Will LeBow loves his job. He didn't realize when he was a child that he might have a career in theatre, but dreams can strangely come true. The joy he finds in the craft of acting is apparent; he brings a distinct charm, inner life, and humor to the stage.
Will's connection to the theatre has roots in a long family history. His family used to be theatrical nomads, travelling and performing all over Poland and South Africa around the turn of the century. It wasn't necessarily a life of grandeur. "They made no money in a lot of places," he adds. His grandfather eventually found his way to Brooklyn, New York, in 1904, where he began performing and translating Shakespeare and other works on the Yiddish Stage circuit. "But theatre skipped a generation in my family. My father grew up watching my grandfather make no money, and so he wanted no part of it. "
Yet Will was drawn to the theatre in his early childhood. He followed the impulses of his ancestors and decided to try out for a role: Jacob Marley in A Christmas Carol. " I walked around with my bicycle chain wrapped around my ankle. Boy, did I have fun."
Will also has a knack for comedy, which manifested itself early. His whole family had a great sense of humor, and his earliest influence was the time he spent in the living room listening to his parents' collection of comedy albums. "I learned even more from silent movies, " he said. "I loved watching actors like Stan Laurel. He could engage audiences merely by looking as if his character was thinking about the situation."
When he was 12 years old, Will often attended the Shakespeare in the Park series -- not the Public Theater performances in Central Park, but a different company that toured the boroughs. He saw outstanding young actors like Brian Bedford and James Earl Jones perform works such as Macbeth and Othello. Years later, he went with his brother-in-law to see Lee J. Cobb's King Lear at Lincoln Center Repertory. After seeing that performance, Will knew he never wanted to be away from the theatre. After graduating from high school in Queens, Will entered the City College of New York. He performed in works such as Ghelderode's Christopher Columbus, Camus' Caligula, and Peter Weiss' Marat/Sade. "We had a theatre lab at City College where we did a lot of avant-garde stuff. I was the skinniest Marat around -- I was supposed to play this corpulent historical figure, but I barely weighed 120 pounds!"
After graduation, Will, his sister, and his brother-in-law founded the Comedy Stage Company in downtown Manhattan. There they worked alongside now-famous comic actors like Rhea Perlman and Josh Brand, and lived a life similar to that of his grandfather -- making no money, but having a lot of fun. Will performed as Harpagon in The Miser, Goldberg in The Birthday Party, Birdboot in The Real Inspector Hound, and Truscott in Loot. The company did well for three years, until his sister learned she was pregnant and his brother-in-law, now aware of his new responsibilities, had to get a real job.
Suddenly without much to do, Will accepted a friend's offer to house-sit in Boston. "While I was here, I decided to audition for the Boston Shakespeare Company. After five callbacks, they offered me a whole season for $95 a week! It was an absolutely great experience, although hectic. We were constantly touring, rehearsing, and performing. But for the first time in my life, I was able to support myself -- just barely -- as an actor."
Will played many leading roles for the Boston Shakespeare Company, including the title role in Hamlet and Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing. After three years with the B.S.C., Will found a new home performing in and directing Shear Madness, which is still running in Boston, thirteen years and many cast changes later. While he was contemplating moving to Chicago with Shear Madness, Will auditioned for the American Repertory Theatre and landed several roles in Henry IV, parts 1 and 2. After that, he performed in Picasso at the Lapin Agile, The Oresteia, Henry V, Demons, and he will appear as Sebastian in the upcoming production of The Tempest. And the rest is a couple years of history.
Will feels, citing his experiences with the Comedy Stage Company, B.S.C., and A.R.T., that "I do my best work in a company situation. I learned at a young age that if you have integrity, you can do theatre anywhere. I can do without fame, although there is nothing wrong with making a fortune. But I am lucky enough to make a living doing what I love to do most."
Leland Patton is a second-year directing student at the A.R.T. Institute for Advanced Theatre Training.
American Repertory Theatre
This page updated November 1, 1995
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