THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, March 7, 1996 TAG: 9603050082
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JOAN C. STANUS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 92 lines
BETTY XANDER KNOWS all too well what terrors child actors can be.
``I've worked with kids who have driven the adult members of the cast plum crazy,'' Xander, artistic director of the Generic Theater's current production, said with a shiver, as if recalling a specific incident.
So when she got ready to cast the role of the bookish, pre-pubescent Charlie in the award-winning play ``Marvin's Room,'' Xander worried.
She needn't have. Even though the play is a demanding work to tackle for any actor, her choice to play Charlie, ninth-grader Will Cervarich, is a ``natural-born actor'' with the manners and professionalism of an adult twice his age.
``If all adult actors were like this kid ... it would make my life as a director a heck of a lot easier,'' Xander said. ``He's always here on time, and prepared. And he has really layered this character, who is not on stage that much or has that many lines. Will has really fleshed this role out, and he's done it on his own.''
In other words, ``he's been an absolute joy to work with,'' Xander gushed.
A blond, curly haired teen with braces, Will takes the accolades in stride. Xander is, after all, an ally of sorts.
``My Mom wanted me to get my hair cut ... because it was in my eyes,'' Cervarich, a Governor's School for the Arts student, explained with a shy grin. ``I said, `Too bad. The director won't let me ... she wants it like this for the play.' ''
A poignant, yet comical, tribute about the power of love among family members, ``Marvin's Room'' is the story of a family that comes together to face a crisis. The main character, Bessie, cares for her bed-ridden father, Marvin, who has been dying with cancer for two decades, and her aging aunt, who suffers with a collapsed vertebrae. When Bessie is diagnosed with leukemia, her sister Lee returns home with her two teenaged sons to be tested as possible bone marrow transplant donors. Charlie is the youngest son, a mama's boy from a broken home who buries himself in books, yet has trouble with school.
As the only child actor in the cast, Will is about as removed from Charlie as a young man can get. A strong student who takes academic classes at Maury in the morning and attends the Governor's School for theater classes each afternoon, Cervarich budgets time for schoolwork as well as a slew of extracurricular activities - piano, a church youth group, computers and rehearsal for whatever plays he's involved in.
Even though he says life can get hectic, ``Being in plays helps me stay focused. If I'm doing a show, I know I have to stay on top of my schoolwork, so I do.''
The only son in a close-knit West Ghent family, Cervarich is not sure where he got his love for the theater. His parents always took him and his sister to theatrical productions, and somewhere along the line, Will began to crave the spotlight.
``I like people clapping for me,'' he said simply.
Gail Cervarich admits her son has ``been entertaining his classes for years.'' But Will, she said, didn't take acting seriously until five years ago, when he accompanied his younger sister, Amory, to an audition for the Hurrah Players. On a whim, Will, too, decided to audition.
``I remember thinking he'd be anxious, but he wasn't,'' Gail said. ``He just did it.''
Amory didn't get a part, but Will did, as a coyote.
That started a string of roles for the Hurrah Players. He was featured in ``Aladdin,'' ``Tom Sawyer'' and several musical revues. In one, he soloed as a rock 'n' rolling, piano-pounding Jerry Lee Lewis.
Those roles led to professional ones in the Virginia Stage Company's ``Peter Pan,'' and in a traveling Broadway show, ``Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Coat,'' which was presented at Chrysler Hall.
Last fall he won a coveted spot as a student in the Governor's School theatrical program. Since then, he has auditioned - and snared - several parts for local productions.
``This is basically my life,'' he said. ``I just want to be good ... so I'm pretty dedicated to it.''
So much so that he already is planning a career in the theater, even though he knows it will be a rocky one, full of heartache and stiff competition.
But if Xander's intuition is right, Cervarich's future just might be paved in Oscars and Tonys.
``He was so good, I cast him on the spot,'' she said. ``He's got such presence ... and what he already knows to do with his body is remarkable. At 14, he's awesome to watch.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo by GARY C. KNAPP
Will Cervarich plays Charlie in the Generic Theater's ``Marvin's
Room.''
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KEYWORDS: PROFILE THEATER by CNB