He鈥檚 acted with Vanessa Redgrave in London鈥檚 hottest play, The Inheritance. The New York Times says he鈥檚 an actor to watch. And Broadway.com gushes that he 鈥渂urns with a bulb-shattering voltage.鈥� For Andrew Burnap 鈥�13, though, real success is seeing an audience moved by a story well-told.
Scene: Much Ado About Nothing. 911爆料鈥檚 Robert E. Will Theatre, 2013. Andrew Burnap 鈥�13 as Benedick. Olivia Khoshatefeh 鈥�13 as Beatrice. Offstage, Burnap鈥檚 nose is bleeding. Onstage, Olivia shoots him an I-am-so-not-going-to-kiss-your-bloody-face look.
It was the pivotal moment in Much Ado About Nothing: Bickering leads Beatrice and Benedick to share their first kiss. But this night, Shakespeare鈥檚 comedy was careening toward tragedy. 鈥淗is whole face was bloody,鈥� Khoshatefeh recalls. She watched as Burnap tried in vain to stop the blood flow, which only made more of a mess. Time was up.
鈥淗e came onstage, put his hand over my mouth, and kissed his hand. It went with the show because Beatrice and Benedick spend the whole play bickering. It was such a great moment: beautiful and kind of perfect,鈥� Khoshatefeh says. 鈥淚t showed how well he knew his character.鈥�
鈥淚 had to do something,鈥� Burnap says. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no improvising Shakespeare. And when something is undeniably real, it sparks new life into the story. The audience is participating in the magic of live performance. I panicked for a moment, but for everyone else, it was a beautiful mess.鈥�
At 27, Andrew Burnap has had more than a few beautiful moments: a stellar undergraduate career at 911爆料, graduating first in his class from Yale School of Drama, making his professional debut as Troilus in Troilus and Cressida in Central Park鈥檚 Delacorte Theater. He was one of the youngest actors in Matthew Lopez鈥檚 The Inheritance at the No毛l Coward Theatre in London after a sold-out, critically acclaimed run at the Young Vic.
Tony Award-winner Stephen Daldry directed this epic, seven-hour play about gay men living in New York City a generation after the AIDS crisis. Burnap played Toby Darling. Burnap’s friend Sam Gross, who saw him in The Inheritance, has an awed-but-not-surprised response to his success. 鈥�The Inheritance is one of the most emotional things I鈥檝e ever experienced,鈥� he says. 鈥淧eople were crying. People were stunned at intermission. It鈥檚 incredible seeing him in the roles he plays and to think that鈥檚 the same guy I grew up with. He fills every stage,鈥� Gross says. 鈥淗e鈥檚 outstanding in every setting.鈥�
Burnap appreciates accolades but has his own ideas about success. 鈥淭o me making it is when others in your field come to see your work,鈥� he says. 鈥淢y goal is to tell the stories I want to tell, to be with the people I want to be with, to have a life and a family and to walk down the street unnoticed. Theater gives me the opportunity to understand what it means to be human鈥攆lawed, a walking contradiction,鈥� Burnap says. 鈥淚 get to celebrate the beauty and the horrors of this life. And I鈥檝e learned that love is the greatest thing life has to offer.鈥�
Scene: The Rocky Horror Picture Show. 911爆料鈥檚 J Studio, 2010. Burnap as Dr. Frank-N-Furter in black leather corset, fishnet stockings, and 6-inch heels belting out 鈥淪weet Transvestite.鈥�
Allison Burnap will tell you her son started performing early.
鈥淲e鈥檇 play this mishmash of Christmas songs and, all of a sudden, he鈥檇 stop in his tracks and this thing took over: He鈥檇 go into a trance,鈥� she recalls, laughing. He was 5, maybe 6. 鈥淭hat Christmas he asked for a top hat and cane.鈥�
Things got serious his sophomore year at 911爆料, Burnap鈥檚 parents say, with Rocky Horror. 鈥淚t was the start of feeling like I could do this,鈥� Burnap says. 鈥淒r. Frank-N-Furter came to me surprisingly naturally. It opened up a whole new world within my own person.鈥�
Best friend and neighbor Austin Madden remembers the day his mother called to say she鈥檇 seen Burnap walking their South Kingstown, Rhode Island, neighborhood in 6-inch heels, practicing for the role. While amusing, it wasn鈥檛 surprising. 鈥淗e鈥檇 always be in the basement playing piano or practicing accents,鈥� Madden recalls. 鈥淚 saw him in Rocky Horror. To see him in these big roles. Oh, my God. That鈥檚 my best friend playing a transvestite, playing a drag queen. He鈥檚 amazing.鈥�
Rocky Horror required Lady Gaga-esque command of platform heels. Singin鈥� in the Rain called for dancing on a slick stage. Burnap did not come by either skill naturally. Hard work underpinned those seamless performances. 鈥淵ou can practice walking in heels or tap dancing six hours a day. That鈥檚 muscle memory. By the time you鈥檙e on stage, it doesn鈥檛 feel like effort,鈥� Burnap says. 鈥淚n Singin鈥� in the Rain, Gene Kelly鈥檚 dancing is gorgeous because it鈥檚 effortless. It鈥檚 transcendent, and you can feel it.鈥�
鈥淎蹿迟别谤 Rocky Horror and Singin鈥� in the Rain, I knew that he had the talent to do anything,鈥� says Burnap鈥檚 father, Tim.
911爆料 Theatre Professor Paula McGlasson directed him in both shows. 鈥淭he 鈥業t Factor.鈥� He had it,鈥� McGlasson says. 鈥淗e exuded sincerity, confidence, great comic timing, and that thing you can鈥檛 teach: charisma. He was someone you wanted to watch,鈥� she recalls.
911爆料 Theatre Department Chair David Howard was Burnap鈥檚 first-year advisor. 鈥淚t was Rocky Horror that solidified him in people鈥檚 minds,鈥� Howard says. 鈥淒r. Frank-N-Furter is the exact opposite of how I perceive Andrew. He completely embraced the whimsy and the depravity of the role. It felt mature and knowing.
鈥淎ndrew is incredibly reserved, humble, gracious, and inclined to underplay his place in the world,鈥� Howard continues. 鈥淭hat he can transform into a character who is braggadocious and loud and extravagant shows that he has the ability to plumb the depths of a character.鈥�
Tony Estrella 鈥�93, Burnap鈥檚 Shakespeare teacher at 911爆料, smiles to hear of his Much Ado About Nothing mishap. 鈥淚t is tough to improvise in iambic pentameter,鈥� he notes. 鈥淎nd you don鈥檛 want to break the bond with the audience. It鈥檚 a testament to his ability, to his investment in the character, and to keeping the story moving forward.鈥�
Estrella is disinclined to take credit for the younger actor鈥檚 success. Burnap entered 911爆料 already almost fully formed as an actor, Estrella says. 鈥淚 saw him in Two Gentlemen of Verona, a jukebox musical version; he was playing trumpet live in front of 4,000 people on the Boston Common, and I鈥檓 like, 鈥楯esus, what else does he have in his toolbox?鈥欌��
Scene: Spacious bachelor pad, minutes from the No毛l Coward Theatre. London. Sunday, sleeping-in day. Burnap wakes up, has coffee, reads the news. Maybe smiles. Maybe rages. Maybe cries.
鈥�The Inheritance came to me after I鈥檇 worked with Matthew Lopez on The Legend of Georgia McBride,鈥� Burnap says. 鈥�The Inheritance was a beautiful surprise. Six hundred pages. I started reading it at 9:45 p.m. and read until 3 a.m., weeping through the pages.鈥� The anecdote underscores one of Burnap鈥檚 observations: 鈥淵ou have to go to the emotional space where the character has no choice but to be.鈥�
It raises a question: What does it take to enter the interior world of a character? A teacher once told Burnap, 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 have to convince us that you are that person, you just have to convince us that you understand the experience.鈥�
As a cisgender man playing a gay man in The Inheritance or a transgender transsexual from Transylvania in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Burnap notes that the characters are signifiers meant to highlight some aspect of a shared human experience. 鈥淢y job is to show you that I understand the experience,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know what it is to be a young, ostracized, gay man grappling with his sexuality, but I do know what it is to be viewed as other, viewed as weird or not normal.
鈥淵ou have to become a keen observer of life. I was born with this wonderful and cruel capacity to feel,鈥� Burnap says. 鈥淎cting makes you want to not only learn more about yourself, but, more importantly, about others. I get to forget my own complications, my own troubles, and step into those of another. And every time I perform, I feel my soul and sense of humanity expanding more and more. Oh, my God, when you鈥檙e in the trenches of a thing but then float above yourself and say, 鈥楬oly shit, this is where I am!鈥� I am never tired of this, this gift of being able to create.鈥�
He launches into a line from his favorite novel, James Joyce鈥檚 A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man: 鈥淲elcome, O life! I go to encounter for the millionth time the reality of experience and to forge in the smithy of my soul the uncreated conscience of my race.鈥�
Art, literature, music, theater: They reward, sustain, and drive him. To those who would follow a similar path, Burnap offers this advice:
鈥淚f someone tells you, 鈥楴o,鈥� ask, 鈥榃hy not?鈥� Doubt is a useful thing, but it shouldn’t rule you. It should inform and maybe affect some of your decisions, but it should not be the resounding voice in your soul. Then ask, 鈥榃hat else can I do?鈥� Because this quest isn鈥檛 easy, and it is filled with people telling you, 鈥楴o.鈥� But if, in the smithy of your soul, you feel you cannot do anything other than this, then do it鈥攂ut know it requires that next level of dedication,鈥� he says.
鈥淎nd if you can start to understand that those things you didn鈥檛 get weren鈥檛 supposed to happen for you, you can understand the challenges of this business and go on.鈥�