Actor Neil A. Casey runs through his lines for the opening scene of "This Wonderful Life," shifting swiftly and effortlessly from George Bailey to his daughter Zuzu, from bitter old Mr. Potter to Nick the bartender. During a rehearsal just days before tonight's opening at the Lyric Stage Company, he and director Jack Neary are choreographing his moves, as Casey refines the slightest touches - a roll of his expressive eyes, the tip of a hat, or a wide smile - that allow him to play every one of the characters in Frank Capra's classic film.
"It's not effortless, it's exhausting," Casey says during a break. "But it's also exhilarating. There are 60 pages in the script that I have to memorize and I haven't even counted the total number of characters. They say it's 32. But I've never done a one-man show before, and when [Lyric producing artistic director] Spiro [Veloudos] called me last spring to ask if I'd be interested, I thought I'd be crazy not to do it."
The story of George Bailey, rescued from an attempted suicide when an angel named Clarence gives him a chance to see what the world would have been like without him, has long been a holiday staple on TV. Honoring its iconographic elements is part of the challenge of putting it onstage, Casey says.
"People have such expectations," he says, "and I have to respect that. I have to connect with their familiarity, and have some fun with it."
Neary (who is also the author of several plays) says that when he and Casey first discussed the project, they agreed they needed to re-create the movie, to a certain extent. "We usually watch a scene from the movie before we stage it, because we both want to be very specific," Neary says. "If the actors are looking in a certain direction on camera, we replicate that onstage. It's the kind of thing people might not notice when we get it right, but they'd notice if we staged the scene to look completely different."
Neary hadn't worked with Casey before, but he'd heard a lot about his versatility. "The attraction of this show for audiences is seeing if one guy can pull it off," the director says. "I think Neil connects with audiences, and they are immediately on his side."
For Casey, the opportunity is the culmination of many years as a Boston actor. "I grew up in Waltham with my two brothers and sister," he says, "and live with my dad there now. Some of the acting techniques I use to find these characters go back to my first class in oral interpretation at Framingham State, where you pick a focal point, and simply change the way you hold yourself and something in your voice to indicate character."
But Casey, who recently completed a run as Hysterium in Boston Theatre Works' "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum," did not follow the usual route into acting.
"My mother passed away during the summer before I started college," Casey says, "so I was a mess." He dropped out and took a few years off. His jobs included delivering phone equipment all over New England, but he spent his summers working in theater.
"I had a friend from summer stock who was going to Niagara University," says Casey, "and he said I should try the theater program there. My dad helped me out for the first semester, and then someone must have liked what I was doing, because I had an anonymous benefactor who paid for the rest of my tuition."
His time at Niagara was transforming, Casey says. In a conservatory-style setting, he acted in 18 shows in three years. "The teachers I had were phenomenal and I'm still very close to the other people who were in the program with me," he says.
After graduation, Casey headed to New York for five years, but was drawn back to the Boston area for work with the Reagle Players and the Publick Theatre, where Veloudos first cast him in a production of "Guys and Dolls."
Casey says he honed his comic timing while a company member of "Shear Madness," going on to open the Washington, D.C. production, but directors throughout the Boston area have been eager to work with him on dramas and comedies, musicals and plays, giving him opportunities at numerous area theaters. His breakout performance as the narrator/bookkeeper Mason Marzac in the SpeakEasy Stage Company/Boston Theatre Works co-production of "Take Me Out" made that play one of the highlights of the spring 2005 season.
"He's one of those comedic actors who's willing to find the extreme circumstances of a situation," says Paul Daigneault, who directed the production. "He can play manic, but he has such great timing, he knows when to hold a moment."
"Take Me Out" led to a featured role in the Huntington Theatre Company's "Love's Labour's Lost," but during the run of that play, Casey got a call from his alma mater to come and teach for a year.
"One of my favorite professors was ill and asked me to fill in for him while he was out on leave," says Casey. "Unfortunately, he passed away before the academic year started, but since they weren't quite ready to replace him, I taught his classes for that year. I love teaching, and had been at UMass-Boston teaching acting for four years, so it was a great opportunity."
Casey returned to Boston in time for "Forum" and "This Wonderful Life," but says it's time for him to head back to New York. "Several of my friends from Niagara are there, so I have some connections and we'll see what happens. Acting is just something I have to do, I don't know why."
"This Wonderful Life," at the Lyric Stage Company of Boston tonight through Dec. 22. Tickets: $35-$54. 617-585-5678, lyricstage.com.
Actor's preparation? Watch film 'hundreds of times.'
Audiences are so familiar with the citizens of Bedford Falls - and the actors who played them in Frank Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life" - that Neil A. Casey bases his performance on that shared vision. "I've watched the film hundreds of times to prepare for this," says Casey. "Lucky for me, several actors have very distinctive mannerisms that give me something to work with."
GEORGE BAILEY
James Stewart, who played the hero, often portrayed folksy characters or men known for their integrity. "There's a stuttering to his voice, and the way you shape your mouth that makes the sounds come out like Stewart," Casey says.
OLD MAN POTTER
Actor Lionel Barrymore, who played the greedy, embittered banker, was confined to a wheelchair in real life, so he remained seated throughout the film. "That makes the transitions easy for the audience and me," says Casey. "They know when I'm sitting down behind the desk, I'm Potter. But there's some gravel in his voice, too, and I do a lot with my eyebrows, the way Barrymore did in the film."
MARY (HATCH) BAILEY
Actress Donna Reed played the girl who admits she's loved George since they were children. "She's tricky," says Casey, "because she's mostly even-keeled. I have to play her straight and just soften my voice and make her very clear-eyed. She does tend to put her hand up to her chest, which becomes a kind of signature."
UNCLE BILLY
George's bumbling uncle creates the situation that leads George to consider suicide. Played by noted character actor Thomas Mitchell, Billy is full of bravado masking insecurity, says Casey. "I don't use a lot of props, but I do have a hat with a turned-up brim for Billy," Casey says. "It gives him an innocence, or sense of someone who means well."
SAM WAINWRIGHT
George's best friend and briefly his rival for Mary's affections, played by character actor Frank Albertson, is a happy-go-lucky, successful guy. Sam's fun-loving spirit is indicated by the "hee-haw" he shouts whenever he enters the room. "He literally puts his fingers up to his ears for that," says Casey. "Recognition should be immediate."
