Sunday, August 17, 2008
A+E, In this Issue..., Theater
The Spotlight Awards
SP's annual roundup of the very best of local theater
Supporting Actor: GOOGIE UTERHARDT
Photo: Jason Mallory...in "Five Course Love" (ART Station), "Little Shop of Horrors" (Atlanta Lyric), "Meds" (Out of Hand), "Room Service" (Theatre in the Square) and "Urinetown the Musical" (Onstage Atlanta)
To note that in "Five Course Love" Googie Uterhardt delivered a quintet of the season’s most comically inspired performances is only scratching the surface of a banner year. Sure enough, he played an eclectic array of proverbial third wheels in that episodic musical—including a bisexual German, a bumbling Italian and a mischievous Mexican—but Uterhardt gave audiences even more to enjoy: his manic, nitrous-inhaling dentist in "Little Shop of Horrors"; the fuzzy-headed Pharmaland president from "Meds"; an eager theatrical trouper in "Room Service"; and the wry narrator/beat cop of "Urinetown."
In a way, this season brought the 36-year-old character actor full circle. A former Navy brat, Uterhardt moved to Atlanta in 1989 and enrolled at DeKalb Tech (studying graphic design), where he quickly discovered his penchant for the stage. After a number of college and children’s-theater productions, his first full-fledged show was a 1992 version of "Little Shop" (at Onstage), playing that drug-addled dentist. The rest, as they say, is history—since then, Uterhardt has barely gone more than a few months without some kind of acting gig.
"I don’t remember much about my first time [in "Little Shop"], except that I was too young for the role, because there was a lot of stuff I didn’t get," he recalls. "To have the chance to revisit it again and take it further, that’s what it’s all about for most actors. You’re always torn between wanting to run a show for months, to keep building on it, and wanting to wrap things up so you can move on to the next one."
Or, in Uterhardt’s case, the next four. He admits the company-developed, from-scratch process behind "Meds" was "very outside-the-box for me, beyond anything I’d done before. Generally, I like boundaries [and] work best within them, but it was great being pushed in other directions, to create a whole new work ethic and performance style," he says.
"Room Service" marked his very first show at Theatre in the Square, while "Five Course Love" continued an ongoing association with ART Station that dates back some 10 years. In the revival of "Urinetown," he stepped into the role of Officer Lockstock—and his wife, Barbara Cole Uterhardt, took over as director. "It can get a little touchy working with your significant other like that, and having to do what she tells you," the actor chuckles. "No, we had a terrific time. Barbara knows her stuff. She really stepped everything up a notch."
As one of the busiest "second bananas" in town, does he ever yearn to play the nice leading man? Replies Uterhardt, "I’d love to, and if I had a full head of hair, who knows? I guess I gravitate to quirky little roles in strange musicals. I’m not necessarily longing for bigger roles, just some meatier, edgier, more dramatic ones, maybe. I’m no Method actor, but I’m always hoping to show people something they haven’t seen from me before."—Bert Osborne
UP NEXT: Remounts of "Meds" and ART Station’s "A Broadway Christmas Carol"; "Tent Meeting" at Theatrical Outfit.
HONORABLE MENTION:
DON FINNEY in "Room Service" (Theatre in the Square) and "Some Men" (Actor’s Express)
ERIC LITTLE in "Blue Door" (Theatre in the Square) and "Gee’s Bend" (Theatrical Outfit)
HARRISON LONG in "Great Expectations" (Georgia Ensemble)
RONN SMITH in "Oh, What a Lovely War!" (Theater Emory)
TRAVIS SMITH in "The Persians" (Theatre in the Square) and "Of Mice and Men" (Atlanta Shakespeare)