Baltimore Actor Wins Prestigious Theater Award

Actress Susan Rome: "I’m too old to be naked on stage. OK, maybe from the back." (Courtesy Photo)

A Baltimore native and 1982 graduate of the Baltimore School for the Arts, actress Susan Rome recently won the 2018 Helen Hayes Award for best supporting actress in a play.

She won for her portrayal of Brooklyn homemaker and control freak Kate Jerome in Neil Simon’s semi-autobiographical “Brighton Beach Memoirs” at Theater J, the nationally-renowned professional theater based at the Edlavitch DC Jewish Community Center.

“Susan Rome’s portrait of the harried, controlling Kate is an ­invaluable anchoring force in ­director Matt Torney’s production of ‘Brighton Beach Memoirs’ at Theater J,” wrote the Washington Post.

Rome, who lives in Baltimore with her 13-year-old son, Seamus, has a bachelor of fine arts from the Boston University School of Theatre. A veteran teacher, she also has a master’s degree in teaching and a master’s degree in education.

Rome has been a full-time actor since 2013. She has been the writer and director of plays for children and adults. She also acts in commercials and teaches acting.

Rome, who has appeared in TV’s “NYPD Blue” and “The Wire,” as well as the John Waters film “A Dirty Shame,” recently spoke to Jmore about her career.

Jmore: What do you look for when considering roles?

Rome: I look for the five Ps — play, part, place, people and pay. I need three of these to fire me up to do a part.

Let’s take play and part. I look for a really good part in an interesting play. My job is to understand the playwright’s intent and the director’s vision. Can I understand what the character wants, how the character changes from the beginning to the end? I don’t mind if the character doesn’t have a big arc, but I look for meaty dynamics, something I can sink my teeth into.

I like to be challenged.

Baltimore-based actress Susan Rome portrayed Brooklyn homemaker Kate Jerome in Neil Simon’s “Brighton Beach Memoirs.” (Photo provided)

Did that happen with “Brighton Beach Memoirs?”

Yes. If my personal life was so much like Kate’s, it would bring a darkness to the role. It would be a negativity festival. In a play five years ago, an actress was fired after the end of the fourth week of rehearsal because her personality was too much like the character she played. She couldn’t get the humor in the role.

I was hired and had to learn 97 pages of dialogue in less than a week.

Oy!

If the character and actor share a personality trait, that’s not generous. Actors need a generous spirit. This character, Kate, did not have a generous spirit. So I needed to bring my spirit to the role.

What’s the environment for female actors today in Baltimore and Washington, D.C.?

I’m excited by the #MeToo, #TimesUp and #NotinOurHouse campaigns, where women are speaking up about sexual abuse and parity issues. I negotiate everything myself, and in my experience blatant sexism exists hardly at all in Baltimore and D.C. We have strong female directors. Over the past 18 years, many of the plays I’ve been in were written by a woman, directed by a woman or both.

How do you make a living acting?

You don’t make a whole lot of money. You can make a living in acting that’s similar to being a waitress at age 25. I’ve been acting full-time for the last five years, and I also take commercials, and I do some readings. In past years, I’ve taught social studies and also arts for children with learning disabilities.
Every year, Actors Equity publishes how many work weeks actors work. Last year, the average number of weeks was 17 per year. My number of work weeks are about twice the national average. That’s pretty good.

We are fortunate to have so many wonderful theaters in Baltimore and D.C. I feel really fortunate to be in this market because there is so much work.

How can a good director draw the best performances out of actors?

I love the collaborative nature of what we do. A great director knows what questions to ask of the actress: Why do you say this? What do you want? What are you hoping to get from this? On the other hand, a good director will not belittle actors, will not make them fearful to take risks.

I don’t need a lot of praise. I love getting notes from the director about what needs to be tweaked in a part I’m playing. Everybody wants a great performance.

What acting offers would you turn down?

If I hated the play, I wouldn’t go into an audition. In one play, I would have had to say the N-word eight times a week. I couldn’t do hate speech. I am devoid of hatred. It is exhausting. It is harder to hate than to love.

Anything else?

I’m too old to be naked on stage.

OK, maybe from the back.

Advice for young people dreaming of the stage and screen?

Acting is easy, but it’s hard to do well. You will continue to learn how to do it. After 40 years, I’m still learning. I’m so glad that people still want to come to the theater and hear stories.

If you want to be famous, that is not the best reason to do acting.

For information, visit www.susanrome.com.

Peter Arnold is an Olney, Md.-based freelance writer.

 

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