I have had the pleasure of experiencing the diverse craft that is Daniel Traylor ever since he blew me away with his haunting performance as John Merrick in The Elephant Man. Other memorable characters have included Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors, Lumiere in Beauty and the Beast, and Ellard Simms in The Foreigner. Traylor is currently in his 16th production with Denver’s Phamly Theater Company, which produces professional scale plays and musicals year-round, cast entirely of performers with disabilities across the spectrum, with Fiddler on the Roof as Fyedka. Traylor, a gay man, is also living with sensoral neural hearing loss, arthritis, and congenital hip dysplasia.
What do you hope audiences take from this production of Fiddler?
This show has so much heart and power, and has something that every audience member can relate and connect to. It’s a story of love, discrimination, growth, and finding new paths to go down. The central story is a father’s struggle of letting his daughters fly the nest in an un-arranged marriage, when it goes against everything he was raised to believe. Each daughter has their own journey of transcending love.
You have been a company member of Phamly for a number or years and always giving exceptional performances – what does this company mean to you?
“Quite a number of years” doesn’t quite cover it! My mother is one of the co-founders of the group, so I’ve been here since I was two, but didn’t join the stage till in ’95. I’ve grown up seeing lives being changed, abandoned dreams get dusted off and rekindled, actors discovering their strengths. Phamaly means the world to me. They’ve given me the tools, accommodations, confidence to live my dream. Phamaly is just that, it’s my family.
You were absolutely sensational in the iconic role in The Elephant Man. How was that experience for you?
Aside from back-achingly painful? That show was so unreal for me. I’d never done so much character work in my life, trying to understand this man who, you’d think, God had just looked over. But he had the biggest heart, an undying faith, and not a judgmental bone in his body. It was such a humbling experience that was made all the more memorable thanks to an incredibly giving cast.
Which was a greater challenge in your life, coming to terms with your handicap or coming out?
Coming out made me red in the face but was really easy for me. Mom found my porn stash, confronted me, and I never got to give her the speech I’d been practicing. I got lucky with a really open-minded, theater mom. My father and brother got me a miniature blowup doll and lickable card with disappearing panties (both female) for my 18th birthday. I simply said that they got me the wrong gender, and my brother turned to my dad and said, “See I told you!”
If I started out anywhere other than Phamaly, I would have given up on acting pretty fast. I sing 24/7 and am really comfortable with my own voice, but most often I can’t hear the accompaniment when I’m singing. I’ve trained myself to listen for cues when I’m not singing and get back on track if I can. But the wonderful thing about Phamaly is that they provide accommodations where other companies more often than not couldn’t be bothered. Phamaly provides its hearing impaired actors with an assisted listening device that pumps in the mics and music straight into an earpiece, and that’s been such a blessing to have.
What does Pride mean to you? And what are your thoughts about the gay community here in Denver?
Pride is standing on the Phamaly stage and taking in applause after a show, knowing that someone’s life has been changed because they just saw their first Phamaly show. Pride is changing someone’s view on gay people and breaking down stereotypes. Denver is a great place to be gay, with so much bustling life, pride, and diversity.
Is there a play or musical that you absolutely adore and would perform in over and over again?
There are a great handful of productions that will always have a place in my heart, and I know I’d have a difficult time trying to recreate those experiences. But given some time in between, I’d love another chance at UrineTown, 3 Penny Opera, or The Boys Next Door again. But there’s an even bigger list of shows I’ve yet to do and would kill for, like Batboy, Full Monty, Cabaret, so on and so forth. And I can’t wait to remount Phamaly’s Joseph and the Amazing Technicolored Dreamcoat in the Summer of 2014.
Phamaly Theatre Company’s production of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF is playing at the Space Theatre of the Denver Center now until August 11th. Tickets can be purchased by calling Denver Center Ticketing at 303-893-4100; online at www.phamaly.org; or at the Denver Center Ticket Office.
