I’m not an Opera lover, but I go. It is a great night out, you hear wonderful music, you have a nice nap, and you get to walk out feeling pretty damn sophisticated. Provided you didn’t audibly snore.
I know the readers of this blog are theater people and are probably aghast that someone would fall asleep during any live performance but, come on, if you’re sitting in the dress circle at the Met and the only thing illuminated is Tristan’s miniature head amidst that enormous blackened stage while the Wagnerian German verse slowly emits from the poor Tenor’s throat, you can’t help but nod off. In fact, you almost just nodded off reading that run-on sentence.
Long operas are not my favorite. Nor are the real serious ones. No Ring Cycle for me! I like the one-acts. A couple of arias, a love story coupled with a tragic death and boom—I’m home in my robe sipping bourbon and eating Cheez-Its right out of the box.
One of my favorites is Gianni Schicchi. It’s fast, it’s amusing, it has a great story and it’s Puccini. Which means it’s fun. When I was around 19 years old I had volunteered at a local community theater to do “follow spot” for a production of it--that’s when I learned opera could be enjoyable.
I’m a working actor that mostly does Film, TV and Commercials. You might have seen me. I’m most know for a commercial for Ancestry.com that ran nationally more than 22,000 times over 4 years. I’m the guy who traded his lederhosen for a kilt. If you haven’t seen it, ask your parents. It often ran during 60 Minutes, Jeopardy, the National News, and, inexplicably, Madam Secretary.
I also appear in numerous TV series and movies on channels like Amazon, Investigation Discover, the History Channel, A&E and Lifetime. I’ve done short films, feature films, and web series. My Commercial work includes household names like Accuweather, Canon, DeLonghi and Sotheby’s. I even filmed 3 additional commercials for Ancestry DNA. I work often. Or at least I did before Covid-19.
Actors usually play a couple of “Types”. For example, I’m often cast as a Priest, Lawyer, Doctor, Father of the Bride, young Grandfather, Businessman, and even your local, friendly neighborhood Racist. I get these a lot. But I also seem to have a new type: Cadaver. Before the pandemic hit, I was cast in three feature films shooting this summer, and I was dead in two of them. Not the whole time, but dead nonetheless.
Yes, my new type seems to be “Dead Body.”
My Ancestry commercial was still running hot when I was cast in G&E Productions’ Cold Porridge playing the complicated role of Albert Jones. I jest. The role is not complicated. The curtain opens as he dies. Then he spends the good part of the next hour dead. They move his body around, hiding it here and there, until he falls out of the linen closet at an inopportune moment.
So: If I’m doing so well playing people who actually have a pulse, why would I take a gig playing a dead body?
I’ve been asked this question more than once and I’ve pondered it a bit. What in my genetic make-up allowed me to be proud of my performance of not moving? In the films I had lined up this summer I was at least alive for part of the film. But to be dead for an hour on stage? To endure hours of rehearsal, just to lie around? And what about research? Don’t worry; I studied up by reading a book about cadavers. I’m no slouch, even when I’m playing a stiff.
A couple of things you should know. I love theater, and I wanted to be involved in this production. I work a lot in other media, but stage has been somewhat elusive to me and I was dying to get on stage. Cold Porridge was an opportunity to be involved in a full production. To rub shoulders with extremely talented people. But mostly: To learn. That was my goal.
Kyle & the cast of Cold Porridge on stage with G&E Productions
Frankly, it’s my goal in every step I take in this crazy world of acting. I don’t go to an audition with the mindset of “I need to land this!” I go in with the mindset “I need to get something out of this audition”. When I go to set, I watch and listen. I soak up every bit of information that floats my way. It makes me a better actor, it makes me a better artist, it makes me better at marketing myself, and it makes me a better person.
I’ve taken flack for some of the roles I’ve played. Racist “You’re portraying white people as bad” or Rice Queen “You’re making gay people seem depraved”. Relax, people, it’s acting. And if it disturbs you, that’s on you, not me. Story telling is not all rainbows and unicorns.
Some people have even launched careers playing dead. Terry Kiser was perfectly cast in the title role in Weekend at Bernie’s, and Kevin Costner famously played a stiff in The Big Chill. Many soap actors find out their contract isn’t being renewed when they find themselves in a coffin after a brief hospital stay. I’m OK with it.
But the question still remains—what would motivate me to audition for and make the extreme time commitment to play a corpse in a stage play? The answer brings us back to…wait for it…Gianni Schicchi.
When little 19-year-old Kyle had volunteered to work follow spot for Gianni Schicchi, he was very impressed with the actor who played Buoso Donati. As the curtain opens--as it rises into the air and disappears--Buoso Donati almost sits up in his sickbed, seemingly following the curtain, as if to catch it. And then he dies. He hits the bed, dead. And there he lies for quite a long time as the opera takes shape around him. Eventually they hide the body, assume his identity, and rewrite his will. I was mesmerized.
And that’s what I saw in Albert Jones. Curtain up: He dies. But Albert was my link. My link to feed my life-long need to do difficult things and to learn. My link to the stage. My link to connecting with an audience. My link to opera. And my link to my younger self.
Acting is challenging on many levels, but it fulfills me. I’m going to vigorously pursue it as long as I’m able. I’ll continue to take on any role that suits me, no matter what people may think. Even if that character has rigor mortis. Because someday I really will be dead. Until then, I’m having the time of my life.
Kyle Merker
New York native and actor.
Kyle Merker is a New York native who studied acting at HB Studios, Studio Four and Michael Warner Studio. His most recent project was Remembering When I Used to Remember by Patrick Riviere (A Zoom Performance on 8/30/20) and next up is Coolsville (shooting 2021). Visit him on IMDB or Actor’s Access, and follow him on Instagram @kylemerker.
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