Local Talent: James Sugg
If you were looking for James Sugg on any given day in the past year, you might have found him teaching drama to students in Afghanistan … or composing the score for a new Mark Twain musical, A Murder, A Mystery & A Marriage … or egging on an audience as the front man for the funk band the Brothers Suggarillo … or playing a man of the cloth in The Crucible for the Actors Theater of Louisville … or wielding an accordion and a toilet plunger to provide sound effects for Pig Iron Theatre Company.
Even in this age of multi-taskers, the scope of Sugg’s creative energy is astounding. Trained as a classical singer, he arrived in Philly from New York in 1998 to act in a Pig Iron production and found himself doing double duty as the company’s sound guy. Creating sound led to creating music, especially after Sugg discovered an affinity for composing. Four Barrymore Awards followed, along with this year’s F. Otto Haas Emerging Theatre Artist Award. “This circle of possibility, with composition and sound design and acting, has given me a niche in the community,” he says. In his current project, the Mark Twain musical opening April 29th at the Delaware Theatre Company, Sugg sees a different kind of possibility: “If this piece goes well, many other theaters could do it. It’s exciting to write something that will have a life beyond me.” $25-$45. April 29th to May 14th. Delaware Theatre Company, 200 Water Street, Wilmington. Times vary. 302-594-1100.
