02.14.19 • BACKSTAGE.COM Do you hold your audition sides? Experts weigh in AT This is what an actor- agent relationship SHOULD look like EASE From ingénue Oscars voting guide: The race is right to Tony winner around the corner— to “Kiss Me, Kate,” and tighter than ever Kelli O’Hara is right where she wants to be PLUS: 9 PAGES OF CASTING NOTICES CONTENTS vol. 60, no. 07 | 02.14.19 THE GREEN ROOM 6 Netflix takes on Broadway 8 This week’s roundup of who’s casting what starring whom 9 Tommy Dorfman on not letting breakdowns limit you ADVICE 11 NOTE FROM THE CD Sizing up sides 11 #IGOTCAST Frantzdy Alexandre 12 SECRET AGENT MAN My lovely children FEATURES 4 BACKSTAGE 5 WITH... Grey Damon 10 MEET THE MAKER Tom Kitt, “Superhero” 12 THE ESSENTIALISTS Derek McLane, scenic designer 13 IN THE ROOM WITH Luis Rosales 18 AND THE NOMINEES ARE... Your official voting guide to the 2019 Oscars 32 ASK AN EXPERT Jessica R. Grosman on the realities of taking a child actor on tour CASTING 22 New York Tristate 27 California COVER STORY PAGE 14 28 National/Regional Kelli O’Hara photographed by Matt Doyle on Dec. 6, 2018, GET TO KNOW HER in NYC. Hair by Patrick Kyle. Makeup by Tanya Rae for Kelli O’Hara has been long-adored for her MAC Cosmetics at Ion Studio NYC. Cover designed by Jessica Balaschak. ingénue-turned-leading lady roles on Broadway. But she’s ready to reintroduce herself MATT DOYLE MATT BACKSTAGE.COM 02.14.19 backstage 1 Chief Executive Officer Chief Financial Officer Chief Technology Chief Marketing Officer Vice President, Casting Joshua Ellstein Michael Felman & Product Officer David Grossman Luke Crowe James G. 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Grey Damon By Allie Volpe What has your latest role on “Station 19” added to your acting skills? I walk away from these episodes having more respect for firefighters. We work with a lot of tech advisors who are usually former firefighters, and they’ll let us know if we’re doing something wrong. How do you typically prepare for an audition? Realistically, we don’t know much and we have to make stuff up and muster up the best of what we think the character is about. Other times, it’ll be a popular book, [so] you can Google a lot or you can read the book. If I have enough time, I like to read the book so I can get the meat and potatoes of what the character is about and what fans are looking for, because I think we have a responsibility to respect the material. And a lot of Googling—thank god for Google. A lot of reading, and sometimes you can talk to people who have personal experience in whatever your character might [do]. Who was the casting director who gave you your first big break? She actually cast me on “Station 19”: Linda Lowy. She fought for me very hard to be on “Friday Night Lights” and [it’s] come back around full circle. What advice would you give your younger self? Know your limits. Don’t run yourself to the ground. Get your sleep—that’s a huge one that people underestimate. Know your people. Are your people there to cheer you on and support you, or are they there to hold you back? It’s OK to work hard for something. Just because it’s easy to get doesn’t mean it’s going It took years of building his résumé on to be good for you. I think, just as a human being, you have to feel like more than a dozen television series— there’s a sense of purpose. If things fall in your lap, you lose that. There is an actress, I can’t remember who it was, but she said, “Don’t get famous including “True Blood” (on which he when you’re too young. Don’t get famous too quickly.” I know what she’s had a three-episode arc), “Friday Night saying. When things happen too quickly, you get burnt out. But if you pace Lights” (on which he co-starred in the yourself, by respecting yourself, the world will respect you. final season as Hastings Ruckle), and How do you keep yourself from burning out? I’ve had fatigue issues my “Aquarius” with David Duchovny—before whole life, so I try to do little things that give me a little bit of a leg up: Grey Damon landed the role of Lt. Jack changing things in my diet, getting enough sleep, working out. The things Gibson on ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” spinoff doctors tell you to do that no one ever listens to, I do those. On a set, “Station 19.” Today, it’s the real-world sometimes you’re going to be working a night shoot and then you’re going unsung heroes depicted on “Station 19” to be working a very early shoot. It’s rare, but it happens. And it throws you all out of whack and you know you’re going to be tired, and you’ve got that inspire Damon to do his best work. to keep going. I just try to maintain the little things so the bigger things don’t feel so big. • “THAT’S WHAT’S SO INCREDIBLE ABOUT THIS JOB: YOU CAN SEE THROUGH SOMEONE ELSE’S EYES AND INTO THEIR SOULS.” ILLUSTRATION: NATHAN ARIZONA/PHOTO: DFREE/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM ARIZONA/PHOTO: NATHAN ILLUSTRATION: 4 backstage 02.14.19 BACKSTAGE.COM BRIAN TRUITT KEVIN FEIGE, p.g.a. CONSIDER WAKANDA FOREVER DIS1615 FINAL 2/8/19 11:30AM LJ @BACKSTAGE FACEBOOK.COM/BACKSTAGE THE GREEN ROOM @BACKSTAGECAST HAVE YOU BEEN CAST IN A PROJECT THROUGH A BACKSTAGE CASTING NOTICE? Share your story with us and you might be featured in an upcoming issue! Just tweet @Backstage using the hashtag #IGotCast and we’ll be in touch to hear your success story! officers on the whereabouts of their missing son. The play, which closed on Broadway Jan. 27, received rave reviews for its compelling portrayal and analysis of race and policing in the United States. With television star power courtesy of Washington and Pasquale, Netflix is making a bet that political theater pieces backed by big names will find a larger audience with its users. The production’s original cast and crew— including director Kenny Leon and co-stars Jeremy Jordan and Eugene Lee—will reassemble for a run of the show in February that will be filmed without an audience present. “American Son” is not the first play explor- ing such poignant themes to be professionally filmed and streamed online.