Hole in the Wall (HITW) regular Joshua Ives describes himself as shy, quiet and reserved. None of those qualities helped him as he stepped into his latest role: LINT the Musical’s Jack, a 28 year old freshman in college. He is pretty unsuccessful in his academic endeavors because he doesn’t apply himself. He’s also a card—carrying member of the green club and is obsessed with masturbation.
Needless to say, Joshua has never played a character like Jack before. He welcomes this challenge. “Jack took a lot of different paths before I found him,” said Joshua. “Portraying someone completely different from me helps me to grow. Mastering Jack’s complete self confidence in the face of incompetence gave me more confidence.”
Joshua, a music major from Southern Connecticut State University, always performed musically. He was very active in choirs. He eventually fell into the musical theatre world and performed at the Phoenix’s production of The Rocky Horror Show. He later made his way to HITW, appearing in productions of The Rocky Horror Show, Impracticality of Modern Day Mastodons, Reckless and O Hole-Y Night.
“I get to be a rock star for a minute when I am on stage,” he said. “Normally, I am quiet and reserved. When I get on stage, I am not that. I am obligated to be something worth watching.”
Working on LINT has been an amazing experience for Joshua. He describes the cast as one of the “most talented I have ever worked with.” It also gave him a chance to work directly with Bill Arnold and Scott Auden, LINT’s composer and writer. “We are taking this script and pulling it in directions it hasn’t been before. It is not quite a workshop production, but we have made some positive changes. Bill is a personal hero of mine. He is a great musician. It’s great having him around.”
Come see Joshua and the rest of the cast in LINT! The Musical. Performances run Fridays & Saturdays from January 22nd through February 13th at 8:00pm with one Sunday matinee on January 31st at 2:00pm. Tickets are $25.00 (General Admission) and $20.00 (students & seniors). They can be purchased at the door and online at www.hitw.org. The January 29th performance will be our Pay-What-You-Can performance where you name the price of your ticket.