Actors Find Ties to Roles in 'Happy Time' at Signature

Is it life imitating art, or the other way around at Signature Theatre?

Two of the stars of a musical set to open at the Arlington theater are finding unique parallels between their lives and the characters they portray. One is an accomplished 30-year-old veteran of the musical stage, originally from Fairfax County, and the other is a 13-year-old newcomer from Arlington.

Signature's nationally acclaimed, four-month Kander & Ebb Celebration has attracted a roster of Broadway luminaries to salute composer John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb, the creators of such fabled hits as "Cabaret," "Chicago" and "Kiss of the Spider Woman" (running at Signature's MAX theater). But two of the leading performers of "The Happy Time," which is in rehearsals for an April 1 debut in the ARK theater, have local roots.

"The Happy Time" is a rarely produced musical from 1968 that tells the story of Jacques Bonnard, a world-renowned photographer who returns to his French-Canadian home town to recapture his happy childhood. Jacques may find it difficult to settle back into his old life, but the stories of his adventurous career inspire his nephew Bibi, who is grappling with a tough time, to live life to the fullest.

Jacques is played by Michael Minarik, a 1996 graduate of Oakton High School who now calls Manhattan's Upper West Side home. Minarik left his studies at James Madison University to join a national tour of "The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber," which led to other tours and, finally, to work on Broadway that included "Les Mis¿rables." Bibi is played by seventh-grader Jace Casey, who was selected from an open audition.

Rehearsals for the show have been somewhat out of the ordinary, as John Kander has been present, working with the performers and tweaking the music he wrote four decades ago. That alone would make this a treasured opportunity, but both the veteran and the novice are finding that their roles have special meaning for them.

Minarik says the heart of "The Happy Time" is about relationships, especially between his character, Jacques, and his cantankerous father, played by David Margulies ("The Sopranos").

"This is very personal to me," Minarik said. "My dad died just one year ago, unexpectedly, and this show takes me to that place every single time. I've never been in a process where every single time I go through it, there's this 'conversation' I have with my father. It's a roller-coaster ride."

Minarik describes the score as unusually warm and intimate, even introspective. But what he finds truly striking is how a dramatic moment in his life matches a moment in the show.

"In the very first song, 'The Happy Time,' I sing, 'I want to take a picture of you and remember you remembering the happy times,' " he said.

"When my father passed away, I was giving the eulogy, I'm looking out at the audience expecting me to say something, and I'm crying my eyes out," Minarik said. "So I said, 'I want to take two minutes to look at everybody's face and watch you guys remember my dad.' And they sat there, and you could see them think. The sides of the mouth would go up, and then a big smile, and then they'd start to cry, each with a separate memory of my father. And now I'm singing about that same sentiment, of making memories, so this show is so personal for me."

During a recent rehearsal in a stark, windowless hall in Signature's Shirlington complex, Minarik and Jace go over scenes under the firm guidance of director Michael Ungar. The trio seem to enjoy an easygoing relationship, and there is plenty of laughter even if young Jace is a study in concentration with a script in one hand and a pencil in the other. Jace may be a kid, but the Kander & Ebb Celebration is a high-profile event and very serious business, and he is held to adult standards.