This post might not be remotely interesting to anyone but me, and probably won't have much meaning to anyone who hasn't seen the show yet, but it's my post, and this is what I have decided to write about today, and maybe it will give you folks who haven't seen the show yet extra incentive to come.
I've decided I want to talk about what goes into creating a character (or in the case of SATURDAY'S VOYEUR, several characters). Like all the cast members in the show, I play several different people, many based on caricatures of real individuals. Among the people I inhabit during the course of an evening, I play a pharmaceutical lobbyist, an FBI agent, an LDS Church Plaza stroller, Utah State Senator Howard Stephenson (R-District 11), Utah Eagle Forum Gayle Ruzicka, a Sarah Palin-loving Costco employee, and the Utah State Legislator from District 71 (Hurricane), who apparently is named Bradley G. Last, although our show never specifies that.
When playing characters based on real people, I often like to do research to see what the real individual is like. However, because these characters are more caricatures and sometimes stereotypes, I find in the case of SATURDAY'S VOYEUR, that research isn't always useful in creating a funny character.
For example, take Howard Stephenson (please). In viewing video footage of him, I found him to be just a normal, rather bland, individual. That did not prove useful in creating a humorous character, especially in the scene in which I portray him, which is about Stephenson, Margaret Dayton, and Carl Wimmer fighting against an ethic initiative petition co-sponsored by two fellow Republicans, Kim Burningham and David Irvine.
Although I knew about Howard Stephenson's politics before doing this show (mostly because I often disagree with him), I knew little about the man himself. One of the first things I was told about him was that he was an older man. For some reason, I latched on to that idea. Stealing from the best, the germ for my entire character stems from Jon Stewart's impression of Dick Cheney, which is little more than a nasally penguin-like sound. I just thought that would be an interesting starting point for the character and, fortunately, the powers-that-be liked it.
I've tried to make the character overly-confident, stiff, annoying, and with an inability to smile naturally. I have what I call my "grimace" throughout much of the scene, and even when the character attempts to smile, I try to make it look as uncomfortable as possible. There is also one moment in the scene when I'm talking about gerrymandering that I'm kind of channeling The Wizard of Oz's Wicked Witch when she's melting. The real Howard Stephenson is probably not much like my character, but I like the essence I've created.
When I heard I would be playing Gayle Ruzicka, I was delighted because she is one of my least favorite people on the planet, and I 
thought it might be good therapy to vent my frustrations about her through the character. I was correct.
When first creating Gayle (again much more of a caricature the way I play her than she actually is in real life; although I think the essence of her ideas and beliefs comes through very strongly), I came up with a mélange of Emperor Palpatine from Return of the Jedi, Stewie Griffin from the TV show, "Family Guy," Delores Umbridge from the Harry Potter books, and a bit of Dana Carvey's Chuch Lady from "Saturday Night Live." In my opinion, all these characters kind of represent who Gayle Ruzicka is to me as a person. That may seem harsh, but that's how she comes across to me, although I'm sure she would disagree.
Ultimately, although the character was deemed very funny by the powers-that-be, ultimately it was decided that the voice I had created for the character was too breathy for the stage and would not carry. I was also directed to make the character a bit more "mannish." While I was disappointed to lose some of what I had created, in retrospect, I think it turned out well because it would have been difficult to maintain and support that voice six shows a week (my voice is already tired as it is). To give the character a little more projection and to "man her up" a bit, I tried to inhabit some character traits that had been present when I auditioned for the part of Roy Cohn in SLAC's upcoming production of ANGELS IN AMERICA. That proved unsuccessful. I then tried to do a kind of stereotypical Nazi German interrogator and then took away the accent, but tried to keep the rhythms and brusqueness and curtness. I combined this with some of the aspects of the original character I had created that I didn't wish to lose. This is who the current incarnation of Gayle is.
The fat suit also helps. I move differently in it, and I feel bigger and more powerful when wearing it, so that is useful (although the thing is way hot; the audience doesn't know that I'm wearing a specially-made shirt with ice packs in it, which I've actually opted to wear for most of the show because it keeps me cool).
My legislator from Hurricane is really just an immature man-child. He's a know-it-all who doesn't really listen and is pretty much oblivious to anything that isn't on his agenda. This is the character it actually took me the longest to "find." I have a scene where he basically ignores his wife while she is trying so desperately to connect with him, and then a scene where we're in a legislative session. I really just try to play him as very childish, very proud of himself, very impatient with ideas that contradict his own, and a little gay (although he would NEVER admit that). I have no idea what the real legislator from District 71 is like, but that is what mine is like.
The seed of my FBI agent is actually based on a specific character actor (Glenn Morshower)'s portrayal of Secret Service agent Aaron Pierce on the TV show "24." (Again, steal from the best, I say.) He's very serious and no-nonsense and takes his job and duty very seriously.
My lobbyist actually stems from an idea we originally had during the rehearsal process that involved old-fashioned newspaper "newsies" who would announce headlines on street corners during the turn-of-the-century. The idea was eventually jettisoned, but it inspired in me a sort of 1930s/1940s melodramatic movie-style that one might see Rosalind Russell play in His Girl Friday or Katherine Hepburn play in Adam's Rib (or a style that Jennifer Jason Leigh later mimicked, quite successfully, in The Hudsucker Proxy).
My Plaza stroller is kind of based on a Lawrence Welk singer gone rogue, and the one image I'm channeling during my performance of the Costco employee is the "squeal-like-a-pig" scene from Deliverance.
So you can see that I steal a lot from other sources when creating a character (or characters), especially in a show like this. I'm happy with what I've achieved, and judging from audience feedback I've heard, I feel like I've been successful. I think this show is very funny. I'd actually be interested in picking the brains of some of my cast mates to see what went into creating some of their characters because there are a lot of very humorous characters in the show played by some very delightfully talented actors.
Come see SATURDAY'S VOYEUR. You'll have a good time.
