Morse Bluff actor conducts the Polar Expressby Zander Gibney When I moved from Nebraska to England to train as an actor, I didn’t expect it to lead to spending Christmas on the English coast while singing, dancing and clipping tickets on a moving train, and yet here I am.
I’m sure most of us are familiar with the 2004 animated film The Polar Express or the children’s book by Chris Van Allsburg it’s based on. The film is the story of a boy who is on the verge of no longer believing in Santa Claus who learns to believe again after climbing aboard a magical train––the Polar Express––to visit the North Pole, meet Santa and receive a magical sleigh bell as the first gift of Christmas. For those of us who are fans of the film, the most iconic character is the mysterious, mustached, and ever-punctual Conductor portrayed through motion-capture animation by Tom Hanks. The Conductor speaks in a hard-to-place trans-Atlantic/’40s radio host accent and is obsessed with hole-punching passengers’ golden tickets and arriving at the North Pole on time. He’s an enigma of a character, and I think that’s why he’s become a bit of an icon of Christmas media. In the spring towards the end of my drama school training, I found a casting call to play the Conductor himself. The production company was looking for tall, mustached actors who could do an American accent, so I figured I was a shoo-in for the role. I was invited to a live audition and callback in London at the theatre currently running a production of Starlight Express and was next door to the historic Wembley Park. It was one of those magical moments where I’m just grateful to be given such jaw-dropping opportunities. I walked into a room of British actors all fitting my same description, did some improvised activities, read a monologue, sang a song and left for the day. About a month later, I got a job offer––my first professional acting job! We began rehearsals in late November, about a week before Thanksgiving, at a train station in the village of Buckfastleigh in the county of Devon, far, far along the southwestern coast. My home-away-from-home in the UK is up in Birmingham – practically the Omaha of England, smack-dab in the middle of the country – so I had to start by relocating to a town close to Buckfastleigh. Ultimately, this ended up being the coastal town of Teignmouth (only a 30-minute drive away) living in an Airbnb with three other actors on the same contract. Teignmouth has had its perks. The Airbnb is a 15-minute walk to the coast, so my days off have been filled with beautiful seaside beach walks, which feels odd to do in December, but there’s no way I’m going to let the opportunity pass me by. Most of the time though, I’m resting my legs and voice from long days of performing. This finally brings us to my time performing in The Polar Express and the joy it has been to share with families who climb aboard. The show itself is a little over an hour long, performed four to six times a day, and we perform it entirely on a moving train––which comes with all of the challenges I’m sure you can imagine. The cast also features dancing chefs, moving and grooving up and down the aisles and between children who decide not to follow guidelines of remaining seated. During the most elaborate dance sequence, the chefs and the Conductor serve hot chocolate and cookies to every passenger in the carriage––just like the scene in the movie––and it’s always a moment to celebrate when no one slips or spills anything (after catching our breath, of course). Luckily, I only broke one door and no major injuries have occurred. Did I have to perform half of one show with an ice pack sneakily tucked beneath my hat after hitting my head on the ceiling? Yes, but I was still proud I was able to jump as high as I did on a moving train. Read the full story in the print or e-edition. <<Back to the front page |
