BWW Interviews: Grimm Stars Sasha Roiz and Silas Weir Mitchell Talk About THREE DAYS OF RAIN, Opening May 22 at Portland Center Stage

Grimm fans, rejoice! This summer, you don't have to scour the Twitterverse to see where the show is filming for a chance to get an up-close-and-personal look at Sasha Roiz and Silas Weir Mitchell. All you have to do is head down to Portland Center Stage. Roiz and Mitchell, along with Broadway, TV, and film star Lisa Datz, will star in Richard Greenberg's play THREE DAYS OF RAIN, which begins previews on May 17, opens May 22, and runs through June 21.

Last Friday, the three actors and Chris Coleman (PCS Artistic Director and the director of the play) sat down with the media to talk about the play, how the collaboration came about, and the difference between acting on TV and on stage.

To start, everyone agreed that the whole idea was "Sasha's fault." Roiz (who Mitchell describes as "Woody Allen in the body of an Adonis") lives in Portland and for the past few years has been attending performances at Portland Center Stage. Coleman learned this, had coffee with Roiz, met Mitchell, and the collaboration was born. Sort of. Because of conflicts between the Portland Center Stage schedule and the Grimm filming schedule, it took about 18 months to line everything up. As it is, the production schedule is very tight for the actors -- they finished filming just a couple of days before rehearsals started and will pick up filming again just a couple of days after the play closes. (Note: This means there is no possibility that the run will be extended, so buy your tickets now.)

Roiz, Mitchell, and Coleman started thinking about what play they wanted to do. They considered something by Joe Orton or David Mamet. THE ODD COUPLE was also in the running, but then there was the question of who would play which role (Coleman said Roiz would be Felix). When they found THREE DAYS OF RAIN, however, they knew it was right...and the casting was obvious from the start.

Lisa Datz attributes her involvement to "kismet." She loves to travel, but found herself spending all of her time in New York and Los Angeles. So one day, she sent a message into the universe: she wanted to work in a beautiful city, on a play that "feeds my soul," and with "people who inspire me." Not long after, she saw a Facebook post from an old friend (who happens to be Coleman's husband Rodney Hicks) about the show in Portland, and she decided to "throw my hat in the ring."

THREE DAYS OF RAIN premiered on Broadway in 1997 and was nominated that year for a Pulitzer Prize. The first act takes place in 1995 and the second act in 1960. Each actor plays two characters -- both Roiz and Mitchell play both a son and also his father, while Datz plays a woman and also her mother. Coleman describes the play as a mystery about identity.

The cast also discussed the difference between doing a TV show and doing a play. Coleman said that working with TV actors is the same as working with any talented actors -- they come into the theatre and are "ready to go."

Mitchell said the difference isn't between being in front of a camera and being in front of the audience; the difference is in how you approach the text. In TV, if something isn't working, the writers can just rewrite the line. In a play, the actors don't change a word. "When you read a play with merit, you have to take the text at face value," Mitchell said. "If you don't understand the text, it's not the text's fault...[it's] like a clockwork universe. The onus is on you to go to it." And with Greenberg's play, the actors have their work cut out for them. "There are syllables that are italicized within a sentence."

What about the fact that many people will come see the show simply to get a look at their favorite TV stars? Roiz said it will be obvious from the first words they say on stage that this isn't Grimm, but they should come all the same. "If people come to the theatre, I don't care what their reasons are," said Roiz. "I just care that they come."

THREE DAYS OF RAIN opens May 22 and runs through June 21. For tickets, visit www.pcs.org.

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