Kevin Kenerly Stars in 'Clyde's' At The Mark Taper

 

Kevin Kenerly stars in 'Clyde's'

By Darlene Donloe 

When you look at Kevin Kenerly’s body of work, you realize he is doing exactly what he was destined to do.  

By the time he enrolled in college, things began to fall into place.  He was auditioning for roles, and as skill and talent would have it, he was booking acting gigs.  

Surprisingly, as he tells it, Kenerly never had any intention of being an actor.  

In fact, he was so fascinated with drawing as a kid, that he set his sights on being an artist.

“I used to draw all the time,” said Kenerly, a Detroit native and father of four. “I loved it. My parents encouraged it. It kept me out of trouble. At 12, I tore my leg up playing soccer and basketball. A doctor rebuilt my knee. I was going to go into prosthetics. I was then going to go in the art direction.  A drama teacher substitute was teaching at Central [High School]. She asked if I wanted to join her class. I asked her if it would get me out of the class I was in. She said, ‘yes.’ She got me out of class and even found me a school that had art and theater. I got a scholarship. That was Olivet College.”

As luck would have it, a friend of Kenerly’s told him about auditions for ‘Hamlet’ at the Hilberry Theatre and Underground. 

“I was also auditioning for the grant program at Hilberry,” said Kenerly. “The auditions were at Wayne State University. I auditioned and they offered me a full-ride scholarship.  It took me forever to graduate. I had to juggle classes because I would have to leave to go audition. I kept being asked why I wasn’t in class. I told them because I’m doing what you taught me. The rest is history.” 

And what a history it’s been. Ever since he left college, Kenerly said he has worked consistently at his craft. 

His Broadway credits include Clyde’s.

A member of the acting company at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland for more than 24 years, Kenerly’s favorite credits include “The Tempest,” “The Book of Will,” “Shakespeare in Love,” “The Liquid Plain,” “Henry IV part 1,” “Macbeth,” “Topdog/Underdog,” “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” “Romeo and Juliet,” and others. His regional credits are also extensive. His talents also include select audiobook credits for “Lovecraft Country,” “The Hard Thing About Hard Things,” “The Running Man,” and “The Talented Mr. Ripley.”

Up next for Kenerly is Clyde’s at The Mark Taper Forum. He plays a character named Montrellous, who was formerly incarcerated.  

This is Kenerly’s second go-round with the show. He was the understudy to Ron Cephas Jones, who played the role of Montrellous in the Broadway production. Kenerly did get a chance to take the stage in the role. 

Clyde’s is being brought to life by celebrated creative collaborators - two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage and director Kate Whoriskey. This show is presented as a co-production with the Goodman Theatre in Chicago. 

The show stars Tamberla Perry, Reza Salazar, Nedra Snipes, and Kenerly.

Perry plays the hot-tempered Clyde, whose eponymous truck stop café’s kitchen staff of formerly incarcerated people—Salazar as Rafael, Snipes as Letitia, Young as Jason, and Kenerly as Montrellous —all dream of creating the perfect sandwich. 

I recently caught up with Kevin Kenerly (KK) to discuss his career and his role in Clyde’s, which opens November 19 and runs at The Mark Taper Forum through December 18, 2022. 

DD: What does acting do for you? 

KK:  I love being able to share a stage with people to tell a story. We have all come together as an ensemble to share with an audience who came to see it. 

I don't know that anything happens to me when I’m on stage. I try to be mindful that I’m part of an ensemble. The bulk of being an actor is being able to listen, honor the story and move the action along. I try to stay in the moment and share the moment.  I can see and hear the audience. I’m mindful of the audience being there. I can’t cheat anyone. I’m really there thinking about how to best facilitate who is telling the story at the time.

DD:  What criteria go into your decision to audition for a particular show? 

KK:  I do my best to be in plays that have some type of heart. I like plays that lean toward the dramatic. They have to be character driven. I’m not a big musical person. They need to speak to a change. I want to see something change over the course of the action. A clear beginning and middle and a clear ending. A clear journey.  I want to see someone transformed.  

DD: Tell me about Clyde’s.

KK:  Clyde’s is a play about redemption. It’s about people not being bound by their past mistakes. They have the opportunity to grow beyond. It’s beautiful. Lynn [Nottage] wrote a beautiful Black male character. I got excited. He is a beautiful person. He leads from the heart. He is not controlled by his pain or ego.

DD:  Was everything there, or did you have to come up with your character’s backstory? 

KK: I did not have to come up with his backstory. He was a fully developed character. Ron Cephus Jones did the role on Broadway. I was his understudy. The role was fully developed when Ron did it on Broadway. 

DD: Tell me about your character – Montrellous, who was formerly incarcerated.

KK: He is very rooted in who he is. His surety about being able to rise above his circumstances is appealing. It’s also part of his weakness. It’s where his pain comes from as well. His ability to say, this is not who I am. He gets hurt when people can’t move past or rise above. It’s almost as if it's a personal affront that he can’t get the info across to you. 

DD:  The play has a lot to do with sandwiches. What is your personal favorite sandwich and why? 

KK:  There is an Italian place called All’Antico Vinaio in Florence and one in New York that serves my absolute favorite sandwich. It’s called The Boss (La Schiacciata Del Boss). It has truffle cream, pecorino toscano, prosciutto toscano and tomatoes on handmade focaccia. I first ate it in New York.  

DD:  What comes to mind when I say, Lynn Nottage?

KK: Brilliant. She is an absolutely brilliant storyteller. She sees an issue. She sees the humanity in people and their circumstances and can craft a story around that issue. She gives you a character you would not sympathize with but gives you the ability to enter their mental stage. Crumbs from the Table of Joy is my favorite play by her. She shows people as people. 

DD: Your director.  What was it like working with Kate Whoriskey? 

KK: I enjoy working with Kate. We have a good shorthand for doing the work. We have a very good working relationship.

DD: Do you like the rehearsal process?  

KK: I like to rehearse. I like to make sure we all understand the material and are on the same page. I want it to be something we collectively believe in. 

DD: Do you have to like a character in order to play them?

KK: No. It helps, but I don’t have to like the character. I played Romeo and still don’t like him. He’s such a fool.  He’s knuckleheaded. It’s fun to play and interesting to see. He’s such a baby. 

DD:  How did you go about developing your character? 

KK: There were things that Ron (Cephas Jones) put into this character that I love. I stole some of the best parts of Ron and kept that. I’m not 6’3”. I’m shorter and stockier. I made it what I understand to be this person who was incarcerated. Some of it came by playing the scene on stage. I took the best parts that I could. 

DD: Do you remember the moment you fell in love with theater?

KK: I think I fell in love when my parents took me to see The Wiz at the Fisher Theater (in Detroit). I was amazed that the witch melted. I always enjoyed watching plays as an observer.  

I liked being in a play called Pericles, Prince of Tyre at the Oregon Theatre. It was magic. I believed. To have someone so skilled at telling a story. 

DD: What is your favorite play that you were not starring in? 

KK: My favorite play is Titus Andronicus.  It’s about the language, the themes. It’s just bloody and violent and a lesson about vanity and ego. It just really moved me. 

DD: When you were first starting out - did you ever think you could make a living as an actor? 

KK: I didn’t know. All I knew was that when I left undergrad and went out for auditions – I worked. I went to Wayne State University for 2 1/2 years. I was working constantly. My other degree, I painted and sculpted. I didn't know how to make a living doing that. All I knew was that this is what I wanted to do.

DD: Have you had jobs other than acting? 

KK: No. 

Clyde’s, Mark Taper Forum, 135 N. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles; Tuesday through Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2:30 p.m. and 8 p.m., and Sunday at 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.; $35. For information, CenterTheatreGroup.org, Audience Services at (213) 628-2772 or in person at the Center Theatre Group Box Offices (at the Ahmanson Theatre).