PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Trinity Repertory Company actor Joe Wilson Jr. will be the understudy for Denzel Washington in a Broadway production of Eugene O'Neill's "The Iceman Cometh," beginning in preview performances March 22 and opening April 26.

"It was an opportunity I couldn't pass up," Wilson said in a phone interview.  "I couldn't pass up the chance to learn the play, a play I'd like to perform someday. And to be in the same room with [director] George Wolfe, who's won multiple Tonys, and Denzel Washington, one of the great actors of all time ... in this business, we don't get these chances very often."

Wilson, 46, came to Trinity in 2005 and has played a wide variety of memorable roles, including Ebenezer Scrooge in Trinity's most recent production of "A Christmas Carol." Wilson said he'll be moving to New York until "The Iceman Cometh" finishes its run in July, but then plans to return to Trinity.

"I can't do my best work at Trinity unless I'm willing to embrace risk in my own life," he said.

Wilson said he was contacted by The Public Theater, which is producing "The Iceman Cometh," to apply for an understudy role, originally for the part of Joe Mott, played by Michael Potts. At the time, Wilson was in the middle of "A Christmas Carol" and couldn't get to New York, so The Public asked him to make a tape.

Wilson figured he had no shot. "No one hires off a tape," he said. But when The Public saw the tape, they asked Wilson if he would consider understudying Washington, who will play the lead role of Hickey. 

It was a daunting proposition. "The Iceman Cometh" is a three-and-a-half hour play, and just learning the lines is no easy task.  There's a chance that Wilson, as an understudy, will never get on stage in front of an audience. And if he does, people who had come to see Denzel Washington won't be happy to see him.

"Of course, they will want to see Mr. Washington," Wilson said. "But they will also not want me to fail. My cast, the audience, they will want me to succeed."

—asmith@providencejournal.com

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