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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

D.F. Oliveria: ‘Monty’ actor has a full plate

D.F. Oliveria Staff writer

Former Lake City High student Robby French is one of six characters who show skin in the Coeur d’Alene Summer Theatre’s production of “The Full Monty” (tonight through Sunday matinee and next Thursday through July 21). He plays unemployed steelworker Ethan Gerard, who wants to run up walls and flip like Gene Kelly. You can read the entire interview at Huckleberries Online this morning. Or go to the Summer Theatre’s Web site: www.cdasummertheatre.org.

D.F. Oliveria: Has your mother seen the show?

Robby French: She was shocked at first, in a good way. She’s always been supportive of me. She loved it a lot. She was scared when I dropped my pants in the first act.

DFO: What was your first high school play?

RF: “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” at Lake City High (where he attended from 1997-2000). I was Mr. Tumnus, the faun. I had no idea what I was doing. I put on this dumb accent and was trying to be faunlike.

DFO: What do you do when you forget a line?

RF: I try to say something similar to replace the line. It doesn’t happen very often. The first time we got pants-less for “The Full Monty” during rehearsals, several of us forgot our lines.

DFO: Were the actors nervous about the semi-nudity of the play?

RF: Two guys have done the play before, Danny (Stiles) and Mark (Fitzgerald Weekes). We had discussions with the director and (among ourselves). We all had different things we had to work through. We had to “let it go,” as the last song says. We felt good about it afterward.

DFO: Were you nervous about doing this play in conservative Coeur d’Alene?

RF: Yes and no. I did (“Jesus Christ Superstar”) a few years ago at (the Lake City Playhouse). Some people stayed away from that play. I expected picketing. We live in a Christian community. We had trouble last year with “Pippin.” They didn’t warn anybody (about the content). We sold (“The Full Monty”) really well. Now, we have ratings. “Full Monty” is rated R. We haven’t heard any complaints.

DFO: Where do you want to be in 10 years?

RF: I would like to have a steady career in film and TV and be doing theater regularly in between. I want to keep working in theater. I don’t want to be on Broadway. But I want to be a working actor.

DFO: What would you have become if you weren’t an actor or a singer?

RF: A drummer or a stuntman. I’ve played the drums since I was 3. I used to dream of setting myself on fire as the ultimate stunt or jumping from a building 20 stories onto a truck.

DFO: Is Ellen Travolta as zany as she seems on stage?

RF: Everyone loves her. She keeps everyone on their toes. You learn from watching her. She’s never afraid to try new things, especially in her “Full Monty” role as Jeanette.

DFO: Have you ever appeared on TV or in a movie?

RF: Yes. I was on “All My Children” four times. It was “under-five” work. That’s a soap term for under five lines. I was a bartender, a server, nothing imperative to the scene. I did “Law & Order: SVU.” I did small work with “The Good Shepherd,” which Robert DeNiro directed. Matt Damon and Angelina Jolie starred in that.

DFO: Haven’t you written and recorded several songs?

RF: I have 12 original songs of my own, including “Why Mother Why?” I wrote “Fairy Tale” three weeks ago, about my girlfriend. I have one about a best friend who never trusted me, called “Believe Me.” It’s about trusting what I have to say and going with that.

DFO: Who’s the biggest actor you’ve ever met?

RF: Paul Giamatti – in front of my apartment in Brooklyn.

DFO: What effect does a high school program like the one Sandi Seaton runs at Lake City High have on potential actors?

RF: Lake City has a lot of different classes you wouldn’t get in other high schools, like theater, stage craft and diction.

DFO: Now, for the big question. I’ve seen the play. Fifth row. Aren’t you guys actually naked on stage at the end of the “The Full Monty”?

RF: We leave it up to the audience’s imagination. I get asked that question every day. People have to come see it.