Meet the Cast of Guys and Dolls: Scotty Shaffer

Introduce yourself! What role do you play within the cast, where have audiences seen you recently, and where can they find you next?
I'm Scotty Shaffer and I'm super excited to be playing Nathan Detroit!

I was just the Conductor of the Polar Express at the Colorado Railroad Museum on a real steam engine and before that I was at the Candlelight Dinner Playhouse in Crazy for You!

But Vintage audiences might remember me as Charles Haversham (the dead guy) in The One Act Play That Goes Wrong, and in Young Frankenstein as Inspector Kemp and the blind hermit!

And next… I don't have anything booked yet! And that's okay! It needs to be okay to separate our self-worth from “whether we have our next job yet”.

What is your favorite aspect of your role?
Favorite aspect of this role? THE CHALLENGE! This role has been on my bucket list for a long time. He's funny! He's sweet! He's not the smartest! None of his plans work! He's complex! Acting-wise it's hard, I mean the whole show takes place mostly during the worst 2 days of Nathan’s life at this point, and there's so much that happens that can upset him- frustration after frustration! So in addition to all the other acting considerations, I don't want the whole show to be just me constantly yelling at a 10- I want to vary it, have levels, calm down in spots, lol. I have to map this stuff out!

What is your first memory of experiencing Guys and Dolls, and how has your perspective on the show evolved since working on this production?
As a 20+ year professional actor, this is my 4th time doing Guys and Dolls. It's a popular show and these shows are always a ton of fun to do! Here's a funny “first” memory about my first production of Guys and Dolls: as an acting student in college I was training to be a character actor - I was funny, I could play the bad guy, I enjoyed the challenges- but out of college, suddenly in my third professional show I got cast as a romantic lead, Sky Masterson (this was 20 years and 40 lbs ago, lol) but as a result- my first stage kiss was a professional show! I hadn't had a role that kissed someone before! As a character actor I had never done training for kissing or anything like that so that was a unique experience in our line of work.

Which song, scene, or moment in our production do you find most meaningful, and what makes it special to you?
I would argue that Adelaide and Nathan's song “Sue Me” is one of the greatest songs in the history of musical theatre. It's a masterclass in entertainment and juxtaposing character! When you get cast in any role in Guys and Dolls you also get an added perk: you get to watch this number for free from the wings every night if you want! My first G&D contract I watched that number from offstage every single night and matinee! And in every production I've done since then, I tried to watch it several times before the end of the run. It is just a joy to watch! No longer in my 20’s, that scene has aged on me a little, I mean it's obviously not the “healthiest” relationship for them to yell at each other like that- but their passion, their willingness to talk it out- that is commendable.

What's something unexpected you've discovered about your character/role/work during the rehearsal process?
Here's something: one of the reasons this show has successfully withstood the test of time is that it avoids a common problem when you have women appearing ditsy and men in charge: instead of making a 1950’s statement on gender, they smartly/luckily/accidentally avoid it completely by just making every character in this show kind of an idiot! It's not a “boys are smart and girls are dumb” thing- if anything, the dolls come out smarter than the guys in this show!

At the end of the show, no one in the audience wants to be as dumb as the characters on stage- but they certainly want to be as happy!

So something unexpected with this character work- all the scenes with Adelaide include a lot of plot where he's lying to her, or some other form of manipulation, and it's a slippery slope for Nathan Detroit to just be played as a sleazy, controlling narcissist. So it's been a fun challenge to work with Jess (Adelaide) to make sure our characters get some real connection, real moments where they really truly love each other and care deeply for one another without agenda.

Quick! You are tasked with renaming a race horse--what name do you pick and why?
“I-got-uh-email-from-work” because it'd be funny to have lots of gambling people around the country look down at an alert on their phones of a win and say “AWW YES! I GOT UH EMAIL FROM WORK! LET'S GO!”

How has collaboration with other members of the company influenced your approach to your work on this show?
Ah, Good question! Jess Sotwick playing Adelaide is VERY smart and very funny with great ideas and great skills! She is a joy to play scenes off of and a really great scene partner and my scenes are better with her in it! The whole show is better! 

What's one thing you hope audiences take away from our production?
That even if you made choices in the past you now disagree with, you can still be happy in this life. 

Also that I'm a really good actor and funny. 

Oops that two things, so just the last one. ;-)