Seven Questions With Actress Angela Reed

Angela Reed plays Rose Narracott in the upcoming War Horse, the national touring production of the 2011 Tony Award-winning best play. It’s known for its impressive puppetry as the main character is a horse controlled by three puppeteers. Here, Reed talks about going to school in Boulder, living on the road and talking to a stuffed horse.

French Davis: Working with puppets must be fun. Do you get to do any hands-on work with them? The realism of these puppets is really tremendous.

Angela Reed: Well, I don’t manipulate the horses but the play is surrounded by puppets. There are two main horses that are manipulated by three puppeteers and then there are other horses that are controlled by two puppeteers. I think everyone that is on stage has at least some moment where we are interacting with a puppet in some way. And certainly I have scenes on stage with Joey the horse; he’s very much a significant part of the show. They are absolutely beautiful. The Handspring Puppet Company developed the puppets. They worked on such tiny details as their ears. Knowing how expressive their ears are or the flicking of a tail, all of these expressive details that the audience sees. They start to see these puppets as living and breathing animals in front of them. It’s incredible.

FD: Is it a challenge acting opposite a puppet as opposed to a person?

AR: You know, it’s interesting. There are different puppet teams that rotate. It’s such a physical challenge that they don’t have one team for each horse, they have three alternating teams for each horse. So every night we have a different team that we work with, and each team has a different personality when they are in the horse and that makes it very different. They’re actually quite fun to interact with. Like, if you’ve ever been around a pet, you get so much information from them. It’s like working with any other actor on stage really, they just aren’t as verbal. I very much feel like they have specific personalities and depending on who’s manipulating them each night, it changes and that’s a cool thing.

FD: You are originally from the Denver area, is that right?

AR: Yes, I am from Denver. I grew up in Douglas County. I went to Ponderosa High School and I went to CU and studied theater and psychology there. I have since been back and worked in several shows there. For years, I’d wanted to work at the Denver Center and it finally worked out and I did a show called After Ashley. Then, last year I was in The Whale and I was also on tour a few years ago in Spring Awakening at the Buell, so I’ve been very lucky to be back several times in the past few years to perform.

FD: How difficult is it to live the life of a touring actor? It must be such a physical and emotional drain.

AR: What is nice about the tour that we are on is that we’re never in a city less than a week. When we first started last May, we were in Los Angeles for seven weeks and San Francisco for six weeks, so sometimes when you are really settled in a city for a while it can feel like a vacation; you’re wandering around the city during the day and performing at night, and it can be wonderful. And then you have times that are more grueling. My husband is in the show and actually plays my husband in the show, and we have a dog that we don’t travel without, so we drive the tour. And that can be rough, because we get in a city on a Sunday, we have a Monday off and Tuesday we have a show.

FD: Since you are from the area, what is your favorite local theater?

AR: Well, I haven’t lived in Denver in 25 years so it’s a little tough, but I will say that the DCPA is tremendous. People who live in Denver and don’t take advantage of that theater are crazy. I love the variety of their season every year. I do also think that Curious (Theater Company) does excellent work and they get really wonderful people and choose really wonderful projects

FD: Take me back to living as a student in Boulder. Did you have any idea that you would be touring the country doing theater?

AR: I don’t do musicals—I love to sing but I can’t compete at that level. And most shows that tour are musicals so I never thought I’d be able to tour. When I did Spring Awakening, I was so lucky because I didn’t have to sing. And yet I got to be on stage with a band and with the kids singing their hearts out night after night, and it was such a treat because I never thought I’d have that opportunity. I thought that was a once in a lifetime thing. And the fact that two years after that closed I get to tour again with a show like War Horse when there are so few plays that tour the country. I don’t know that I’d do it at third time, but never say never. But when I was in school in Boulder I couldn’t see or think past Boulder. I never really thought of myself living in New York and trying to live as an actor. I just kept doing it because I love it. There may come a day where the work doesn’t come, and I have to figure something else out. Right now I just take it one project at a time.

FD: Speaking of school, do you have any advice to other students that are hoping to pursue a life in theater?

AR: I used to say, “brush up on your computer skills or your waiting-table skills.” And I would still say that. If you’re going to move to a city like New York or Chicago or L.A., you have to be able to take care of yourself. You have to figure out how to pay your rent. And you’ll have periods of unemployment, so you have to be smart about how you are going to manage your life. People say, “Oh, what you do is so much fun,” and yeah, it’s great when you’re working but it’s tough when you aren’t working. And that is a big part of an actor’s life—periods of unemployment. And finding ways to have a rich full life is as important as fostering your career.

Deb Flomberg contributed to this story.