by Emily Hope Dobkin, on special assignment

When Robert Dorfman asked for a full costume, a lot of luggage, and a pair of heels for his first rehearsal of Moliere’s The School for Wives, it was evident that he was both eager and willing to take his character work to a serious level. Though this factor alone indicated passionate commitment, “the true extent of his talent was revealed when rehearsals were through and he was given an audience,” recalls Artistic Director Irene Lewis, who was directing the production.

Lewis confesses, “I did not know who he [Dorfman] truly was until the first preview performance. He came on and immediately had the attention of the entire audience. They went right with him, he was at home on stage so completely.”

The audience—which Lewis consistently credits as the final collaborator in the theater-making process—is what fuels Dorfman’s performances. As he says, “At CENTERSTAGE, it starts with the audience; it is small and diverse, which makes it complex, with all different kinds of people, and I like that experience.”

Robert Dorfman recognizes that CENTERSTAGE’s top priority is not only our audience, but also the artist; furthermore he believes that “the way the theater is set up allows the artist to work, and that work can be done in a relaxed state, and that is when the best creativity comes out.” He certainly found that to be clear instantly when working with Irene Lewis.

Robert Dorfman first set foot at CENTERSTAGE in 1985. Casting The School for Wives, Lewis had known exactly what she wanted for the role of Arnolphe: an old man. When she could not find the actor to fulfill that vision of the character, however, the casting director urged her to consider Dorfman. He certainly didn’t match that initial vision, as he was very young; but Lewis decided that, if she couldn’t do it one way, she would do it another. Hiring Dorfman, Lewis recalls, “I just changed my whole concept and directed the show to fit how he could play the role. Ultimately, as I prefer to do, I cast the actor who brought the most talent.”

Following School for Wives, Dorfman returned for the 1989 production of Shakespeare’s All’s Well That Ends Well directed by Stan Wojewodski, Jr. He returned again the following season for Irene Lewis’ first Shakespeare production, Twelfth Night—a performance that made quite clear this actor’s extraordinary ability to capture the crowd. He started Act II with a synopsis of several of Shakespeare’s works, setting a wild tone for the rest of the play, as the audience clung to every humorous move he made. “You could tell the audience was with him from the first word he spoke,” says Lewis. For his original comic style and breadth of ability, CENTERSTAGE eventually invited Dorfman to be one of the first Associate Artists—one whom Lewis happily calls “extraordinarily inventive and unafraid.”

That same invention showed up again when Dorfman came back for The Pajama Game, his first musical here: he had audiences in stitches with his portrayal of garment-worker (and management stooge) Hines, applauded by one critic for its “odd combination of time-study expert and former carnival knife-thrower.” And similarly, Lewis knew Dorfman was one of the rare actors who could bring just the right mix of sparkle and heart to Launce, one of the clowns in the Galt MacDermot musical Two Gentlemen of Verona. All of CENTERSTAGE’s Associates possess a high level of talent, a quirkiness, and an originality; Dorfman, Lewis observes, “is a real comedian; he almost goes back to Vaudeville with his choices.”

But it’s not all clowning around. In 1992, here for what he considers one of his most challenging roles, in Carlo Goldoni’s The Servant of Two Masters, Dorfman told the Washington Times, “I like the full experience. There’s wonderful humor in every tragedy and great seriousness and starvation in every comedy.” For his latest role, as Crumpet the Elf in The Santaland Diaries, he once again gets to explore that full range of complexity. As Dorfman explains—at least in his understanding of it—“the show looks at Christmas in a skewed way that makes audiences laugh out loud; but underneath, there are lessons to be learned.”

The Santaland Diaries provides another challenge, in that Dorfman is not, so to speak, your average elf. As he says “I am a little bit older and a lot more Jewish.” After reading the script for the first time, though, and laughing out loud by page three, he knew this role would be a jolly good time for him. “There are so many delicious choices to be made in this show, and choices that can be individualized with ease.”

As an Associate Artist, Dorfman considers himself “an ambassador. Everywhere I can, I talk up CENTERSTAGE. I feel it is my duty to give back, and I carry its artistic goals wherever I go.” He has performed widely across the country on stage, on television, and in film; yet he says that there is something that makes coming back to CENTERSTAGE like coming home for the holidays—and this year, it really is.

We’re thrilled to welcome back this very special artist to spread his comedic sparkle. The Head Theater will be all his as he tackles his very first one-man show—in tights. ❄