Election Section

Gideon Lazarus: From School To Stage at Berkeley Rep By KEN BULLOCK

Special to the Planet
Friday March 25, 2005

Gideon Lazarus has a lot going on in his life, but discusses it calmly, with flashes of wry humor that make others laugh. 

A couple of days after the opening of For Better or Worse at Berkeley Rep, his debut on a professional stage, he’s talking about working with Geoff Hoyle, a well-known clown and comic actor, and seasoned players like Sharon Lockwood, Jarion Monroe and Amy Resnick. At 10 years old, he’s the first student of the Rep’s School of Theatre of any age to be cast for a company show. 

“I watch them a lot to get tips—and because they’re so funny,” says the young Berkeley resident. “Jerry makes a lot of funny jokes; with Geoff, it’s in his movement, in his face and his eyes. I watch the way Jerry and Geoff work together--it’s good because of the different styles. In the same style, it’d be boring. With Rudy [Guerrero], I just laugh when he walks in.”  

“He likes to learn,” says his mother, Miriam Janowitz, Professor of Religious Studies at UC Davis. “He’s always telling me, ‘You learn a lot by watching,’” 

Watching is a good deal of what Gideon has to do in his role as Toto. Geoff Hoyle and Sharon Lockwood play his parents in the production. He enters in the middle of the second act, into the eye of a comic storm, defiant at having to take his medicine (“I don’t care! I don’t want any!”) and casts a jaundiced eye on the crazy adult antics that whirl around him. 

Gideon is a student at Berkeley’s Crowden School, the remarkable school for young players of string instruments, where he plays double bass and studies music theory early mornings, followed by academic subjects into the afternoon. 

“On his solo night, he played St-Saens’ Carnival Elephant for his solo at 6:30 p.m., then ran off to his 7:30 p.m. call at the Rep,” his mother says. He also plays piano—his first instrument—and likes Beethoven’s music for piano, Vivaldi for double bass. He’s also listens to jazz at the Jazz School Cafe. “They have very good panini there,” he says, “delicious.”  

Gideon enrolled in Crowden after his family returned from three years in Israel—his mother was involved in a UC Overseas Study program—where he attended preschool through first grade, learning Hebrew and the middle eastern drum, the tarbuka. Speaking another language and traveling developed Gideon’s confidence, his mother says, “though when we came back, certain simple things—the days of the week, the word ‘toenails’—he’d only say in Hebrew.” 

Gideon’s also interested in computers. He thinks he’d like to design computer games or edit movies. He said he could see working half-time in computers, and quarter-time each at music and theater. 

The rehearsal process didn’t bore him; it made plenty of sense. 

“All the parts of the show have to work together,” he says. “They have to be greased. Sort of like a clock. And you have to repair it in rehearsal.”  

Making his entrance in the second act, there’s a long wait beforehand. Gideon says he feels a little nervous as he waits, talks to the other actors—or “sneak in the dressing room and comb my hair.” 

Backstage last weekend, he and Amy Resnick shared magic tricks they know with each other. “The time’s much slower than when you’re out on stage,” Gideon says. “After a minute or two on stage—which’s a long time, compared to how long my part is—I think, ‘Let’s do it; let’s have some fun here!’” 

“He has boundless energy, and a stage presence beyond his years,” says Robert Wyllie, an acting teacher at Berkeley Rep’s 2004 Summer Theatre Camp. “For someone in elementary school, he has obvious comedic skill. Picture Andy Kaufman as a fifth-grader.” 

Hoyle says of both Gideon and 9-year-old ACT acting vet Austin Greene (who alternates with Gideon in playing Toto), “They think about what you say, try to do a credible performance. They’re curious whether they’re doing it right or not. I don’t have to pull any punches with either of them. They chew on the criticism we give them. There’s no swagger. If they maintain their innocence and stay open to the craft as they are now, they’ve got it made.” 

Gideon’s mother says Gidoen is “the kind of kid who likes total immersion. After his first rehearsal, the next day he was off—and he said he wanted to go back and watch. ‘I can’t believe how much I’ve learned,’ he said—and, later, ‘School’s boring, now that I’m an actor!’” 

But Gideon’s not forcing the issue. Asked if he’d like a career acting, he’ll only say, “Time will tell.” 

“He’s unaffected, disarming in a very reassuring way,” says Hoyle. 

“If my brother was sitting here, he’d tell you I’m going to be like Brad Pitt,” Gideon quips, and ends the interview—like the play—with his smile.