Dan on Pinoy co-stars in Tarzan: We’re like family

 There’s a Broadway actor currently creating a lot of buzz in the local theater community these days. His name is Dan Domenech. Dan is 100 percent Puerto Rican, but was born in Brooklyn, New York and raised on Long Island. Funnily enough, he describes himself as being “like any other kid in school,” except that he had “an unhealthy obsession” with musical theater.

Dan got his first taste of performing at a talent show in fourth grade. In seventh grade, he did his first production, Annie, which he says his chorus teacher forced him to do. He didn’t want to do it, but when he tried it out, he fell in love with it and that love affair eventually turned into a life-long obsession.

“I fell in love with it not only because of the actual show but because of the theater community. People are so open and accepting,” says Dan, who has since gone on to work on Broadway and in Hollywood.

In 2006, he auditioned for and won a role in Sister Act the Musical, which was choreographed by Marguerite Derricks, the only choreographer to win three consecutive Emmy awards for her work. After Sister Act ended, Derricks invited Dan to head out to Los Angeles to try his luck. In L.A., Dan got to work on what he calls “some amazing projects” and even landed a guest, non-singing spot in two episodes of Glee. He was in Adele’s music video for Chasing Pavements and was also part of the MTV Movie Awards and the Oscars, where he worked with Hugh Jackman. “How many people can say that?” quips the good-looking dancer and actor.

His work has taken Dan practically all around the United States — he has traveled to 49 out of the 50 states — and to different countries. The Philippines is his eighth country so far. He’s actually here to play the lead role in Viva-Atlantis’ staging of Tarzan, the stage musical based on Edgar Rice Burrough’s novel about a boy raised by apes in the jungle. The play, which is on its last weekend run at the Meralco Theater, also stars Rachelle Ann Go in the role of Jane. This is Dan’s first time to be in the Philippines, and to work with a purely Filipino cast and crew, but he’s enjoying it already.

“I love it!” he says enthusiastically. “I love it because it’s all the same. Everyone comes in with the same work ethic, ready and wanting to do a good job.”

He is most excited about working with Rachelle Ann, who he describes as “perfect, and everything a leading man could want in a leading lady: Professional, kind, comes in with a great work ethic, she walks in ready to just do the job, and she also has fun. She’s not a diva. She’s the nicest person you could imagine — and that helps a lot because I think when two leads get along, it translates in the show and audiences see that. If they aren’t getting along outside of the show, you see that in their performance.”

Being someone who has worked on Broadway and in Hollywood, Dan is often asked for advice to give to Filipino actors who want to do the same. Dan’s advice basically boils down to a familiar phrase that is the slogan of a world-famous sports brand: “Just do it.” And when you think about it, the phrase does make a lot of sense.

“Just keep doing shows back to back as much as you can, there’s a lot you can learn in the classroom. But until you get in the theater, until you get onstage, you’re not going to get to where you want to be,” he says. “And when you get in a show, find yourself a mentor, a performer that you look up to, that you want to be like. And talk to them about what they’re doing, how they got here, what they think about when performing and practice, practice, practice.”

Personally, Dan thought about theater every day for so many years until the point where he didn’t care anymore what happened. “And when I stopped caring about what happened, that’s when everything happened,” he laughs.

And if by any chance other opportunities should materialize for him, he’d be willing to consider coming back to the country or extend his stay. “I love it here, everyone’s so nice,” enthuses Dan. “I’ve gotten to meet some really great people, I feel like we’re a little family already, and with all the traveling I’ve done, I’ve realized that the world isn’t as big as everyone thinks it is. So staying or coming back here? Definitely, I’d be willing to consider it.”