It’s time again for another round of Meet the Company! Today we take some time for Artistic Director Amelia Ampuero to interview Associate Artistic Director Frank Green, whose first question was “Can I smoke?” Of course, you can, Frank, as long as you do it outside!
DCRT: Alright, hooooray! We’re here for another installment of Meet the Company. Today our interviewee is Associate Artistic Director Frank Green. Hi, Frank!
Frank Green (FG): Hi!
DCRT: Hooray!
FG: Hooray.
DCRT: Yaaaaay!
(Laughter)
DCRT: Awesome. So, it’s been a while since we’ve done this, so just to sort of remember how this whole thing goes, we’re going to talk about you for a little bit and then we’re going to do 5 Questions with DCRT.
FG: (deep breath) Alright.
DCRT: Fantastic. So Frank, why don’t you start off by telling our readers a little bit about yourself.
FG: OK, I was born January 28th, 1978 to Frank Taylor Green III and Louise Angela Green-
DCRT: So that would make you Frank Taylor Green the Fourth.
FG: I am the Fourth. My Dad is the Third, his Dad is the Second and a man I’ve never met is the First.
DCRT: Do you think you’re going to have a Fifth??
FG: We’ve often debated that! Sometimes just to make everyone mad, I’ve said that if I do have kids, it won’t be until the second or third son that will get the Fifth.
(Laughter)
DCRT: Awesome. Awesome! So Frank Taylor Green the Fourth –
FG: Yeah…
DCRT: …That’s where we left off…
FG: Oh, OH! I grew up in D.C. Went to college in West Virginia. My high school at the time had a partnership with West Virginia Wesleyan College and so, uh, I joined the choir my junior year in high school. My sister was already in it and she was like “You can get a scholarship in the choir.” It was a while of doing that that I actually got the chance to actually act in things. My sister was in a group called Uprising back when we were in junior high school. And I used to go to her rehearsals and watch and that’s what kinda really got me interested in it. But it really wasn’t until high school that I got to do it a lot. The choir always did this musical, same premise every year – some guy gets, doing well in school and he’s either in sports or academics or something and he gets pulled by the lure of the streets and the school and the community has to pull him back.
And I went to school in West Virginia and, you know, spent way more time up there than I should have.
(Laughter)
DCRT: That’s alright! It seems that’s kind of the, uh, the motto of the DCRT leadership team –
FG: Uh, yeah.
DCRT: That it take us a little longer to finish cooking, degree-wise.
FG: Yeah! (Laughter)
DCRT: AWESOME! So being from back East, being from the D.C. area, New Mexico is quite a change of scenery.
FG: Yeah.
DCRT: What was your first impression of the Wild, Wild, West?
FG: Well I drove out here so it was kind of “normal road trip”. I don’t take a lot of road trips so, you know, it’s “Scenery’s changing, scenery’s changing” and then I passed the “Welcome to New Mexico” sign and I just remember gasping because it was like the whole world had dropped away and I was suddenly driving in what used to be an ocean? You know what I mean?
DCRT: Yeah, Yeah!
FG: It really felt like I was on the ocean floor and I could not keep my mouth shut. It just kept hanging open and I could just see forever. And I sped quite a bit. (Laughter) Because I could see, you know, for what felt like, a day, down the road (laughter) and there was nothing there.
DCRT: Yes!! Though we don’t advocate speeding. It’s against the law.
FG: It was a little weird at first, the scenery never really bothered me, you know. I know for some folks the, all the brown got to be a nag but for me the brown means less snow, less cold which means my back and joints don’t lock up as much – (LAUGHTER)
DCRT: Because you’re OLD.
FG: Because I’m OLD. (Laughter)
DCRT: Frank, how old are you??
FG: I’m 34.
DCRT: Nice!
FG: I just turned 34 this past January.
DCRT: How’s 34 treating you?
FG: Uhh, so far pretty good! With 33 I felt like I went through a phase where my body reminded me that I couldn’t do the things I did when I was in my 20s and now at 34, for some reason, I feel a slight rejuvenation.
DCRT: AWESOME! It’s your third wind!
FG: Yeah.
(Laughter)
DCRT: So what the hell drove you to come out to Albuquerque, NM?
FG: I think the biggest thing was fear. I had gotten very comfortable in Virginia. I felt like the roles I was getting, it was no longer…when I first got there, when I joined the Resident Company at Barter, I felt that the roles I was getting were very challenging and I would get them and say “How the hell am I going to be able to do this??”…
Can I say hell??
DCRT: Yeah, you can say “hell”!
FG: “How in the hell am I going to be able to do this?” and by the third year going into the fourth year, I just didn’t feel like that anymore. So we’re sitting out there that day during the party on the hood of that car and we were talking about it (the idea of DCRT), and I mean, I’ve said this to you, with everything that had gone on, I still didn’t – I was like “I don’t know why I trust her in this!” This was quite possibly the scariest thing and I felt like it would be a real challenge for me as an actor, as a man, and as a human being to drive across the country by myself, to work and live with people that I really didn’t know that well. Like I knew you but –
DCRT: Yeah, but that was it!
FG: I didn’t know Kristi very well, I’d met her, I’d met Janaiah but so… when I first got out here, it was a little rough. I was like “I wanna go home! I miss the comfort!” (laughter) But once I got over that, it’s been truly a joy out here… I really dig it out here.
DCRT: And we’re unbelievably happy and honored to have you out here! And now it’s time for 5 Questions!!! These are the questions that we ask everyone during 5 Questions so uh, we’re going to get started! If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you be?
FG: Uhhh…probably right here.
DCRT: NICE!!!
FG: To be honest!
DCRT: Solid answer!
FG: Yeah.
DCRT: Ok, what is your least favorite household chore?
FG: Wow. My least favorite household chore, I would have to say, would be cleaning the bathroom.
DCRT: Mmmm.
FG: I really hate cleaning the bathroom because I feel like just going behind the toilet is asking for ebola.
(Laughter)
DCRT: That seems to be a popular response. However, mine is still taking out the trash.
FG: Awww… I like doing that! It lets everyone know that I’m not a hoarder.
DCRT: That’s always good to know!
(LAUGHTER)
DCRT: Ok, what is your favorite word?
FG: Ugh.
DCRT: Uh-oh!
FG: My favorite word is one that I cannot say on Meet the Company. It starts with the – A, B, C, D, E, F – starts with the sixth letter of the alphabet and ends with – G, H, I , J, K – and it ends with the eleventh letter of the alphabet. I enjoy it because you’re going to get a response, no matter what. I feel like even if you’re used to hanging around people who say it all the time – there’s so many different ways you can use it: as a noun, as a verb, as an adjective, as an adverb.
DCRT: It’s the Swiss Army Knife of words!
FG: It is! It really is!
DCRT: Nice, nice. What is-
FG: There’s a dictionary!! Barbara Jones: Give it BACK!!!
(Laughter)
FG: She has my dictionary of the F Word.
DCRT: Ohhh…Really? There’s a dictionary for that?
FG: There is.
DCRT: Amazing! What is your favorite thing about working with Duke City Rep?
FG: My favorite thing about working with Duke City Repertory Theatre is the willingness of everyone to say “Yes”. Even when we disagree and we may not always – I’m going to repeat myself –
DCRT: That’s alright.
FG: We may not always agree with everyone’s ideas but it’s like “Ok. This is the route we’re going. Yeah!” and everybody goes after it, whole hog. A lot of times you get into that situation and someone will begrudgingly do it and-
DCRT: And half ass it.
FG: Yeah! And that doesn’t happen here. It’s nice to work with a group of people that… we’re always willing to set aside our own personal preference and feelings for the greater good of what’s going to be best for the company, for the community, the state and the country and so on. And that is a very nice thing.
DCRT: Aww. Ok, finally… does this teak patio furniture make me look fat?
(Laughter)
FG: Like… am I asking myself that or-
DCRT: No, I’m asking you that question about me!
FG: No. No. Teak is very slimming. Not that you need slimming- (Laughter)
DCRT: Alright, folks, that’s a wrap on this session of Meet the Company. I’d like to thank Frank Green for his honest and heart-warming answers and I’d also like to say that the teak patio furniture did not make Frank look fat either. Until next time!