Hands stuffed in his sleeves and head bent over a
sketch-pad, Kenny Barrett returns to the classroom with a thousand eyes boring
into him. After a previous scare, this
recluse only wants to make it through his senior year without any more attention…
Kenny, portrayed by the stirring Tobias Segal, is the
juvenile under-the-microscope in Liz Flahive's From Up Here, directed by Leigh Silverman, now playing the
Manhattan Theatre Club in collaboration with Ars Nova.
"A darkly funny and unexpectedly moving family story,"
From Up Here is a captivating new
piece about love, forgiveness and the actualities of today's youth at home and
school. The play also stars Tony
Award-winner Julie White as Grace, Kenny's protective yet distanced mother.
BroadwayWorld spoke with the affable Tobias Segal about the effects of portraying the deeply
concentrated role of Kenny in this striking world premiere…
Eugene Lovendusky: Congratulations! Opening Night of From
Up Here was phenomenal. Your
performance is heartbreakingly fantastic.
How do you feel?
Tobias Segal:
Thank you. I feel great. I'm really fortunate to have the chance to work with this group.
The only reason the play is so wonderful, I think, is because of who Leigh
Silverman got to act in the show and how MTC and Ars Nova got on-board from the
beginning…
Eugene: How did you get involved?
Tobias: I
came in very late in the process, when they started auditioning for MTC. I know Aya Cash, Will Rogers, Brian
Hutchinson and Joel Van Liew had all done readings of it before. Jenni Barber,
Arija Bareikis and Julie White got involved at the end. We started rehearsals
about two-weeks after my final round of auditions so it was pretty quick.
Eugene: MTC has been waving a banner all season for new
playwrights and new voices. What's it
like working with such young talent like Director Leigh Silverman and
Playwright Liz Flahive?
