BWW Interviews: Robertson Makes BIG GAY ITALIAN Debut - In The City

The old adage goes: iIt doesn't matter who is in the audience. Give the same performance every time.

That rule paid dividends for Louisville native Neill Robertson as he reprised the role of Maurizio LeGrande, the flamboyant and militantly efficient event planner, in Pandora Productions' September production of "My Big Gay Italian Funeral."

Robertson returned to the role after originating it in Pandora's 2012 production of "Funeral"'s predecessor, "My Big Gay Italian Wedding." Prior to the opening of "Funeral," director Michael Drury informed the cast that staging the sequel would entail a special audience member for one performance: "Big Gay Italian" creator Anthony Wilkinson.

"Michael was very insistent on us not trying to punch it up because he was there, but just to present the show that we rehearsed, that we were proud of, and that's exactly what we did," Robertson said.

The audience was raucous. The audience applauded some improvisation on Robertson's part to cover a moment gone awry. And Wilkinson laughed through the entire show.

"That's when I knew things were going well," he said.

How well? Over post-show drinks, Wilkinson lauded the production and Robertson's interpretation of Maurizio, regaled him with true-life anecdotes filtered through the comedic lens, and offered Robertson the chance to sub in as Maurizio for both "My Big Gay Italian Wedding" and "My Big Gay Italian Funeral" over the weekend of November 8 and 9.

"Having seen the show in Louisville, I was impressed by the performance as a whole, but Neill really stood out to me," Wilkinson said. "His comedic timing and development of the character had me laughing out loud and I knew I wanted to take him back to my production's home."

After spending seven years in New York pursuing his education, performing and learning the ins and outs of professional theater, Robertson was being offered the chance to revisit The City, even if for just a weekend. He said yes.

Robertson made the trip north November 6. On November 7, he rehearsed with the stage manager. "I have to learn the blocking for both shows in three hours," Roberson said in an interview prior to the performance.

The "Big Gay Italian" pair runs in repertory on the weekends at St. Luke's Theater off-Broadway; "Wedding," which recently celebrated its 11th anniversary and extended its run through March 2015, runs on Saturdays, and the two-year-old "Funeral" runs on Sundays.

On top of the rapid-fire rehearsal period, Robertson took on the challenge of revisiting "Wedding," a play he had last performed over two years ago, and to which Wilkinson had made edits to in the interim.

"Even though there are changes, it's really hard if something's already burned into your memory to re-work it in a different way," Robertson said. "That's been interesting: trying to get those lines back in my head (while) making sure I'm also staying fresh on the lines for 'Funeral.'"

All that, plus remounting the highly successful "An Evening with Poe," a staged tribute by Walden Theatre to the writings of Edgar Allan Poe, at Louisville's Frazier History Museum for Halloween, as well as participating in Kentucky Shakespeare's pre-Halloween staged reading of "Macbeth" and directing a show. Robertson keeps a full schedule back home in the River City.

Robertson traces his performing roots back to his early youth. He was auditioning in second grade at the now-former Sacred Heart Ursuline School of Music, performing in its after-school program until junior high. After a hiatus, he resumed acting in high school and followed his sister into Walden Theatre's renowned conservatory program. Knowing he'd found the right atmosphere to cultivate his "life force," he immersed himself in Walden's classically-based curriculum.

After high school, he entered the American Music and Dramatic Academy in New York. He graduated from the school's two-year conservatory program and joined the Haberdasher Theatre, learned both the on and offstage business of producing live theater, as well as finding additional success doing makeup artistry for independent films and off-Broadway shows. Vacations exposed him to the burgeoning theater scene back home. After seven years away, Robertson returned to Louisville and quickly found success in both contemporary and classical productions with Savage Rose Classical Theatre Company and Finnigan Productions, as well as as an artistic associate at Walden.

His return for a marathon weekend could be the first of many trips to The City.

"As I anticipated, he was flawless and the cast simply adored him," Wilkinson said. "He had minimal rehearsal and his performance was nothing short of incredible. I hope to have him back very soon."

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