The DCPA NewsCenter regularly profiles actors performing in theatre productions throughout the state of Colorado.

MEET SAM GREGORY
Orgon in Arvada Center Black Box Theatre Company’s Tartuffe

Sam Gregory has more than 40 DCPA Theatre Company credits to his name. He first appeared at the Denver Center in 1991 – also in Molière’s Tartuffe (pictured above), but then playing Valere. He returned to Denver intermittently before becoming a full company member in 2005. He also has performed locally for Curious Theatre, the Colorado Shakespeare Festival, the late Paragon Theatre and many more. He will be taking over for the legendary Philip Pleasants as Scrooge in the DCPA’s annual holiday staging of A Christmas Carol from Nov. 25-Dec. 24). 

• Hometown: New Haven, Conn.
• Home now: Denver
  
• College: Menlo School (Atherton, Calif.); Masters from Cal-Berkeley
• What have you done for us lately? I played Ray in White Guy on the Bus at Curious Theatre
• Coming up next: Scrooge in the DCPA Theatre Company’s A Christmas Carol (Nov. 25-Dec. 24).  
• What is Tartuffe all about? A con man pretends to be a devout holy man in order to swindle a gullible man and his family out of all they possess. But it’s a comedy!
• Most challenging aspect for you as an actor: I play Orgon, a gullible, middle-aged man who has only himself to blame for his predicament but instead blames everyone around him. He’s full of bluster and self delusion. The challenge is to make the character appealing for the audience while behaving insufferably to the other characters in the play.
• What do you love most about this new adventure? The Arvada Center is embarking upon a brand-new approach to the plays it presents in its Black Box Theatre, and I am thrilled to be a part of it. The Arvada Center has created a Black Box Ensemble. This is one group of actors who will perform together for an entire season in four separate plays. It’s a wonderful chance for me as an actor to be a part of a repertory company again, and a wonderful opportunity for the audience to develop a relationship with the actors and experience the season in a more personal and invested way.
• What’s one thing most people don’t know about you? I’m dyslexic, which makes learning lines extra challenging. Also, this leaves me pretty much unable to be comfortably “on book.” I try to start the rehearsal process as fully memorized as I can be so that I don’t have to read my lines while we rehearse – which would make for a very long and torturous process for everyone involved.
• What’s one thing you want to get off your chest? I’m a terrible driver. I don’t mean that I have no skills as a driver. I’m actually pretty good that way. I never use my cell phone while driving. I don’t speed very often or roll through stop signs or run red lights. But I do get unreasonably upset at my fellow drivers over the smallest things. I’m always muttering or cursing everyone else on the road. So, I try not to drive. My wife (Sylvia Gregory) is the driver in our family!

  
  Read more about the Arvada Center’s new repertory company
  

  Arvada Center’s Tartuffe: Ticket information
  • Written by Molière
  • Directed by Lynne Collins
  • Sept. 30-Nov. 6
  • 6901 Wadsworth Blvd.
  • Performances: 1 p.m. Wednesdays; 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays
  • Tickets $45 at 720-898-7200 or arvadacenter.org

Cast list:

Video: Sam Gregory talks about Tartuffe

More ‘In the Spotlife’ profiles:
Meet Lauren Bahlman of Wide-Eyed West’s theMumblings
Meet Carley Cornelius of Colorado Springs TheatreWorks’ Constellations
Meet Emily Paton Davies of Miners Alley Playhouse’s God of Carnage
Meet Megan Van De Hey of the Arvada Center’s Sister Act
Meet Anne Oberbroeckling of Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company’s Ripcord

More Colorado theatre coverage on the DCPA NewsCenter