A self-described “Napoleon Dynamite,” actor and director Stephen Donaldson never imagined he’d find himself in a white tuxedo and tap shoes. Standing tall at six-foot-five, he trained hard for the moment when he’d hoof it onstage as “White Christmas” ’ Phil Davis. The number “I Love a Piano” was Donaldson’s favorite to perform every night last year for Theatre Tallahassee’s second run of the holiday favorite.
He hopes as a director to bring some of the same movie magic into this year’s run from Dec.1-18 at Theatre Tallahassee, and create a sense of community among the audience members.
In truth, Donaldson’s primary love wasn’t acting. He first found his artistic side in his high school TV Productions class where teacher and mentor Chris Miller encouraged his niche talents. Miller helped him and his classmates produce a high quality televised morning show.
Donaldson admired Miller for not only teaching them how to do the work, but how to be good people, and also for the chance to get creative behind and in front of a camera.
Horsing around with friends in his Ocala backyard, Donaldson idolized the televised stars from what he considered to be the golden age of professional wrestling—The Rock, Sting, Hulk Hogan.
He and his friends were inspired to start their own monthly wrestling events and ended up acquiring a following of nearly 50 people.
At age 18, a professional wrestling trainer moved to town and offered to help Donaldson train seriously in this athletic art form. He began working out in a real ring, and soon was part of the National Wrestling Alliance, performing in Florida, Georgia, and Alabama on the largest independent circuit under the WWE. Part soap opera, part sport, Donaldson credits much of his performance skills and characterizations to his early wrestling career.
“In wrestling, people love to hate characters, and that’s true in the theater too,” explains Donaldson. “I played good guys and bad guys, but it’s so much more fun to play an unlikable character then a likable one. I felt a great sense of satisfaction getting people to be engaged in the show and boo at me.”
Simultaneously touring and attending college, Donaldson was a dual major in journalism and theater at the College of Central Florida in Ocala, earning a theater scholarship and working as a stagehand. However, growing up in central Florida for 16 years, Donaldson’s wanderlust led him and a college friend to sell everything they owned, aside from a single suitcase and guitar, and take a 72-hour Greyhound bus ride to Sacramento.
The move helped Donaldson realize the dreams that he was capable of pursing while he endeavored to begin a career in rock music, though he eventually migrated to Tallahassee.
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