Editor’s Note: One of the best parts of being Editor of Picture this Post is getting to know our many writers who are performers themselves in that window that I call “..the last five minutes before they get famous..”. Shortly after Nate Hall moved to Chicago in early 2018 we were (virtually) introduced and it is a consistent joy to read his insights and perspectives on our pages.
Recently, Nate Hall (NH) got his first title role playing Nero, in The Fires of Nero, and Picture This Post (PTP) was able to grab a few minutes of his time to find out how he first got the theater bug and more.
(PTP) What are the challenges of playing a part like Nero as he is portrayed in this script? What have been the most fun aspects of making this legend come to life?
(NH) It’s been fascinating to portray such a prominent historical figure, and furthermore one that is described in so many different ways. We do have a lot of information about Nero, and the research I did was definitely helpful, but I would say the most fun was had in discovering who my Nero is, and filling in the blanks and misconceptions left by thousands of years of history.
In your portrayal –and in the script- do we hope the audience finds resonance with the politics of our day? How do you relate to that personally?
The recent resurgence of populism, and the shotgun nature of political scandal, deceit, and manipulation nowadays was just as common place in Nero’s Rome. Despite the accounts from his court, and those that were very close to Nero, he was remarkably popular with the commoners, which, although baffling to the bureaucracy, makes one wonder how such leaders can come into power, and how we, as a society, can make our voices heard despite all odds.
You were the first graduate from Texas Tech University to get a degree in musical theater—how did that come about?
I actually started school as a chemical engineering major! Growing up by a national lab was a driving force for sure. Once everyone in the family was on board for the theatre bug to take center stage, it was just a matter of the musical theatre program being birthed right before I graduated. I had to add a semester because of a class scheduling conflict, but being the first in a program is definitely an honor.
You have described this as not a musical but as a play with music. How does that change the demands on you as a performer? And for the cast as a whole?
The play moves very fast from scene to scene, and the songs in it are shorter in length than many are used to in a traditional musical. So, the main challenge has been trying to make these snippets of song into meaningful and compelling moments on stage, which I think we’re doing well and dealing with in some fun creative ways.
Please tell Picture this Post readers about how you first got the “theater bug” and what the key milestones have been getting to here- your first starring title role since moving to Chicago in early 2018.
I was a little late to the party in that regard. I was more of a musician first, playing in garage bands (we were called Deep Space Lions), marching band, that kind of thing. I was sitting in debate practice one fateful day when my friend Sophie told me the musical needed guys to audition. One cringe worthy solo performance of ‘Summer Nights’ later, I was thrown into a leading role, and sent inevitably hurtling towards my current career choices. I would say my major milestones include playing Princeton in Avenue Q, having the back of my head in the New York Times as an actor in the Tennessee Williams Festival in Provincetown, and the staged reading of my first fully original musical, Fade Out.
Woody Allen – long a well-known and award winning filmmaker – famously tells the story of how his father never let up on wanting him to get a real job. Since you are the son of a nuclear physicist and a computer scientist who had hoped for you to become an engineer—do you face similar parental wishes or? They are each coming to cheer you on- yes?
The journey towards accepting the theatre bug was definitely not straightforward, but I’m so lucky now and appreciative that I have two loving and supportive parents (they’re my biggest fans). Both are traveling up to see the show, from New Mexico and Texas!
Besides being a performer—you also are a playwright. Can you share with our readers what one or more of your works-in-progress are?
I’m currently working on three musicals, some as collaborative and some as solo endeavors. Stabbed in the Heart is a pop/punk take on the slasher genre and toxic relationships; It All Comes Down is an intimate memory show about divorce and accepting loss; and All Star is a 2000s jukebox beach rock bop about a girl and her band’s battles with fame, friends, and love.
Any other comments about you, your history, your aims for the future? Do you want to go to Hollywood some day? Or Broadway ? or both? Or???
Honestly, right now I would just love to have my day job pay for my transit.
All jokes aside, as long as I’m consistently creating art and expressing myself through performance, composing, or text, and growing in that creation, I’m the luckiest person alive.
All Photos courtesy of Nate Hall
