Centerstage with: Christian Jay of ACT’s ‘Angels in America’ – Abilene Reporter-News
You are: A 2017 Wylie High graduate who has completed coursework at Cisco College. His father was in the Air Force, so he has lived in Abilene for the past 15 years. He moved to West Texas from Hawaii on his birthday, and entered the Wylie school system as a third-grader.
We’ve seen you before in: Jay has been in ACT productions since 2016. He was piano-playing Schroeder in “You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown.” “Angels” director Keith May was Snoopy in the show. “From then on, I popped up in supporting roles,” he said. For example, he was Charlie in the comedy “Charlie’s Aunt.” “That is the closest I got to a lead at the time,” he said. “And here I am as Prior Walter. I just showed up to audition for fun,” he said. Andrew Garfield had the role on Broadway, and Jay showed up at ACT wearing a Spider-man costume because May is a Spider-man fan. Garfield was Spidey in two movies.
Interestingly, Jay was not involved in theater at Wylie.
Role in “Angels in America”: He is the main character, who’s living in Manhattan in 1985 and learns that he has AIDS and begins a journey that is both painful and inspiring as his condition worsens. “The entire show is his progression through that disease,” he said. Prior has a partner named Louis, who retreats from the relationship. “Prior is recounting the things he has lost but also the things that he is left with, with the time he has left.” Prior hears a voice that tells him “there is a great purpose for you,” Jay said. “It’s the only thing that is giving Prior hope as his condition worsens. Prior is a character about hope. In the most bleakest situation, there is something that can keep you going.” One thing is keeping a sense of humor, which Prior does. He is someone who can make light of a joke to make others comfortable and someone who puts everybody else before him. He keeps his heart and spirit present. I think that is something very admirable about the character that I have enjoyed getting to dive into.”
What you’ve learned about yourself playing this character: Jay has tapped into his sentimental side with his final ACT show. “It was my last chance to work with some people I’ve grown up around and been there during my journey into theater,” he said. What is different in “Angels,” he said, is that lines are not delivered one at time but conversationally, sometimes lines on top of lines.
“I had never been in a dramatic show before. I am used to comedy and where I definitely feel more in my element. It has been a challenge as an actor to push myself?
There is another twist to that challenge. Jay is not a member of the LGBTQ community.
“I’m straight. I’m white bread. I’m boring,” Jay said, laughing. “Pronouns he/him. Nothing spicy about me.”
In fact, he said, he worked with May to incorporate body language of a gay man into his role. He didn’t want to play Prior stereotypically but the character, he found reading the script, is flamboyant. Louis is more restrained. Before the first rehearsal, Jay was prepared in makeup and learned how to apply it.
“I want you to feel yourself, be more free about,” May told Jay. “It was all about loosening up. Feeling in the moment. I think the body language was the biggest hurdle.”
What the audience will get out of this production: “I want them to sympathize with the whole journey,” Jay said. “Not just Prior, but all the other characters.” That includes Louis, who could be viewed as jerk, “but his actions are understandable,” Jay said. “He’s doing what he’s doing out of fear. This was an actual thing that happened to actual people. It is elegantly written and beautifully brought to life in that sense.”
What’s next for you: This is his last performance – for now – at ACT. That inspired him to take part in “Angels,” he said. He will be pursuing a media arts degree at UNT. He hopes to have a career in filmmaking. Jay has a YouTube channel. “I write and direct the videos on there,” he said, adding he has 21,000 subscribers. That’s largely due to doing a live-action remake of a SpongeBob episode. “That is my claim to fame, part of that ‘SpongeBob legacy, I suppose.” Another YouTube project involves May as a cop. It was during filming that May suggested auditioning for “Angels.”
Greg Jaklewicz is editor of the Abilene Reporter-News and general columnist. If you appreciate locally driven news, you can support local journalists with a digital subscription to ReporterNews.com.