BWW Interviews: Ryan Kelly Talks LIVING WITH HENRY

Living with Henry was a hit at last year’s Toronto Fringe Festival, and now the production is back and better than ever for the Next Stage Theatre Festival.  The semi-autobiographical show (based on Producer Christopher Wilson’s life) examines HIV/AIDS as a manageable illness instead of a death sentence (as it is often portrayed in many pieces of theatre).  The show strives to present a universal theme of overcoming insurmountable challenges – in order to arrive at a place of peace and understanding. 

The show is a full-on musical production, and features some of Toronto’s best musical theatre talents, including Dora Award Winner Ryan Kelly.  Kelly was most recently seen in the Studio 180 production of The Normal Heart where he played Mickey Marcus to rave reviews .  He took some time to talk with BWW about what his new adventure on Living With Henry, and about his propensity for ending up in roles that somehow deal with disease, struggle and the human spirit:

Could you sum up "Living with Henry" for those readers that don't know anything about the show?

It’s about living life in the now, in 2011/2012.  It’s about living life with HIV/AIDS and the challenges that come with living with the disease.  It explores things such as the stigma, issues about disclosure, health concerns and medication.  But the heart of the show is about the relationships, and about growing from one phase of life into another.  It’s the second incarnation of the show (the first being at Toronto Fringe) and we have made a lot of changes, and this is an even more fleshed out version than the first one.

And it’s a musical…

It is! Christopher Wilson is an incredible musician and I’m blown away by what he has created.  What’s exciting is that everyone who has been involved with the show has worked in musical theatre professionally for most of their careers, so everyone comes in with a great sense of musicality, lyrics and connection.  It makes it a really fun show to sing.

Do you think HIV/AIDS may (to some people) seem odd fodder for a musical?

It could, but the show handles the materially really sensitively.  It’s biographical so whatever came out of Chris musically he was speaking from his heart when he created the show.  Our Director Donna Marie Baratta is a really close friend of his so she’s handling the show with sensitivity as well.  And most of the cast know Chris and his story personally so we are all very committed to doing this the right way. 

I find that people sing in musicals because they can’t express what they need to express through spoken word, so a lot of our music in the show represents feelings and relationships.  It isn’t necessarily about HIV/AIDS, but rather about the process of living with it.  We bring in some comedy as well, this story isn’t about a death sentence.  Traditionally a lot of AIDS plays and musicals have been very tragic, but this isn’t a tragic story.  Tragedy happens and things go wrong in the characters lives, but it’s not about HIV/AIDS being the end of the world.  Instead, it’s about it being the end of an old world and the beginning of a new one.

Do you feel that communicating this idea that HIV/AIDS is no longer a death sentence is an important message in today’s society?

I think so.  And we don’t mean it to devalue in any way the importance of AIDS prevention.  The message in this show is not one of saying “oh AIDS is no big deal.”  Disease prevention is still crucially important in society, but because the disease is now a manageable syndrome there is a whole new area of life experience for a whole population of people that has never been explored in musical theatre form before.  That’s what this show does.

For you personally HIV/AIDS is a subject matter that you’ve covered a lot in your career.  Why is it that you gravitate towards these types of pieces?

It seems to be a theme I keep coming back to! This is my fourth play where HIV/AIDS has had some sort of relevance. Will The Real JT LeRoy Please Stand Up, The Normal Heart, I Have AIDS and Living with Henry.  And of course I did The Cancer Play and I even made a short film about herpes! So I guess disease in general is a theme that I keep exploring.

HIV is a particularly heavy theme and I take the subject of the human condition very seriously.  I love flaws in humanity because as an actor it gives you something really interesting to get in touch with.  You get to explore the poor decisions a person may have made and yet not judge them.  And as a sensitive person and an actor who loves exploring flaws, I find that I get a lot of gratification from playing someone who faces a lot of challenge.  So maybe I gravitate towards these roles, but maybe they also find me!

In this show Henry is also very interesting because there is something mysterious about him and he represents something in the show that has never been touched on which surprises a lot of people.

Do you find that these types of productions are emotionally difficult for you as an actor?

Absolutely.  The Normal Heart was interesting as I had never been that emotional on stage before so it was an experiment and felt somewhat dangerous to me.  I was tired and sweaty after my big scene but I was also very ramped up after that show.  Living With Henry presents different challenges.  It’s ninety minutes long with no intermission, and I only leave the stage for maybe two minutes.  And we are singing and dancing.  I’m not the spring chicken I once was so it’s physically tiring and emotionally draining.  But I think I’m pacing myself well which is really important.

Do you see the show having life beyond The Next Stage Festival?

Of course! I would love to see this show have a continued life.  It clearly resonates with people, and not just those people in the HIV/AIDS community but also regular people.  We had people approach us after the show at Fringe and tell us just how much it resonated with them, and sometimes it was due to their experiences with cancer, loss or relationships in general.  It surprised me how hard it hit people and I think that speaks volumes for the life it could have.  It’s my Dad’s favourite show I’ve ever done!

One thing we hear a lot about these days is the importance of developing new Canadian works, especially musicals.  Is this something that is important to you?

Definitely.  I remember in college we had a class where we had to sing a song from a Canadian musical, and I remember thinking “what Canadian musical?”  At that time I really had no idea that every year at The Fringe Festival new musicals were being created.  I feel like sadly these musicals often come and go and are just a flash in the pan.  Every once in awhile we get one like The Drowsy Chaperone or even Top Gun that goes on to have life outside of Toronto, but we need to encourage and foster the development of more of these works.  With subject matter like this I think it’s a story that can reach out to people who aren’t familiar with a lot of what happens in the HIV/AIDS community, so not only is it relevant, but it can be shared. 

Finally, do you think that the difficult subject matter could hinder the production going forward? Or do you think society is ready for this kind of piece?

I don’t know.  That was part of the trepidation we had initially before opening at Fringe.  It was this question of “are people ready for this? Will they like it? Will my family like it?”  But thankfully it was really well received.  And for me, when my father liked it so much that helped me realize that this was something your “average” theatre-goer could come see and appreciate and enjoy.  We’ve seen it a bit more this past year with the reaction in NYC and Toronto to The Normal Heart as well, so there’s a higher profile for theatre productions that deal with HIV/AIDS.  It is subject matter that everyone can relate to, even if they don’t realize it.

When and Where?

Living with Henry at the Next Stage Theatre Festival

The Factory Theatre Mainspace – 125 Bathurst St

Performance Schedule:

Wed Jan 4^th – 8:45PM

Friday Jan 6^th – 9:10PM

Saturday Jan 7^th – 4:45PM

Sunday Jan 8^th – 2:45PM

Tuesday Jan 10^th – 8:00PM

Wednesday Jan 11^th – 6:00PM

Friday Jan 13^th – 7:00PM

Saturday Jan 14^th – 9:00PM

Sunday Jan 15^th – 2:30PM

Advance tickets can be purchased by phone at 416-966-1062 (ext 1) or online at www.fringetoronto.com 

For more information please visit the official website at www.livingwithhenry.com

For more information on the Next Stage Theatre Festival please visit http://www.fringetoronto.com/nstf/index.html

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