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Photo Paul Urban
Amir Darvish plays Freddie Mercury and says the biggest compliment he’s received is Queen fans telling him he brought Mercury back to life for them. |
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Amir Darvish revives the Queen, Freddie Mercury
By Ann Wood
Banner Staff
When Iranian-born Amir Darvish prepared for the role of Freddie Mercury — the frontman of Queen whose sexuality surprised a good number of metal fans when he died of AIDS in 1991 — he watched concert footage and videos and the question came to mind: How was anyone surprised that the flamboyant, leather-clad heavy metal rock star was gay?
“Come on. How could you not know?” he says by phone from his New York home. “You knew that he was a little crazy on stage, but that wasn’t a factor. It wasn’t like he had a gay following. It was just disregarded. It didn’t matter.”
Darvish brings the lead singer back to life in “Mercury: The Afterlife and Times of a Rock God,” written and directed by Charles Messina. The piece was originally conceived for a one-man show festival in New York and was so well-received it moved Off-Broadway to the Triad Theater. Now it’s coming to town, for a limited time only. “Mercury” shows at 7 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, Aug. 30 through Sept. 2, with a special benefit performance on Tuesday, Aug. 29, at ArtHouse, 214 Commercial St., Provincetown. Tickets are $20. Call (866) 811-4111 for more information.
Darvish, 32, says he was only a teenager when Queen was in its heyday and really didn’t know too much about the band. While he agrees Mercury was an amazing performer, that’s not really what the show is about. Rather, it’s about the man’s life. In the play, Mercury asks a God unimpressed with his celebrity for redemption. In his struggle to make sense of his grim fate, Mercury realizes that fame, fortune and talents are not enough to sustain him.
Darvish auditioned for the part — even though he didn’t know much about Mercury — after a number of other actors had already been rejected.
“I thought that it’d be an amazing challenge,” Darvish says. “I had heard of Charles Messina before because he’s an amazing writer and director and I wanted to work with him.”
When asked why he thinks he got the part — Mercury’s Persian and Darvish physically resembles him somewhat — he says that wasn’t the main reason.
“Obviously, there was some resemblance,” he says. “I think the common threads here are insecurities. That’s how I feel I relate to him. There are things that we necessarily hide and don’t share with others.
“It was really kind of scary, actually, you know, because he’s real,” Darvish adds. “It had to be based on the reality and the character and the physicality and movement so you had to be able to replicate that.”
Darvish, who grew up in Boston, says that in fourth grade he was “bitten by the acting bug” when he was cast in a school play. He studied acting at Brookline High School and then went on to Brandeis, where he double-majored in theater and psychology. Darvish worked in Boston theaters, gained the experience he needed there, and moved to New York City eight or nine years ago. He says performing in a one-man show is fun because the audience is focused on you the entire time.
“It’s a great show and you’re dealing with an amazing man. It’s great. I’m glad to get his story out there,” Darvish says. “I think it should be seen and it needs to be seen because I don’t think people know about his life and know about his past as a gay rock star icon.”
awood@provincetownbanner.com
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In the Arts
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Aug 24th, 2006