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Right now, several actors are clearly performing dream roles: Linda Libby as Mama Rose in Ion's Gypsy; Rosina Reynolds (Amanda Wingfield), Brian Mackey (The Gentleman Caller), and Amanda Sitton (Laura Wingfield) in Cygnet's Glass Menagerie; and, as if to the character born, young Lucia Vecchio as Anne Frank in OnStage Production' Diary of Anne Frank.
From the house seats, it looks like Manny Fernandes (pictured, left) is living one too. He plays Lennie Small in New Village Arts' Of Mice and Men and has garnered rave reviews as John Steinbeck's gentle monster.
"I wish I could say it was," says Fernandes, "but when they offered, it actually scared me.
"Almost everybody has read the book or seen the play or movie version. They all have a mental picture of their ideal Lennie. Plus Daren [Scott, the director] played the role several years ago, so he has an attachment. You don't want to disappoint all those people."
Fernandes, who won a Craig Noel Award for his performance of Tom Moody in NVA's Golden Boy, has appeared in dozens of local shows, including North Coast Rep's legendary Arcadia. Being Lennie, he says, has been different.
"Opening night was probably the most nervous I've been in years. And those nerves have continued with each performance since."
Steinbeck said he built the character on an actual person. While working in the fields around Salinas, California, he saw a very large, somewhat slow man take a pitchfork to a farmer who threatened his friend.
Lennie doesn't know his limits. Without malicious intent, he realizes he's done wrong only after the fact. He's a two-sided coin, of peace and violence, and the coin's spinning.
Readers come to know him, deeply, from the story. But he'd be hard to find in real life: a killer who wouldn't hurt a flea.
"I've known no one like him," says Fernandes. "I mean, other than my kids, no. I see Lennie as a giant kid. He matured to a certain point and then stopped.
"People ask where does Lennie come from in me? I answer: I have two kids: Bella, six, and Jack, two. I find Lennie in their behavior more than from me. Bella, mostly: her curiosity; how she can spin from fright to delight and back. The extremes - and the innocence! She has no filters.
"Bella does that silent cry? The mouth opens and freezes - pure Lennie. And she can have a conversation and still be confused about things."
Fernandes also knows the territory. Of Mice and Men takes place on a ranch just south of Soledad ("solitude" in Spanish) in the Salinas Valley. His grandfather on his father's side had a cattle ranch in Salinas. Fernandes has baled hay and knows the often backbreaking chores.
"When I was 10, I had to clear a field of cattle. They just looked at me - or, right through me, actually - and didn't budge."
Of Mice and Men runs through this Sunday. Due to popular demand, NVA has added a 7:00 p.m. performance on the 20th.
Right now, several actors are clearly performing dream roles: Linda Libby as Mama Rose in Ion's Gypsy; Rosina Reynolds (Amanda Wingfield), Brian Mackey (The Gentleman Caller), and Amanda Sitton (Laura Wingfield) in Cygnet's Glass Menagerie; and, as if to the character born, young Lucia Vecchio as Anne Frank in OnStage Production' Diary of Anne Frank.
From the house seats, it looks like Manny Fernandes (pictured, left) is living one too. He plays Lennie Small in New Village Arts' Of Mice and Men and has garnered rave reviews as John Steinbeck's gentle monster.
"I wish I could say it was," says Fernandes, "but when they offered, it actually scared me.
"Almost everybody has read the book or seen the play or movie version. They all have a mental picture of their ideal Lennie. Plus Daren [Scott, the director] played the role several years ago, so he has an attachment. You don't want to disappoint all those people."
Fernandes, who won a Craig Noel Award for his performance of Tom Moody in NVA's Golden Boy, has appeared in dozens of local shows, including North Coast Rep's legendary Arcadia. Being Lennie, he says, has been different.
"Opening night was probably the most nervous I've been in years. And those nerves have continued with each performance since."
Steinbeck said he built the character on an actual person. While working in the fields around Salinas, California, he saw a very large, somewhat slow man take a pitchfork to a farmer who threatened his friend.
Lennie doesn't know his limits. Without malicious intent, he realizes he's done wrong only after the fact. He's a two-sided coin, of peace and violence, and the coin's spinning.
Readers come to know him, deeply, from the story. But he'd be hard to find in real life: a killer who wouldn't hurt a flea.
"I've known no one like him," says Fernandes. "I mean, other than my kids, no. I see Lennie as a giant kid. He matured to a certain point and then stopped.
"People ask where does Lennie come from in me? I answer: I have two kids: Bella, six, and Jack, two. I find Lennie in their behavior more than from me. Bella, mostly: her curiosity; how she can spin from fright to delight and back. The extremes - and the innocence! She has no filters.
"Bella does that silent cry? The mouth opens and freezes - pure Lennie. And she can have a conversation and still be confused about things."
Fernandes also knows the territory. Of Mice and Men takes place on a ranch just south of Soledad ("solitude" in Spanish) in the Salinas Valley. His grandfather on his father's side had a cattle ranch in Salinas. Fernandes has baled hay and knows the often backbreaking chores.
"When I was 10, I had to clear a field of cattle. They just looked at me - or, right through me, actually - and didn't budge."
Of Mice and Men runs through this Sunday. Due to popular demand, NVA has added a 7:00 p.m. performance on the 20th.