Musical actor Steven Scott Springer has never been so excited at the end of a show's run.
Springer gives his last performance in L.A.'s award-winning Blank Theatre company's Sky's End on Oct. 18. By the time the show closes on Oct. 20, Springer will be in New York City, beginning rehearsals for his prominent role in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Whistle Down the Wind, directed by Hal Prince.
Springer's portrayal of Andrew, the lead in ..End, got him a new agent, which helped him to get a second audition for Hal Prince (for more information on Sky's End, see Reviews For "Sky's End" in theatre news). His first audition with Prince originally took place four months ago, for a show Prince is directing called I Love a Parade. Prince recommended him to the casting people for Wind, who, after the first audition, reportedly didn't feel Springer possessed the darkness of the character Amos. With that in mind, when Springer flew to NY for his second chance, he gave it his all. He spent 45 minutes with Prince in a coaching session for the character, which Springer admits, "was a terrifying thrill." The audition provided Springer with a chance to really work on the music, which Springer feels ". . .fits my voice. It felt great to sing it. . . I knew I was singing the crap out of it.
Within hours, he was cast.
Springer, who has been seen on many L.A. stages, but has never been on Broadway, is definitely ready to play Amos. As a result of growing up in Bixby, OK, Springer identifies with Amos in his yearning to get out of his small town surroundings, and also the fear of doing so. The difference, Springer assesses, is that, "I tried to get out [of my hometown] in a positive way, and he [Amos] approaches it in perhaps a somewhat sinister way." An ironic sidestory is that Springer's understudy comes from a neighboring hometown, Jenks, OK, and the two rivalled each other in High School football. The way he discovered their connection, was that Springer's grandparents over heard two others discussing . . .Wind in an Oklahoma mall. They explained to the couple that their grandson would be starring in the show. The couple revealed they were the grandparents of the understudy.
-- By Blair Glaser
