Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Chris Carver. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Chris, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

In all honesty my entire career has been full of risk taking. In fact, I feel risk is the single most important ingredient for success. The bigger the risk the bIgger the payoff. I’ver never liked following the rules as they were laid out for me. Once I know the rules, I immediately try to see where I can create a different lane; so I can truly stand out from the pack. I was incredibly fortunate to have great success in Los Angeles in the theater world; but, relocating to NYC was certainly a major risk. This was a much larger theatrical sandbox to play in and I was hopeful that my particular talents would flourish. When I started my theater company, MASQ Entertainment, in LA, I had no idea if it would make it past the first production. Well, 45 shows, numerous accolades and awards later the risk definitely paid off and that helped pave the road for me to take the plunge and start over in NYC. I feel so very grateful that this city has embraced me in the way that it has; however, I continue to look for new risks to take. I love finding new ways to challenge myself and to step out of my comfort zone. To me that’s how we truly grow artists.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I’m very lucky that I’ve always known what I wanted to do with my life from an extremely young age. Before I was even in kindergarten I proudly declared to anyone who would listen that I was going to be a great actor. Fortunately, over time I was able to make that my full time profession. However, life it not without its surprises. I really never had much interest in directing. Over the years it was mentioned to me that I should consider it, as it seemed it might be something I could be successful at. For whatever reason, I continually pushed the idea away. In 2014 I was approached to direct a children’s production in Orange County Ca. I took it on with aplomb. Ever though it was a kid’s show I held them to the highest standard. It might have been a simple acting school; but, I treated it as if we were on Broadway, From that simple production, the directing bug was bit. I would go on to direct numerous productions all throughout the west coast and was eventually even named Los Angels’ Director of the Decade in 2020 by Broadway World. Now, I would say I’m just as noted for my directing as my acting; and I can truly say I love doing both equally. This is such an example of how life can throw you curve balls you were not expecting.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

I like to always stay innovative. When I direct a show, I try to take it in a direction that perhaps others have not thought about before. The same goes with my acting. What are choices I can make that I don’t think anyone else will? It goes back to the topic of risk. What are you doing that is different from the 100’s, if not 1000’s that are after the same thing. How are you going to stand out. Whenever I direct, I like to give it my own unique spin…. When I directed “Hair” I was incredibly fortunate to be able to work with members of the original 1968 production team. When I told them I was updating the show to a future post apocalyptic America and focusing on modern political movements, they told me people will either love this or hate this. Well, they were correct. It was definitely my most polarizing production. Even my interpretation of ‘Psycho the Musical’ was unique’. We leaned even further towards camp by making the cast all male and featured cast members from ‘Rupaul’s Drag Race’. That change helped bring ‘Psycho” to an entirely different audience and broadened our appeal
However, my most outrageous show was “AfterGlow the 80’s Musical Experience”- “Afterglow” was the brainchild of original GLOW wrestler Roxy Astor.
Roxy came up to me after seeing the Long Beach production of “Psycho” and wanted to work together on developing a stage show featuring the original women of GLOW (The Gorgeous Ladies Of Wrestling). At the time the Netflix series GLOW was extremely popular; and, I could tell this idea really had a lot of potential.”
We then spent a year developing the project. The end result was a musical tribute featuring 5 of the most popular original GLOW cast members. The show even included a full wrestling ring on stage, wrestlers, drag queens, and lots of music from the 1980’s.
It was truly one of my favorite experiences. It was so fun developing a show from the ground up and then seeing it fully realized. It went through many stages from where it started to where it ultimately ended up. The element I was most proud of was the wrestling . It was so unique to the theatrical experience but made so much sense. If you are doing a show about wrestlers, you need to show wrestling and the fans absolutely loved it. Part of me still hopes we get another crack at the show because there were things I wanted to incorporate and tweak; but, that’s really the case with every show I produce. There’s always something more that could be done. Something i feel could be made a little better.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I really had to learn to be OK with failure. Looking back over my career, there have been some great successes, and I truly treasure them. However, it’s the flops and misfires that I remember the most. Not because of the bad memories surrounding the experience; but what I learned and how I grew as a result from them. I’ve often said that I gained so much more out of my flops than my hits… And believe me there were plenty of flop…. But failure is essential to the equation for success. Without “taking the risk” of failure, you don’t get the change to grow and learn.

Contact Info:

• Website: christopherglynncarver.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=4336635090045&set=a.4336635050044