Here, via email, we hear from singing actor Jon Jorgenson, who plays Sky in the long-running Broadway production of Mamma Mia!
What show recently impressed you?
I know I'm probably the last one on earth, but I recently saw Kinky Boots and was blown away. When I was at Carnegie Mellon, Billy Porter came and worked with us on a number of occasions while Kinky Boots was in development. To be able to hear about all the hard work and heart he'd been putting in back then and then finally seeing it reflected on the stage, it was brilliant. He was brilliant.
What production are you most excited to see?
I'm dying to see A Delicate Balance. Even though I'm always going in for musicals, I love a good straight play. And I think Pam MacKinnon is a genius. Being from Chicago, I grew up going to see her productions at Steppenwolf, and she knocks it out of the park every time.
What play/musical would you most like to revive on Broadway, and which role would you want to play?
I know that it's probably too soon since it just happened in 2005, but I would love to see them bring Sweeney Todd back. I think recent productions have taken the role of Anthony Hope and made it really soft and "teenage," rather than the big, strapping sailor that Victor Garber was in the original. I'd like to see a return to that, and maybe I can get strapping enough to be seen for it. (Off the record...or on, I don't really care) I also have this secret fantasy of them casting Tobias Ragg as a 6'5", 230-pound man child. I think the relationships between him and the other characters would be really interesting if he had this ridiculous physical strength, but the mind of a child. It would also be an amazing challenge as an actor. Again, it would require me to gain about 30 pounds of muscle. Maybe I just want to play a role where I can lift a bunch of heavy things.
What are your current/upcoming projects?
A lot of writing. Outside the theatre, I am in the final process of publishing my second book, "Created to Create." It's an inspirational book about the importance of art and creativity in our relationships, work places, and faith journey. Inside the theatre, other than singing ABBA every night, I'm currently working on a rewrite of a play called The Minchinhamptonville Ladies Theatre Presents: HAMLET. Me and my college classmate, Nick Rehberger, wrote the show our senior year. It tells the story of two aging English widows (played by Nick and myself) who start a theatre company out of their living room. We're hoping to take it to a festival or two in 2015.
