Another Four Hands

Dykstra and Greenblatt are touring by the piano bench again

Can't act. Can't sing. Can dance a little." Legend has it that these were the notes on Fred Astaire's original screen test. Multitalented Toronto performer Ted Dykstra similarly underrates his own music theatre abilities, probably very much to the surprise of anyone who's ever seen him on stage.
"I think there is such a thing as a musical theatre performer, who can dance, and who has a legitimate tenor voice. I don't have any of those things," Dykstra claims self-deprecatingly. "I'm an actor first, who can sing and who can't dance to save his life."
He admits, at least, that "I've been able to use my musicality in different ways," an understatement. Some of his performance credits include the role of Jerry Lee Lewis in Fire, Cousin Kevin in Tommy and the title role in Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Later this season he'll be directing the intriguingly named Tequila Vampire Matinee, loosely based on Pagliacci, at Theatre Passe Muraille. But before that, he and his costar Richard Greenblatt are just about to remount their sensationally successful two-man show Two Pianos, Four Hands, which has literally toured the world over the past few years.
The two original stars haven't played the parts they created since a run in London's West End about four years ago. Instead, says Dykstra, "I've directed it across the States and in Australia."
Is it strange to see other actors playing these semi-autobiographical roles? No, says Dykstra. "Although the character has my name, I don't think of it as me. It's odd only because Richard and I are the definitive version and we really play to our strengths."
The success of the show has changed his life, he says, allowing him to choose the projects he really wants to work on and to spend more time with his family. Some of the projects he has accepted include work on a screenplay and a new musical commissioned by the Mirvishes and a part in Shattered City, a movie about the Halifax Explosion starring Graham Greene and Peter Postlethwaite, which airs later this fall on CBC.
Somehow Dykstra has also found time to start up a new project with a friend of his: Actorboy Records. "That is a record label that Gary Sinise [of Forrest Gump] and I started specifically to put out my wife's records," he says. (Dykstra is married to Juno-winning artist Melanie Doane, whom he met when she played in the band for Fire.)
Since Two Pianos, Four Hands saw its initial success, a first child has arrived for Dykstra and Doane, and a second is on the way. Of all his kudos, Dykstra refers to his child as "so far, my greatest achievement." Nonetheless, springtime will see him heading to Japan with Two Pianos, Four Hands. Dykstra is philosophical. "You take time when you have it," he says. "I wouldn't want to be away from my son."
David and Ed Mirvish present Two Pianos, Four Hands from September 18 to October 5 at the Elgin Theatre. For tickets and further information, call 416.872.1212 or visit www.mirvish.com.

Publication Date: 2003-09-14
Story Location: http://tandemnews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=3148