Ken Baltin will be appearing in Tru Grace: Holiday Memoirs at the Underground Railway Theatre beginning Thursday, November 19. He has been performing on Boston area stages for the past twenty years. Last season he appeared in Eurydice at New Repertory Theatre, The Cherry Orchard at The Nora Theatre Company, and Last of the Red Hot Lovers at Gloucester Stage Company. Other recent credits include Copenhagen at the Vineyard Playhouse, Leslie Epstein’s King of the Jews, produced by Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, Arms and the Man at The Lyric Stage Company of Boston, and the premiere production of Permanent Whole Life by Zayd Dohrn at Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, which was awarded 2005 Best New Play by the Independent Reviewers of New England.

What is your definition of misery?
No avenue to achieve peace of mind. As long as there’s some way there, I’ll be looking.

What is your greatest fear?
Seeing my child suffer.

What was your first “real” job working in theatre?
Acting and directing with a small theatre company called Brecht West in New Brunswick, N.J.

Are you a good at waiting tables?
Never done it, but have tended bar and had a myriad of other “actor” jobs including: school bus driver, taxi driver, teaching driving, bookstore clerk, dishwasher, market research tabulating, telemarketing, selling cable tv door to door, clothing salesman, acting school administrator, and on and on and on. . . I have also been teaching acting for many years.

Which historical figure do you most identify with?
Never thought about it.

Who are your favorite heroes of theatre?
My most influential teachers and their teachers: Eleanora Duse, Stanislavski, Max Rheinhart, Herbert Berghof, Uta Hagen, Sanford Meisner, as well as the great writers of the 20th century: Odets, Miller, Williams, Chayefsky.

Who are your favorite heroes in real life?
Teachers on all levels who care about their students so much that they take pains to connect with them, and incorporate techniques to accommodate all learning styles.

What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Faithfulness.

What do you consider the most underrated virtue?
Truthfulness.

Your favorite painter?
Jackson Pollack.

Your favorite musician?
Bill Evans.

Your favorite playwright?
Arthur Miller.

When and where were you happiest?
1975, New York City.

What do you most value in colleagues?
Love of the craft of acting, responsibility to be truthful, and the willingess to share themselves utterly.

Is there a class in which you wish you had paid more attention?
I can’t think of one.

If you didn’t work in theatre, what would you do?
Well, I teach acting, and love it. If I didn’t teach acting, I’d probably teach something else.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?
My daughter Dara.

What you’d like to be the world’s best at?
Sex.

What book would you read more than once?
I’m not an avid reader, but I have gotten deeply into Eckhart Tolle recently.

Who would play you in a movie of your life? Why?
If she were a man, Tilda Swinton: I just love her commitment, depth, artistry and honesty.

What sports teams do you follow?
All Boston teams in season, plus Rutgers (my alma mater) football and basketball.

Where would you like to spend a vacation?
Israel.

What car would you like to be seen driving around in?
Prius (I am!)

What book is currently on your nightstand?
Nothing currently. I do crosswords to get to sleep.

If you could see a great production of a classic play, what would it be?
Oedipus

If you could travel back in time to visit or live in any time in history, when would it be?
I would love to have worked with the Group Theatre, thus, 1930’s New York

What actor will see in any project they do?
Tilda Swinton

Thank you to Ken Baltin (tag archive). Photo courtesy of Central Square Theater (website | profile | tag archive).

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