reviewvancouver: an interview with Brandyn Eddy

Brandyn Eddy
Photo courtesy of the artist

On January 20th, Jericho Arts Centre re-open their doors for United Players’ first production of 2017: Stephen Sondheim’s musical Sunday in the Park with George. The musical was inspired by the painting "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" by Georges Seurat.

Vancouver actor Brandyn Eddy will play the title role, or more precisely, both title roles. I reached Brandyn by telephone at his home just a few hours after he had been out celebrating New Year’s Eve. “I play the real life French painter Georges Seurat in the first act, then his fictional great-grandson, who is also an artist named George in the second act” explained Brandyn.

There seems to be a mini revival of Sondheim’s stage musical and the local actor is aware of a new mounting in New York starring Jake Gyllenhaal as George with the opening set for February. “Looks like Jake Gyllenhaal and I will be competitors” quipped Brandyn.

He told me how much he was relishing kicking off a new year with a busy acting schedule. “Rehearsals for Sunday in the Park with George are already underway, and then come the pilot season auditions followed by a return to the Jericho Arts Centre in the spring for Peter Quiller’s End of the Rainbow about Judy Garland as her career declined.”

Brandyn was first bitten by the acting bug while performing in school productions at Thomas Haney Secondary School in Maple Ridge. He became more serious about acting as a career while studying in the Theatre Program at Capilano College (later to become Capilano University), appearing in student productions as the scarecrow in The Wiz and Aramis in The Three Musketeers.

When asked if there had been anyone that had influenced him, he had a ready answer. “I can’t say that I’ve been influenced by other actors, but I have been inspired by specific performances and use those techniques in my own work.” One performance that he found particularly inspirational was Carl Anderson’s iconic role as Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar. “It’s certainly a role that I would love to have the opportunity of playing at some point” he admitted.

Brandyn doesn’t much care to dwell on past accomplishments, but he is quite proud of playing against type with über nerd Seymour Krelbourn in Little Shop of Horrors and his part in producing Glory Days, a play in which he also performed.

In 2013, Brandyn Eddy left the comfort of his home town for a yearlong back-packing adventure in Australia. When he returned, he hit the ground running with a role in the Arts Club production of Spamalot. Unfortunately, due to an injury during rehearsal, he was unable to continue. He seems to know just how much temerity, conviction and belief in oneself is required to prevail in the theatre and is prepared to endure the setbacks as well as the successes.