By Molly Van Der Molen, Photos by Kevin Russell Poole
This Summer, the wonderfully kind and generous Michael Ortiz sat down with me on a short and sweet zoom call for his loonnngg overdue Rap Sheet interview! Michael’s zoom call presence could only be described as magazine-ready! He was strapped in with a head-set mic, a smile on his face and, with ease, positioned himself in front of a leafy green plant-strewn white brick fireplace. His warm spirit and clever sense of humor were as abundant as his many talents! The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Michael: Ah, I love that! I love that little Zoom lady that says “Recording in progress …”
Molly: (Laughs) So shall I ask you your first question?
Michael: Let’s go for it!
Molly: ALRIGHT MICHAEL!!! Tell us. How do you identify as an artist?
Michael: I am an actor and a director primarily, I’ve dabbled a little bit in producing, and I really enjoy writing -
Molly: And you’re very good at it!
Michael: Thank you! I appreciate that! So, I’m very much an aspiring multi-multi hyphenate - like four hats - but in terms of actual professional credits, actor/director.
Molly: Nice. I feel like there should be an official role in theatre for “jack of all trades.” Great answer! Umm … let’s see. How’d you get involved with Breaking & Entering?
Michael: So, back in the day when Chloé Hayat was at The Flea Theatre, she was a resident writer for Serials, which was the late night show that I was always in (and I eventually went on to associate produce). So, we worked really closely together on that, and she started pulling me for readings that she was doing with Breaking & Entering, and then I did the first PEA Fest, and the rest is history.
Molly: And we love it! So what is your favorite thing that you’ve done with Breaking & Entering, so far? I mean you’ve been a part of the Breaking & Entering journey from the very beginning - like THE original resident!
Michael: Oh gosh! (laughs)
Molly: I mean it! We always love collaborating with you. And like, you know, starting a new theatre company can be a bit of a bumpy ride -
Michael: But we love the bumps!
Molly: We love ‘em and you’ve been there for them all! And all of the amazing, fun moments too! SO, yes! What’s your favorite - so far?
Michael: Oh gosh! My favorite so far … I’m just like going back in my mind … there’s been a lot! As far as shows go, I really loved the feeling and the energy of doing the first PEA Fest together. Just being able to be in that professional space at The Chain, all of us putting together this weekend festival, it just felt really celebratory, like we’ve been doing all these Rooftop Readings, and we made it to the same building as The Tank!! It felt like a real triumphant moment. It was like, the Collective is on the map! So that was awesome.
And then, I’ve loved the writer’s group. My writing is something that I really care about, and I really want to keep diving more into and exploring. Having a safe outlet to actually practice it has been awesome. I’ve gotten so much more writing done in the last year than the five before that! (laughs)
Molly: With your writing, what’s something you find yourself contemplating most often in your work? Like specific themes or imagery or anything. Whether it’s in your writing, or acting, or a piece you choose to direct.
Michael: I’m really drawn to genre pieces, and things that have an element of something that’s just slightly off-kilter. There’s this one writer who I’ve started working with during the pandemic actually, her name is Serena Norr, I’ve directed three shows of hers in the last year, and we met virtually for a festival. Which was super cool. I love her writing a lot because we have this similar sensibility where everything feels very straightforward, like normal comedy, but then it has this weird element that gets thrown in that makes it feel kind of Twilight Zone-y! I love things like that! I love characters like that! I love whenever there’s a completely normal setting but there’s just one person who’s like, a little unhinged. That stuff always really interests me. I grew up with a lot of sci-fi and horror, and sci-fi-horror comedies are really my favorite genre – which is also what drew me to Chloé’s work when we were doing Serials.
Molly: I was just gonna say that! It makes sense why you two found each other. But also, I think of you as that type of actor that you’d want to call for those off-kilter types of roles.
Michael: That’s awesome, I love that! (Laughs) I love that kind of work.
Molly: Ah, amazing! So, what is your not-so-secret artistic obsession?
Michael: My immediate thought is Dungeons and Dragons. I think it’s awesome. I started playing it right after I moved up here with some people that I met taking improv classes at UCB and it was one of those things that I always thought seemed really cool, but never got into. But DND is kind of in a renaissance right now because of like Stranger Things and Game of Thrones that have encouraged people to be super nerdy. And it does feel a little artistic in a way, like you get to flex those skills – it’s all improv. My best friend Bobby, you know Bobby(member of the writers group), and I are actually writing a play manual based on Avatar the Last Airbender and it’s like 80 pages right now.
(After a brief exchange where it’s made clear that Molly really doesn’t know what a play manual is Michael asks if she can make him host - which she also doesn’t know how to do - and then he proceeds to share his incredible, imaginative and THOROUGH eighty page play manual. It is very cool and as Michael says it is most definitely “robust”.)
Molly: Wow! That is seriously incredible. And so much work, geez! It’s also so interesting that you approach DND as improv, because obviously it really is. But also, what a great way of immersing yourself into something that recruits your other skills too.
Michael: Yeah! And when you’re the Dungeon Master, the person who’s running the campaign, there’s an insane amount of writing too. While we spent a lot of time locked indoors it’s been great to use DND as an excuse to be anywhere else, doing literally anything, which has been great..
Molly: So now that you’re out in the world, do you have a dream project you’d love to direct?
Michael: I directed a show last month that went up at The Players Theatre in the West Village, and it was great. It’s been a while since I directed in a space, cause I’ve been doing a lot of virtual stuff which has got me playing a lot with tech elements like sound, so I like projects that are very sound-heavy. I don’t know about a specific project right now, but I would love to do some sort of immersive sci-fi piece in a space that plays heavy with sound and makes the audience feel like they’re sort of displaced, or somewhere else entirely!
Molly: That’s a perfect blend of your interest in creating fictional podcasts and you as a theatre maker in general. What are you working on now and where can we catch you next?
Michael: I’m not slated for anything else right now. I’m trying to get back into the swing of auditioning; but on the non-artistic side I’ve been really immersed in this work with The Fled Collective, with the former artists of The Flea. Since everything that happened last year we’re trying to see what we can do as a collective for the rights of non-union artists, especially BIPOC and queer artists. And trying to figure out what a future could look like, as well as the possibility of a reparative relationship with The Flea Theatre. So, that’s something I’ve been very actively involved in over the past year.
Molly: Wow. You’re gonna be a household name of the American theatre someday.
Michael: Ah, stop that!
Molly: I’m serious! It’s gonna happen.
Michael: I hope you’re right!
Molly: I’m putting that into the universe!
Michael: Please yes, throw it out there!