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Actor portraying king overcomes physical obstacles

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Contributed by: Nora Feldman on 3/12/2008

Most of us experience obstacles as we move forward in our careers. Actors who are seeking a career in theater, film, and TV face unique obstacles including making a living and supporting oneself while taking classes and looking for, auditioning, and landing paying acting jobs.

Jeffrey Paul Whitman, who plays the lead in Shakespeare at Play's production of "Richard III" in a special engagement at the Colony Theater in Burbank March 18 -21, faces obstacles beyond those that most actors experience.

Jeffrey has a commonly inherited neurological disorder, Charcot-Marie-Tooth, or CMT, which is found world-wide affecting an estimated 2.6 million people.

CMT patients slowly lose normal use of their feet/legs and hands/arms as nerves to the extremities degenerate and the muscles in the extremities become weakened.

According to the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA), "CMT is one of the 40 diseases covered by the MDA, but unlike muscular dystrophy, in which the defect is in the muscles, CMT is a disorder in which the defect is in the nerves that control the muscles."

Knowing that Jeffrey might not be able to take on some of the more challenging roles in the future, Debbie Gates, executive director of Shakespeare at Play, a non-profit group that brings Shakespeare and the classics into schools and communities in both California and Nevada, offered to produce a play in which Jeffrey could perform a role of his choosing.

The idea was hatched, and many of the actors, designers, and technicians who have known and worked with Jeffrey for several years have come forward to support the event.

Whitman is an accomplished Shakespearean actor and he is a founding member of Shakespeare at Play.

"I feel honored and blessed to have the opportunity to portray the role of Richard, and to be working with Shakespeare at Play,"Jeffrey said.

Other of his favorite Shakespearean roles include Mercutio, Puck, Cassius, Horatio, Hortensio, Banquo, Speed, Bottom, and lastly, Feste, which Jeffrey played in Shakespeare at Play's 2007 production of "Twelfth Night" directed by Armin Shimerman.

For the past 12 years, Jeffrey has performed his award-winning one-man show, "Two Years Before the Mast."

He has also appeared in films such as "Chill Factor" and "Amistad," among others, and in several soap operas.

Away from acting, Jeffrey recently received his master's degree in counseling psychology. In achieving this and in taking on the role of Richard, Jeffrey proves that he is up for the challenge.

"Richard III," Shakespeare's gripping tragedy, is centered on a world based on power and politics.
Charming, cunning, witty and utterly without conscience, Richard, the bard's most ruthless villain, wins over any that are of use to him, and discards any that are not in his systematic bloody climb to the throne. In a corrupt land, vying for power is a way of life.

No one is entirely innocent, and everyone is entangled in the web of intrigue that was the War of the Roses.

Shakespeare's "Richard III," directed by A. Jeffrey Schoenberg, and produced by Shakespeare at Play, will have a special engagement March 18, 19, 20 & 21 at the Colony Theatre in Burbank.

The opening night with reception is Tuesday, March 18. Reception is at 7 p.m., performance is at 8 p.m. Performances 19, 20 and 21 are also at 8 p.m.

The Colony Theatre is located at 555 N. Third St. in Burbank.

Tickets for the March 18 opening night and reception are $35.

Tickets for performances on March 19, 20, and 21 are $20.

Discounts are available for students, seniors and groups.

For reservations and information, please call 818-566-1925.

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