MSUM alumnus and Twin Cities’ rising theater star: Tyler Michaels
MINNEAPOLIS – If you don’t know his name by now, you will soon.
Tyler Michaels’ star is rising fast and it doesn’t take long to figure out why.
The 26-year-old Bloomington, Minn. native has the ability to captivate an audience from the moment he steps on stage – or more likely of late, propels onto it.
His characters on stage are a complete 180 from the fresh-faced kid you’d see walking to the Guthrie on a cold Wednesday afternoon. And that’s exactly the way Michaels wants it.
“I don’t want to be myself on stage. I think that’d be boring. I want to be, like, weird characters. I want to be able to do magical things because I think that’s what theater can do, is be magical,” he said.
Michaels excels in weird. As the contorting, scantily clad Emcee in Peter Rothstein’s “Cabaret” Michaels had the chance to use the acrobatic skills in his tool chest alongside a killer set of pipes and a slew of twisty, elaborate movements.
“I gravitate towards characters that are very physical, something that can challenge me, physically,” he said.
With the Emcee and now, as Puck in Joe Dowling’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” at the Guthrie, Michaels has made local audiences gravitate towards weird, as well. His performances give people reason to stand up and take notice, most commonly in the form of an ecstatic standing ovation. It’s also why he was honored with the 2014 Ivey Emerging Artist Award and has been recently dubbed best actor by several local publications.
For Michaels, it’s just the natural progression of a life that’s truly evolved on stage.
“I think I was actually a pretty shy kid,” he said of his childhood. “I remember my parents always telling me I would hide behind their leg.”
All it took was a tiny part in a local production of “Annie” for Michaels to discover his calling.
“My first show was in middle school,” he said. “And I had two lines. I said, ‘Apples! Apples! Two for a nickel, apples!’ I tell everybody that was it. I was hooked from there on. Selling apples on a Bloomington stage.”
He bolstered his singing chops throughout high school, performing in show choir and any musical that he could. After studying every aspect of theater at Minnesota State University-Moorhead, Michaels eventually found himself earning a living wage from the craft he loved.
He worked alongside his idols, like Keith Rice at Chanhassen Dinner Theater and Sally Wingert through Theater Latte Da.
“There’s just nothing like that,” he said. “To actually act with someone who you looked up to, someone that you sort of held as an idol and thought, ‘Oh, if only I could obtain that.’ It’s pretty cool to be a part of that.”
He’s played everything from a disturbed, panicked adolescent living through nineteenth century Germany (Moritz, in “Spring Awakening”) to a Prince that unknowingly marries a mermaid (Eric, in “The Little Mermaid”).
His current star power has him reciting Shakespeare six days a week before he trades his prose for pixie dust. You’ll find Michaels at the Guthrie through March; then he’ll star as Peter Pan in the new musical at the Children’s Theater in April. Another role that will, no doubt, make use of his aerial talents.
“There’s nothing cooler than hanging off the ground,” he said. “Not having your feet touch the ground, there’s just, there’s nothing like it.”
With plenty of options, Michaels says he’s not looking to leave the Twin Cities any time soon — though he said he’s open to anything.
“I think the community I have here is super supportive. I love it and Minnesota’s my home. I don’t think that will ever change,” he said. “But I’m a never-say-no kind of guy.”
For someone whose grown up not knowing anything but the robust Twin Cities theater community, he’s biased, but Michaels says it would be a hard sell for him to trade it.
“This community is amazingly supportive,” he said. “I don’t think there has ever been a time when I didn’t feel supported as an artist here. That’s one of the big reasons I don’t want to let go of that or leave it behind.”
Michaels says he’s grateful for the positive reception he’s been given and hopes he’s able to keep putting that energy out there. And while he’s certainly conquering the stage now, he can’t help but look ahead. Beyond planning a wedding — he recently proposed to his girlfriend over the holidays — he’s also got his eye on creation as well as interpretation.
“I would really like to not only perform theater but create theater. I think that’s sort of like, my next trajectory,” he said. “I think it’s important to not only perform these pieces that have already been around for many years or are being made now but also prolong the life of theater and see what else lies out there.”
Catch Michaels in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” at the Guthrie until March 29. You can also see him as “Peter Pan” at the Children’s Theater starting on April 21.
Watch the video here.