Podcast: Patrick Page: Originally a Magician, now King of the Underworld

Patrick Page is a Grammy award-winning actor and playwright currently playing Hades in “Hadestown”. He looks back on his early years growing up in Oregon and becoming a professional magician wherein he toured an illusion show and won awards. He shares how doing magic gave him the validation he needed and taught him about audiences and how to hold the stage. Patrick eventually got deeply interested in acting as a craft and pursued it as a career. While he decided to go for a Liberal Arts degree, he also spent his college years performing in plays. He shares his audition story for The Utah Shakespeare Festival despite being unqualified. Patrick shares how because he didn’t go to acting school, he sort of learned by failing. He also talks about the first time someone told him his way of work was out of line and why he considers that a good thing. Apart from acting and writing, Patrick also has an acting studio in New York where he teaches. He talks about the importance of time management and knowing what you can do and offer, his hearing loss and the struggles that came along with it, including having to rely on muscle memory, and pursuing acting not because it’s how you wish to be perceived but because it is who you are.