MEET KEANU, WHO'S PLAYING ROOSTER IN ANNIE THE MUSICAL!
1. You’re about to play Rooster in Annie! What excites you the most about bringing this character to life?
What excites me the most is the vaudevillian nature of the character. I’ve never played a vaudevillian style role before which is both exciting and a new challenge for myself as an actor.
2. Rooster is such a sneaky and over-the-top villain. How do you approach playing a role that’s both comedic and a little devious?
This is such a fun challenge to undertake because if we take away all we know about Annie the musical and solely look at Rooster’s given circumstances, he is a man fresh out of prison with nothing but the clothes on his back and whatever he can steal or con out of people with a devious plan to get money and potentially hurt people along the way. Not your typical setup for a musical comedy if you ask me. But the comedy is found in the ridiculous nature of who Rooster is as a person. He is forever the optimist, so much so that he can be exceptionally delusional when it comes to how brilliant he thinks he is as a conman, and it’s these delusional levels of confidence and charm that bring the comedy to the role.
3. You recently played Kenickie in Grease, which is such an iconic role. What was your favourite part about stepping into his shoes?
Creating so much depth with Kenickie is what made it so exciting to play every night. He was more than just a kick-ass greaser with attitude and a swanky car. He had a wall built up from the troubled childhood he endured, and Rizzo was the only person who could break that wall down. Unfortunately, whenever he started drawing back the curtain, revealing his emotions, Rizzo would make him feel insignificant, and the wall would come straight back up again, which led to Rizzo and Kenickie’s constant retaliatory behaviour. But she was the only person who he felt he could trust and be vulnerable around. He wouldn’t dream about being vulnerable in front of the T-Birds; that’s just not what men do. Especially in the 50s.
4. If you had to choose an Annie song to sing at karaoke (other than Rooster’s), which one would it be?
It’d have to be the Star to be part in NYC because it is such a fun, high sing with notes I probably can’t hit, and I don’t mind making a fool of myself at karaoke.
5. What’s your go-to pump-up song before hitting the stage?
That would be Yams by starRo. The vibes are high, and it gives me so much energy.
6. If Kenickie and Rooster had a dance battle, who would win and why?
Depends on who’s judging, I’d have to say. If you like dancing where you throw your body around and just let the music course through your veins like lightning, then Kenickie is your guy, but if you love beautiful shapes and classic vaudevillian, Broadway-style dancing, Rooster it is.
Personal & Behind-the-Scenes
7. What’s one backstage ritual or superstition you have before a show?
When I’m putting on my costume it is done very conscientiously as it helps me embody the role as if I am literally stepping into the character.
8. What’s the funniest thing that’s ever happened to you on stage?
There have been so many. A more recent one, however, was during Grease where Kenickie has the line “plenty of chicks would get down on their knees to ride around in this little number,” referring to Greased Lightning. But instead, I said, “plenty of guys…” and had to backtrack into saying the line correctly. We all were trying hard not to break character on stage, and I didn’t hear the end of it for quite a while from the cast.
9. You’re stuck in an elevator with your past self, right before your first professional role—what’s the one piece of advice you’d give him?
Don’t get caught up in the small stuff. There are things that are in your control and things that simply aren’t. Try focusing on what you can control and always make sure you are having fun.