Michael Alexander discovered the artistry of acting and performing in front of an audience at a young age.
“I caught the theater bug early on,” the 22-year-old said. “I always loved making videos for my friends in school. I especially like comedies and action films. I am a fan of Back to the Future with Michael Fox and Jim Carey in Ace Ventura.”
Now, Alexander has been selected to appear in the Lake Country Players’ adaption of the play, Nine to Five, based on a hit movie starring Dolly Parton, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin as office workers. The popular musical will premiere Nov. 10-12, at Greensboro’s Festival Hall before moving for a Nov. 18-19 run at Eatonton’s Plaza Arts Center.
While attending Greene County High School in 2017, Alexander was scouring auditions with his mom and discovered Lake Country Players was casting for a young Ebenezer Scrooge in its production of A Christmas Carol.
A cherished Christmastime play written by Charles Dickens in 1843, A Christmas Carol follows the life of the character Ebenezer Scrooge, an elderly miser visited by the ghost of his former partner character Jacob Marley. The play depicts the spirits of Christmas past, present and yet to come. In the end, once the spirits depart, Scrooge is transformed into a kinder, gentler man.
The audition was held at Lakeside Baptist Church, and Alexander freely admits he was nervous and maybe even a little intimidated, but hopeful.
“The audition was a cold reading of the young Scrooge,” he remembered. “I felt honored to be selected and in the company of other really committed actors. I feel like I was selected for the youthful energy and exuberance I brought to the part. It was around Christmas time and a favorite time of mine.”
He got the part.
Alexander’s talent isn’t limited to just acting, though. He also sang Silent Night during his performances. “It is my favorite Christmastime carol,” he said.
Those who attended the Lake Country Players’ production of Clue at Festival Hall may also remember Alexander for his performance of Wadsworth, the charming butler.
“I used my energy for the run of the play. I was selected for the part of Wadsworth because it required lots of conniving charm. It was the same excitement I had for the earlier part I played in A Christmas Carol,” he said. “I enjoyed getting into character and becoming the main antagonist in the play, manipulating many murders that occur. It really was my first starring role.”
Alexander now has his sights set on rehearsing for Nine to Five, after being cast by many who auditioned for the character Dwyane, the husband of one of the play’s central characters. First brought to the screen in 1980, Nine to Five centers on the downtrodden working lives of three secretaries who turn the table on their sexist and tyrannical boss by abducting him and running the business themselves.
“Rehearsals are ongoing, and I am excited to be part of this production,” Alexander said.
“This is a role that inspires people through comedy. It keeps me acting in a profession I love and gets me back on the stage for audiences. It also helps reassure me that this is really what I want to do.”
Alexander loves live theater but said he also hopes to someday appear on the silver screen like his acting heroes. For the time being, though, his day job remains home renovation.
He said he doesn’t aspire to enroll in acting school, instead preferring to let the success of his auditions and landing choice roles demonstrate he’s capable of making his own dreams come true.