Nov. 02, 2011 - Issue #837: Cleopatra’s Sister

The Rocky Horror Show

'Oh my God, these are not going to be quick-change shoes."

Plopped down on the couch of the Citadel's green room, John Ullyatt sits deciphering the six (!) strappy hooks that lock each outrageously silver-studded high heel to its respective foot. They are excessive, to say the least, but that's the proper fit for the billing: on Ullyatt, they make up the footwear of one of the most cultish figures of camp, one Frank N Furter of a certain The Rocky Horror Show.

He's embodying everybody's favourite interplanetary transvestite, though at the moment we spoke, Ullyatt's mind was split between camp and conviction. By day, he was in early rehearsal for Rocky Horror, developing his take on Frank, but in his evenings, he'd unfasten his heels and slip into the decidedly less showy footwear of Death of a Salesman's Biff, already up on its legs in front of nightly audiences.

In essence, he was juggling two  iconic roles that couldn't be more opposite for an actor to be cast in. Initially, though, Ullyatt didn't even connect the dots about the overlap he'd have to handle, which seemed more daunting in terms of workload than the dual minds he was embodying.

"I sort of calculated: 'Oh my God, I'm going to be doing 12-hour days for the next month,'" He recalls from the midst of it. "So that's kind of what's going on.

"Of course, I'm exhausted; I'm just bagged," he continues. "But I think a lot of people do this kind of thing. I think you end up having to do it. It just happens, and if it works out, great, and if it doesn't, then you end up losing eight weeks of work. You've got to kind of take it when you get it."

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Ullyatt had the sniffles to accompany his exhaustion then, though by now they've surely passed as Salesman ended its run and Ullyatt was able to focus on Rocky exclusively (and take a bit of a breather, too). Developing his personal take on such an iconic role, he's found, is a mix of expectation and his own inherently individual knacks.

"Everybody knows what Tim Curry did with the role, and what do you do?" he says. "I think people come expecting that, so try to give them what they want, but also, try to find my own take on it as well. God only knows how it'll work out. I hope it won't end up being a complete mimic. And it can't be; it's me, so obviously there will be some differences."

Aside from the daunting hours being logged at the Citadel juggling both roles in a day, he notes that they weren't all that difficult to wrap his head around. At the very least, it didn't involve having to drive across town to work on each. "Other times I've done it, I've had to go from the Mayfield to the Jubilee, that kind of thing," he says. "That's kind of insane."

But as his double-casting hints at, Ullyatt's simply  proven a versatile presence on stage, capable of shouldering high-flung musicals and heavy drama with equal gusto. It's curious that acting seems to have become his profession almost by chance.

"I think it's the only thing I'm good at," he ponders. "I think when I went to McGill university and was just trying to figure out what the hell to do with my life, and somebody said, 'Do you want to do a play?' And after that, one thing after another ... "

Now he trods the boards often and skillfully, (Ullyatt took home a best actor Sterling last year for Billy Bishop Goes to War) but Ullyatt still talks about the uncomplicated contentment of continuing to learn his craft. He genuinely seems happy to get on stage and experience something new, so long as that newness continues to happen.

"Every time I go out, I learn something more," Ullyatt says. "I think that's why I keep doing it. I think if I stopped learning I just wouldn't bother anymore. "

 

 

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