be a part of a number of professional productions working with some of the best in the area, including McCoy/Rigby Entertainment, Center Theatre Group, and 5-Star Theatricals. I've also toured with the 20th Anniversary Tour of Rent and currently with the Angelica Tour of Hamilton.
(SB): What production(s) were you involved with when word went out you needed to immediately postpone/cancel the show?
(John): I was in Miami with the Angelica Tour of Hamilton when we got word that our shows would be postponed/cancelled
(SB): How was the shutdown communicated with the cast and production team?
(John): I do believe our company managers did the best they could in the moment with everything going on and there is probably nothing more challenging than managing a touring theatre company. After we had two meetings after two of our evening shows, we were implementing new procedures to keep the company safe (not doing backstage tours, not signing at the stage door, etc.), which left us wondering what was going to happen to the rest of our tour schedule. Then the cancellation of our next city, Jacksonville, was announced publicly on the Hamilton Instagram story before we found out ourselves. Knowing there was work to be done during that time, including the spread of information, I can see why we might have been the last to know. It was just a sad moment personally for me.
(SB): Are plans in place to present that production at a future date, or is the cancellation permanent?
(John): Dates are being rescheduled as word comes in. It may not be the company/tour that was originally supposed to do the engagement, but Hamilton will still happen in those cities at a later time.
(SB): That's great to know I may get the chance to see you in the show, then! Were there other future productions on your schedule also affected by the shutdown?
(John): None as of yet. As of March, I'm scheduled to stay on the Hamilton tour at least through June 2021. But for now, I am coping with all of this by creating bits of humor online. Funny videos mostly.
(SB): I have been enjoying many of them on your Facebook page! It's great to see so many creative people bringing humor to the forefront during this pandemic.
(John): To members of the Los Angeles Theatre community and those across the country, please remember our industry will bounce back. Ours is a business of escapism, people are going to need something else than a screen to entertain them once this is all done. We're going to get through this.
In the meantime, take a breath. Spend time with the people you love or doing the other things you love or finding new things to love! To those for whom performance was their escape, it's okay to feel that emptiness. It's okay if there's nothing there to replace it right now because this is a time to focus on the other parts of our lives that inform our performances; our art. 
Life is but an opportunity to be and as long as there is breath in our lungs, we can breathe life into anything.
For more information, find John on Instagram @thejohndevereaux or visit his website at thejohndevereaux.com
Photo captions:
1. John Devereaux headshot
2. John Devereaux as the voice of Audrey II with the plant's puppeteers in Little Shop of Horrors by Kentwood Players at the Westchester Playhouse. Photo by Shari Barrett
3. John Devereaux as Collins in Rent at the La Mirada Center for the Performing Arts
4. John Devereaux on tour in Hamilton
5. John Devereaux as Curtis Taylor Jr. in Dreamgirls
6. John Devereaux as Curtis Taylor Jr., Jalena Montrond as Michelle Morris, Shahayla Ononaiye as Deena Jones and Kristen Robinson as Lorrell Robinson in Dreamgirls. Photo by Paul Fardig
7. John Devereaux as one of the many characters he portrayed in the world premiere of Spamilton at the Kirk Douglas Theatre
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