Whether it’s comedy or drama, Benjamin Holmes is the performer for your show. His many theatre credits include: “Villian: DeBlanks,” “The Pillowman,” “The Athlete, Princess, Pirate, Fairy, Welder, Deep-Sea Diver Club,” “Anonymous, Unknown, and Grimm,” “Bartholomew Fair, NJ,” “A Christmas Carol,” “All in the Timing,” and “Urinetown.” Most recently, Benjamin was seen in “10 Reasons I Won’t Go Home With You” written by fellow “Adaumbelle’s Quest” participant Kelly Nichols, directed by fellow participant Billy Mitchell and included songs by fellow participant Bobby Cronin, one of seven contributing composer/lyricists (click here for my review). This fall Benjamin can be seen in the Attic, Jr series at the Attic Ensemble in New Jersey (which was also written, directed, and produced by Billy).
1. Who inspired you to become a performer? Well, this will sound a little conceited, but here’s the story: Sophomore year in high school, I went to see the school production of Guys and Dolls. The police inspector (the character’s name escapes me at the moment) was played by this kid named Dan S. Now, Dan didn’t forget his lines or screw up his blocking or anything at all–he was just so incredibly wooden onstage that all I could think as I watched was, I could do that so much better. So I auditioned for the play the next fall, got in, and I’ve been doing it ever since. So thanks, Dan.
2. Who is the one person you haven’t worked with that you would like to? There are so many people I haven’t worked with that it’s hard to narrow it down to one. Since I am the worst theatre person ever and pay so little attention to what’s going on in the theatre world, I guess I’ll just go with Joseph Gordon-Levitt. He’s incredible in Brick and Mysterious Skin, and, really, everything else he’s in. (Well, the jury’s still out about G.I. Joe.)
3. Do you have any strange or unusual talent that no one knows about? Um…hmm, I’m usually pretty open with my strange and unusual talents. I guess I’m a pretty fair juggler. I can play the ukulele passably. And I can flex a muscle in my palm that I shouldn’t be able to voluntarily flex. So there’s that.
4. Do you have any rituals you have to do before a performance? How do you decompress after a show? Not at all. The most I’ll do is go over my lines, but even then it’ll usually only be monologues or long speeches or the like. I’ve never been someone who likes to do any warm-up exercises or anything; they always tended to wear me out instead of pump me up. I prefer to just plunge in. And as for decompressing afterward, again, there isn’t much I’ll do. I just kind of like getting out of the theatre as quickly as possible. It’s really nice to see people outside after the show and talk to them a little, but I’m actually quite shy when I don’t know someone, so if none of my friends are there, I’ll just try to fade into the background or leave.
5. What is the best advice you’ve ever received? My dad told me before I went to college never to let anyone pressure me into doing something I didn’t want to do. That’s been pretty helpful.
6. If you could dream about anyone while you sleep, who would it be? Probably my sister. She passed away five years ago; it’d be nice to see her again.
7. Favorite way to stay in shape? Skiing, absolutely. Second favorite is soccer. Or, really, running around kicking a ball, since I really only play with one or two of my friends.
8. Boxers or Briefs? Boxers.
9. Favorite website? Um…probably the Onion A.V. Club. Such a snarky hipster I am.
10. Superman or Wonder Woman? Green Lantern. Or maybe The Flash.
BONUS QUESTIONS:
11. Favorite ride at an amusement park? I’ll ride pretty much everything, so it’s hard to pick just one. I used to like riding the Zipper at the fair in the town where I grew up, even though you really took your life into your own hands when you rode that thing. Various nuts and bolts flew off of it all the time. Fond memories…
12. Books or Magazines? Books. Every time.
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