“There’s been a little bit of blood,” actor Christopher Salazar admits as he prepares to go on stage as Harry, a chef in Brooklyn fighting to maintain the quality he’s dedicated himself to for years.
Salazar is referring to the rehearsal process which besides negotiating very sharp knives, has entailed working with hot surfaces while developing dish plating skills.
“It’s a ballet in the kitchen,” Salazar says. He’s referring to Seared, the new two-act play by Theresa Rebeck about to open in the downstairs more intimate Neuhaus Theatre at the Alley.
Asked to describe his character, Salazar says: “Harry is a chef in Brooklyn. He just feels to me like he’s been in the kitchen ever since he could have a job. Probably learning as like a late teenager and coming up in the New York restaurant scene.
“He’s hard-nosed; he’s stubborn; he’s passionate about food and the ingredients. And the most important thing is what he creates and how it is an extension of himself.
The play set in the late 2010s, when where ingredients came from was very important to both chefs and diners, Salazar says.
Mike is his business partner. Mike is also a longtime in the restaurant industry. They talk to each other more like relatives, like siblings. They have a hared passion. Where they’re at odds is Mike wants to be profitable and Harry’s got a great line: ‘I don’t mind about being broke as long as I get to do whatever it is I want to do.'”
Salazar says this is something all creative people, all artists wrestle with. “Is being financially successful does that mean my art is compromised?”
In his real life, Salazar says he loves to cook, adding that he worked in restaurants “for years and years and years in New York included.
“A little bit of dabbling behind the line, but mainly as a waiter and a bartender.” At home, he says he’s a very adventurous cook, although he doesn’t possess the skills of a chef.
“Thankfully we got to work with Justin Yu who is one of Houston’s premier chefs and restaurateurs. He’s been a very generous and front-footed collaborator on this. He’s been in the room with us talking not only about the dramaturgy of the play but really spending time with all of us on the integrity of creating the dishes. We got to go to one of his restaurants, Theodore Rex, to sit in for a night of service and watch that amazing team work. There’s a lot more cohesion in their kitchen than there is in our kitchen.,” he says, laughing.
The Alley’s Associate Artistic Director Brandon Weinbrenner is directing this fast-paced comedy, Besides Salazar, the cast includes Elizabeth Bunch as Emily, Chris Hutchison as Mike and Kory Laquess Pullam as Rodney. This is the seventh play from Theresa Rebeck that the Alley has done, Salazar says.
“The audience will be front and center to watch a kitchen running on stage with us,” Salazar says.
“It’s fun to do an intimate small cast show, especially in our Neuhaus space.People in the audience, they [will be] hyper aware of how I’m cooking this asparagus. A We’ll have a bunch of armchair cooks in the audience.
“You’re going to get the smell of bacon and salmon and garlic and butter. Smells and sounds and sights. We’ve had people walking by the rehearsal hall — the rehearsal hall is near the kitchen — and people are poking their head in the kitchen ‘Oh it’s not from there. Where’s this smell coming from?’ But we’re not giving out samples.”
Performances are scheduled for February 7 through March 9 at 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays at Alley Theatre’s Neuhaus Stage, 615 Texas. For more information. call 713-2205700 or visit alleytheatre.com. $61-$80.
