High School Drama: Hillsboro High's THOMAS WAGNER

Spring musical season is upon us, thanks to Middle Tennessee high schools who are in the midst of presenting their own versions of some of the best-loved - and best-known - all singing, all dancing theater offerings you could hope to see onstage. At Nashville's Hillsboro High School, drama teacher Will Butler and his creative team are prepping for tonight's opening night performance of the classic Guys and Dolls.

Thomas Wagner stars in the iconic role of Nathan Detroit in the show that runs this weekend and he managed to squeeze some time into his hectic schedule to answer our queries and become the newest subject of this week's High School Drama:

What's your theatrical goal in life? My theatrical goal in life is to create. To perform on Broadway or with the National Theatre would be incredible, but my intentions for my career are simple. I want to find my place and my community; and then I want to spend every possible moment creating with that community. I'd like to be thought of as a theatre practitioner one day.

What role would you most like to play? I don't usually take in the typical theatre nerd tradition of favoring shows or roles for the most part. Most would be surprised by my lack of knowledge of famous shows, roles actors, etc. I have always had a particular fantasy of playing Andrew Jackson in Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, though. The character is one that I feel like I could work well with.

What's your favorite theatrical experience to date? My favorite theatrical experience thus far has been the role of Jesus in Godspell. Every show is a family of its own but that show, in particular, felt like home while it lasted. My proudest performance to date is that of Arnold Epstein in Biloxi Blues.

Who's your favorite actor? One inspiration of mine is Phillip Seymour Hoffman. His ability to completely recreate himself in the image of characters was beyond impressive. I hope to have that kind of drive and ability one day.

What show that you haven't seen would you most like to experience live, onstage? Once again, I don't pay a whole lot of attention to what's going on in the popular theatre world nor do I follow or favor certain shows, but I would have been very interested in seeing the National Theatre's production of Hamlet or Frankenstein. Being able to see recorded versions of both of those shows has been an inspiration for my own explorations into directing and the production of theatre and other performing arts.

To post a comment, you must register and login.