Lance Guest

Lance Guest starred as Johnny Cash in the Off-Broadway musical Million Dollar Quartet, which played at New World Stages / Stage 4 from 28 Jun 2011 - 24 Jun 2012.

Guest also starred as Johnny Cash on Broadway when the musical played at the Nederlander Theatre from 13 Mar 2010 - 12 Jun 2011.

Birthday
7/21

Place of birth?
Saratoga,Ca.

You now live in?
NYC.

Did you go to training school, if so which one?
No. I was in the theatre Dept at UCLA. It wasn't a training program per se, but there were a lot of good people to learn from, students,grad students as well as teachers.

As an actor, do you have a preference for stage, TV or film?
Depends on the script. generally theatre scripts are more complex and dimensional, but not necessarily.

Your first stage performance was?
Nathan Detroit, Guys and Dolls Age 15. I did Mel Brooks' voice from the 2000 year old man, since that was the only New Yorker I had ever heard.

Career highlight to date?
Playing guitar with Roger Miller at Don Meredith's house in Santa Fe, NM in 1984. He played us previously unheard songs from Big River.

What roles would you most like to play?
The Duke in Measure for Measure. Hotspur in Henry IV pt 1, Henry in The Real Thing. Mercutio.

What is the best advice you have ever received?
"It's all about her, what ever she wants" - Jack Fletcher, my former acting teacher re: my son's mother, the night before she gave birth.
"Shakespeare is a quirky playwright. Don't make him casual." Paul Whitworth.
"Now do it like it's really happening" Actor/playwright/friend Carlos Lacamara.
"If you have to say an awkward line, make the choice that it is the BEST possible way to articulate it. "Friend/director Michael Edwards.

What has been your most embarrassing moment on stage?
Nothing embarrasses me. I'm an actor, what's more embarrassing than that?

What is the most annoying part about your job?
Waiting around. Offstage or on a film set.

Briefly tell us how you become involved with Million Dollar Quartet?
I was doing a spanish Golden Age play with my friend Meeghan and she was working with the writer of MDQ. She said they needed someone "who was tall and played the guitar." I went thru 2 years of workshop/readings before we did a weeklong workshop followed by two full productions, one in Fla. and one in Wa. outside of Seattle. Then we did Chicago for year and a half before coming to Broadway.

If you had not become a performer, what might you have done instead?
Environmentally sustainable technology/Architecture.

If you could meet anyone in the world dead or alive who would it be and what would you say to them?
Dead: Ken Kesey, Thanks. Alive: Keith Richards, Chuck Berry, Bob Dylan. -Thanks.

What was the last Broadway show you saw?
Red. Alfred Molina consistently knocks me out.

What was the last book you read, and name some of your favorite authors?
Life by Keith Richards, Ken Kesey, F Scott Fitzgerald, Charles Dickens, JD Salinger, David Sedaris.

What was the last film you saw, and name some of your favorite movies?
The King's Speech. Matewan, Coming Home, Love and Death, Little Big Man, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Almost Famous. Duck Soup.

Favorite TV programs?
The Daily Show. Freaks and Geeks. Gunsmoke.

Favorite holiday destinations?
Italy. Northern Ca.,Vermont. Australia.

Do you have any hobbies?
I plant vineyards and make wine.

Do you have any superstitions?
No.

If you were stranded on a desert island, what three items would you take with you?
A lighter, a frying pan and a machete.

What are your future plans?
Win the Lottery, Buy a NY apt, some more vineyard land, build a recording studio.