Q&A with Patrick Daniel Smith, "Don" in RAPTURE, BLISTER, BURN

Tonight is opening night of Rapture, Blister, Burn, TIC's 33rd thought-provoking comedic production.

Get your tickets here: www.tictheater.com and 1-800-838-3006.

We have 9 shows, Oct. 26-Nov. 5 @ 7:30 PM, The Bridge Theatre @ Shetler Studios, 244 West 54th Street, 12th Floor, NYC.

We asked the devilishly charming Patrick Daniel Smith a few questions about the production... read on!

Your character, "Don," drinks a lot. What's your favorite drink?
This is a deceptively complex question, masked as simple small talk. The right alcohol can improve (or destroy) a meal, social situation, or life.

Take, for example, dinner with friends. Most (not all, but most) will be swilling American light beer while trying to enjoy a medium-rare filet at a $400-a-plate restaurant.

On the other end of things, most will not break out a $200 bottle of of wine while rooting for the Jets on a Sunday afternoon, as they finish out their inevitable 6-10 season, destined to watch the playoffs from their couches.

Taking a bottle of George Dickle to your friend's kid's 6th birthday party is probably not the best idea in the world, while white wine spritzers are not really going to cut it at the Tao Club at the Vegas Venetian.

The point is, one's favorite drink should be as flexible as life is varied. That said, a glass of Delirium Tremens can never do you wrong.

What do you have in common with your character?
I like to think I don't have this in common with Don, but to be honest, the more we have worked through the show, the more it scares me that I do. Maybe we all do.

I'm scared by the idea that we see embodied by Don, that you can just become complacent, either out of apathy or the realization that nothing you do matters, and essentially stop trying. At life. Not that Don is a lesser person because of this.

His marriage is slightly below league average, but he appears to be an attentive father. And being a dean of a college, even a less reputable one, is no small feat. But as evidenced by his dynamic with Catherine, he is capable of more.

Getting into this character has caused me to think about what choices I've made, what could have been done differently... it's led to all sorts of internal speculation.  ARGH.

What's the most formative book you read in college?
A People's History by Zinn. The idea of looking at the U.S. Civil War from the point of view of Irish immigrants or to stop thinking of Rockefeller and Carnegie as patron saints and look at them as who thy really were (robber barons exploiting the labor force and government), was so different from the reading I did in high school.

For the first time, it made me question the dogmatic faith I had put in other historical texts I had read before. This was a time before pervasive internet content, so one had to actively seek out dissenting voices. Zinn helped me develop a lifelong habit (for better or worse) of looking to question authority, to question commonly-held beliefs as not necessarily accurate or right.

Second choice: Watchmen. Because... awesome.