Photo by Wilder Photography
Seamus: What drew you to the role of Ray Del Mar?
Carlos: He’s a Latin villain and king with ambition, drive and passion. That was enough to hook me. I didn’t know much else about him. From the brief scenes used for the auditions there was also a charm, playfulness and hunger that I felt drawn to and was interested in exploring.
Seamus: Ray’s introduced in the script as this powerful, swashbuckling, charming villain who swoops in from outside to challenge the crew and the whole world order of Ephrata. He’s a big deal. What was it like coming to this fictional world that already exists from the first show and creating this entirely new character?
Carlos: In a word–awesome. Having a prequel to work off of is actually a big help. Zack has given this world, its rules, and its history a lot of thought. The framework from the previous story as well as the current world helped create a framework for Del Mar to thrive in. In a manner of speaking the world and characters that already existed were like soil and Del Mar was a villainous seed waiting to sprout, thrive, conquer and consume.
Seamus: Your dialogue in King of the Sea is heightened and poetic even for Ephrata. Ray also speaks in a combination of English and Spanish, which brings in this specific idea of culture shock. As a Latino actor, how did you approach that aspect of the character?
Carlos: I speak Spanish and grew up in a bilingual family so switching between the two languages feels pretty natural. Also, the way Del Mar occasionally peppers a word or two of Spanish into his elevated English speech isn’t really culturally accurate, yet is totally appropriate in Ephrata and totally appropriate for Del Mar. It’s a Spanglish unique to him and Ephrata. This play isn’t about Spanish or English or cultural accuracy though. At least not any more than it is about an accurate retelling of historical pirates. This is a play about fantasy and adventure and the only real sort of culture shock is how Del Mar deploys his tactics and strategies to try to disorient, conjure, seduce, and paralyze the minds and hearts of his subjects.
Seamus: Apart from one memorable story from Ray’s childhood, we don’t know much about what his life was like before he shows up in the play. Was there much talk during table work or in rehearsal about Ray’s unseen back story?
Carlos: We spent some time early in the rehearsal process talking about what his past life was and what led him to the present moment just before he commandeers the Chartreuse. We talked about how his past affects his current worldviews, desires, relationships, and most importantly his dreams as related to the immediate plot points of the play. Even though there’s only that one glimpse of Del Mar speaking of his past, which is revealed to Ruby and Sandy, that brief monologue is ripe with possibility. In short, he built himself from nothing with help from no one. He was transformed by that and now he yearns to rule over everything and everyone.
Seamus: Talk a little bit about Ray Del Mar’s look in King of the Sea. Where did that outstanding Kraven-the-Hunter-style fur fringe come from?
Carlos: I didn’t have much to do with it, but I’m a fan of the costume. Zack and Jason had the large fur collar and form fitting vest picked out from the beginning. The rest of the costume came together as we got closer to tech rehearsals. I haven’t read comics in ages, but recently a friend of mine who came to see the show pointed out that Del Mar’s costume bears a striking resemblance to Kraven from the Spider-Man comics. I know Jason is fan and collector of comics so I don’t know whether the outcome was merely a coincidence or if there was indeed some costuming inspiration from that particular Marvel villain.
Seamus: In addition to being a self-made pirate king, Ray Del Mar is an aspiring singer-songwriter. What was the process like for the music you perform in the show?
Carlos: It was very collaborative. Jason hummed a very rough sketch of how he envisioned [the musical number] “Las Palabras” should sound in our first table read and the song grew from there. I adapted the melody line a little bit in rehearsals and made up a melody for the introduction to the song. Initially, we weren’t sure if the introduction to “Las Palabras” was sung or spoken so I opted to make something up and sing it. After I settled on the melody Steve and I worked out the chords for the intro. We then added in Steve’s sketch for the verses of the song and later added Brad’s accordion accompaniment and a key change at the end to match Kaylynn’s range. The end result is a pretty fun musical interlude.
Seamus: Without giving specific plot stuff away, is there a particular scene that you look forward to doing every night?
Carlos: My first entrance / reveal at the beginning and the final poetry duel while simultaneously sword fighting.
Photo by Wilder Photography
