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

Gary, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I was a sophomore in high school and had been cast as a small role in production of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” The Teacher/Director had added scenes from the movie and the book that weren’t in the actual stage play and mine was one of those. I had about 5 lines as one of the crazies, but I had the game scene where I had to have an epileptic seizure. I did my research and did a full on character study of this characters full life. I had the whole backstory and everything. Every performance I went over this backstory before I entered. I loved escaping into this very sensitive, homosexual, epileptic character which was a stretch for this star heterosexual athlete. It was either one performance night or the first rehearsal of the epileptic fit scene that I decided I wanted to be an actor. That first rehearsal of that scene was magical as we never discussed it. We got to the point of the scene where I was supposed to have the seizure and I just went for it. I fell backward off the chair kicking the game table over and arched my back and started spasming. The room was silent. Then everyone went into what they would do and said the lines and we got to a point where the director had to stop. He was floored. Everyone was in awe. I knew the impact I had at that moment and how important it would be in performance. As Stanislavsky said, “There are no small roles.”

Gary, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I went to several different schools to study acting, but it was getting out and auditioning and getting into shows that solidified my adventure. I did mostly theater, which is why I had a lot of “survival jobs” along the way. I would say I had maybe 5 years out of my life where my acting/directing etc. actually was my living. Those years were either years I had a commercial running or I was touring the US in a musical. Otherwise, I have run different theater companies as an Artistic Director and wore just about every hat possible in theater. I’ve directed several short movies and acted or wrote several as well, but the stage has always been my life. Were there moments I doubted my existence as a n artist… “What have I contributed to the world?” But I always came back to the thought that if my performance or directing or anything changed someone’s life, even if just brought a laugh to sad day, it was enough.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

So many stories. In 2019, I started the year playing Peron in a 4 month tour of Evita. I followed that by playing Macbeth in a summer stock Shakespeare Festival. Then I ended the year directing a Christmas show. I did a short film and a small role on a reenactment series. It was a great year. Then came the pandemic and there was nothing! Zilch! Nada! Until a friend asked if I’d be interested in doing a role in a podcast or a short play for Open Door Playhouse. I jumped at the opportunity to do anything creative. It was fun. Then Bernadette Armstrong, the creator of Open Door Playhouse asked if I’d be interested in directing some of the plays. I really hadn’t any experience with radio play format etc. but I knew a lot about recording and storytelling. Again I jumped in with both feet and learned as I went. It got me through several years of the pandemic and I continue to direct and act for this company.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

It’s important for people to know that sometimes an artist has to follow their path or they’ll die. Not literally, but that too. Mostly a part of them dies. I spent about 6 months giving up acting. During that time, I wrote a movie script and started painting… I didn’t realize that I was filling the void. It was a terrible script and the paintings were amateurish and I realized it’s not really what I want to do or should I say needed to do. So I auditioned for a Children’s theater and boom, I was touring the east coast working with children and playing such notable characters as Broccoli and some greek mythology characters and Monkey from the Chinese stories. It was my element. Not so much children’s theater, but being on stage.