By Katy Savage, Standard Staff
Even at the age of five, Patrick Sharpe seemed destined for the stage.
Growing up in Sharon, Sharpe recited lines from Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” from atop a makeshift tree house stage. Flashlights lit his path as his family watched Sharpe interact as Hamlet’s father’s ghost.
And it didn’t stop with “Hamlet.” Sharpe loved the theater so much, he made up his own plays about whatever his family happened to be reading at the time. He and his brothers once wrote a Shakespeare inspired tragic love story.
Patrick Sharpe and Lauren Meyers rehearse their parts in the Woodstock Town Hall on Monday for Pentangle Arts’ production of “The Rocky Horror Show.” (Rick Russell Photo)
“He really was singing around the house all the time,” said his mother, Heather Henderson who has no acting experience. “We went through a lot of hot water because he’s always singing in the shower.”
Now, the 16-year-old has a lead role in Pentangle’s “Rocky Horror Show,” coming to stage Oct. 23.
He’s the youngest person on the cast of a raunchy production. It doesn’t faze Sharpe — though it was something the director had reservations about.
“I really did email his mom. I didn’t want it to be uncomfortable in any way shape or form,” said Director Lanni Luce West.
On Monday night during rehearsals, Sharpe fell down while he danced and didn’t get his turns and spins quite right — but he seemed far from out of place, hitting every note of his solos. He was confident on stage, giving the impression that he’s been there before. He seemed to know what he was doing. And he does.
Sharpe had his first onstage gig when he was 11. He was in the musical version of the “Wind in the Willows” in New York City. Then tried to get parts in just about anything he could. He acted in a production of “Guys and Dolls” at 14. He does the Chandler Center for the Arts productions every summer in Randolph — close to his Sharon home where his family has long spent their summers. Sharpe moved to Vermont full-time two years ago so he could go to Sharon Academy.
He’s been in Pentangle’s “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.” He was in “Fiddler on the Roof” and he played Cogsworth in “Beauty and the Beast.”
Sharpe watched the “Rocky Horror Show” the day before he heard there were auditions at Pentangle.
“I thought, ‘yeah I’ll do that,’” he said.
It’s been 40 years since the “Rocky Horror Picture Show” was released. But it’s remained a cult following, with people dashing to theaters dressed in costume to see it. Performances in Woodstock are scheduled over two weekends, Oct. 23-24 and 30-31.
The cast ran through the first act Monday night, wasting no time jumping into the dance number “Sweet Transvestite” at the beginning. They were nearing the last days of rehearsals before the first performance.
Sharpe wore glasses and a button shirt at the rehearsal. Sharpe is thin and slightly awkward and speaks with a slight accent that he’s not sure how he got.
“I spent time in France as a child,” he said.
In the show he plays Brad Majors, the innocent, clean-cut, man who’s off to see his former high school teacher with his fiancé. The couple encounters a group of transgendered characters after their car gets stuck in the rain and are wide-eyed and slightly frightened as they learn about the transgendered world.
Sharpe wanted to play Brad the most because he said the part suits his own personality.
“I can kind of identify with him,” Sharpe said. “I dress kind of like him, I feel like him.”
The choreographer made dance adjustments and the music director tweaked notes during Monday’s rehearsal.
“I don’t think you would necessarily ever know that he was 16, which is why it was OK…It’s important to me that the audience wasn’t uncomfortable either,” West said.
West has worked with Sharpe in previous, less risqué productions.
“He fits in and he understands theater,” she said.
Sharpe has fooled his cast with his maturity.
“He’s been very professional for his age,” said Lauren Meyers.
Meyers, 26, who lives in Woodstock, plays Jane in the show — Brad’s soon-to-be wife.
“Our personalities are perfect for the characters,” Meyers said. “It just kind of clicked.”
The age difference doesn’t bother Sharpe’s mom, either.
“It’s all part of being an actor,” she said.
About 40 people auditioned for “Rocky Horror” — the most West has seen. West only had space for 14. Her husband, Paul West, is playing lead character Dr. Frank N. Furter.
Perhaps the most difficult part for Lanni West is making the cast comfortable. She urged the cast members to get closer Monday night.
“Don’t be afraid to interact with him,” she told the shy cast, reluctant to touch her husband during the “Sweet Transvestite” number.
“You can paw me,” Paul West told them. He seemed perfectly comfortable in black high heels he wore the entire night. He never broke character.
Comfort is one crucial element to the play’s success and something the director seems to be constantly trying to cultivate. The cast recently took a bonding trip to Boston and dressed in costume to see a midnight show of “Rocky” there.
“There has to be a lot of camaraderie amongst the group otherwise it just doesn’t work,” Lanni West said.
The rated-R play with no shortage of sexual suggestion is an ambitious choice for Pentangle. The arts organization has before stuck with family-oriented classics like “West Side Story” and “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.”
Rocky is part of a Pentangle push to rev up audience numbers and attract a young adult crowd.
“I think traditionally Pentangle has geared toward middle-age folks,” said Executive Director Alita Wilson, who was hired last year. “As a parent and having grown up here I think we have this void for the 20-somethings and even high school kids.”
The play has already sold about 200 tickets, a rarity considering Pentangle is used to selling last-minute tickets.
Pentangle is hosting a midnight showing on Halloween, which happens to fall on a Saturday.
“It’s a crazy show,” said Paul West. “It’s designed for everybody to have fun, audience and cast. We’re hoping that it shakes things up a little bit.”
This article first appeared in the October 8, 2015 edition of the Vermont Standard.