Once he got his BFA in Musical Theatre from the University of Tampa, Jaryn McCann went to work, appearing in ensemble casts at Stageworks, at Jobsite and in Straz Center-produced shows. He also used his training to work behind the scenes as a stage manager.
The idea was, one day, he would get his first lead role in a major production.
It happened this year. Director Karla Hartley cast him in the drama My Name is Asher Lev, at Stageworks, playing the title character. In Aaron Posner’s memory play – based on the novel by Chaim Potok – Asher is a successful artist looking back on the events of his life, the people and the things that molded him.
He grew up in Brooklyn in the ‘50s, the only child of Hasidic Jewish parents. Asher’s growing infatuation with drawing and painting are at odds with what his mother and father desire for him, and expect from him. From he beginning, there are conflicts, and emotions rended raw.
For Jaryn McCann, getting the nod to play the central character, who never leaves the stage for the show’s duration, became a classic “be careful what you ask for” proposition: You might just get it.
“From the moment the lights are up, I’m always there,” the 26-year-old actor chuckles.
“I’ll be honest: I’m still not used to it. I’m so used to being in comedic musicals, as a sidekick, where everything’s fast-paced. Karla would have to tell me all the time, ‘You need to slow down. Let it breathe. You’ll know these moments are happening when you feel it.’
“And so I kind of lean into that with allowing Asher to be a deer in the headlights at times. He doesn’t really know how to explain what he’s trying to explain. That’s why he has to dive into these memories and bring his family up on the stage. To be like ‘This is how this was.’”
His parents are played by Landon Green and Nicole Jeannine Smith. There are other characters in My Name is Asher Lev – and they’re all played by Green and Smith.
“I have learned so much from every single person on this production,” McCann says. “Just watching Nickie and Landon work … I stand firm in really feeling they have the hardest job of this show. Because I luckily just have to stay as Asher; they have to be every single adult, but also, if they’re not onstage, they’re changing in two seconds offstage.”
According to Smith, McCann had read (and studied) Potok’s novel before the first rehearsal. “Once we were in rehearsals, he was extremely open to discussion, trying different things, and working to make this show as authentic and moving as possible,” she recalls. “I stage managed Jaryn in The Rocky Horror Show a little while back, and already knew that I’d want to work with him again on pretty much anything.”
Director Hartley, who’s also Stageworks’ artistic director, knew that McCann, with his boyish face and perpetual look of optimism, was right for the part.
“Jaryn,” she says, “is a magnificent performer who is often underestimated. My hope is that this show will force others to look at him differently.”
Enthuses McCann: “Everything I am, as an actor and performer, I owe it all to Karla.”
That mutual respect goes back to day one of the Asher Lev process. “When I read the play, I was so like, I feel so much what Asher feels,” he recalls. “And I was super-excited … and also scared out of my mind.
“And Karla said ‘Then that means it’s right. That means you should be doing this.’”
My name is Asher Lev runs through March 22. For information, showtimes and tickets, visit the Stageworks website.
