Meet Stewpot!

South Pacific Spotlight: Veteran actor Mark Burrows shines in this comedic role

Mark Burrows has been hooked on acting since he was a young boy, and has compiled an impressive list of acting credits ever since. Mark will be putting his strong voice and comic acting chops to play for the role of Stewpot in Summer Place Theatre’ production of South Pacific.

Mark is an integral part of an impressive male ensemble that is sure to bring down the house every night in two of Broadway’s most recognizable musical numbers, Bloody Mary and There Is Nothin’ Like a Dame.

South Pacific opens on June 7!

Get your tickets here

QUESTION: Who or what inspired you to start doing theater?
MARK BURROWS: When I was in Junior High School my English class was taken to a field trip to see a production of the Tempest.  Early in the play there is a shipwreck, and having never seen a play before, I assumed beforehand they would wreck a ship on the stage . . . that’s how they did it in the movies (in the Goonies, at least).  They did not wreck a ship on the stage; they acted, and I was completely hooked. It had never occurred to me that you could tell a story without spaceships shooting at each other.

Q: What was the musical that had you fall in love with musicals?
MB: Camelot.  The script was in my school library in the "play" section, and I didn’t realize that the songs were songs – I just thought they recited poems in the middle of the play.  Someone pointed out that no, those were songs, and if I wanted to hear them the album could be checked out at the public library. I have, pre-dating digital music as I do, worn out several LPs of Camelot.

Q: What is the favorite role you've ever played?
MB: Curly in Oklahoma! waaay back in college . . . it was not such a misnomer in my early twenties :|  

Q: What is the dream role you still want to play?
MB: Alfred P. Doolittle.  Either version.

Q: What is the most challenging part of bringing this story to life?
MB: Probably how far removed we are from the time of it . . . in 1948 the second world war was still a visceral memory for most of the audience; there was no one in the original audience of South Pacific whose lives hadn't been affected by it.  I think our experiences with war are very different than theirs.

Q:Do you have any performance superstitions?
MB: I recite the last stanza of "I Am So Proud" from the Mikado before every performance.    

Q: If someone was going to make your life into a movie, who would you want to play you?
MB: Who would go, my mother?

Q: What do you do when you’re not doing theater?
MB: Since recently adopting a beagle, most of my free time is split between saying "get down" and "what are you eating?"  The other 4% of my day I'm a pretty fair cook, and I write – you can check out my latest project here: zuleikamusical.com

Q: Which character from South Pacific would you most like to have dinner with and why?
MB: I imagine the food at DeBecque's is much better than the chow on base, so . . . Emile?  

Q: Why should people come see this production of South Pacific?
MB:Because it's a classic with a gorgeous score!

Come see Mark and the rest of this incredibly talented cast when South Pacific opens on June 7.

Learn more about our production here   Get your tickets here