Bridgeport native John Ratzenberger returns to SHU stage
FAIRFIELD — Sacred Heart University alum John Ratzenberger, best known for his work in “Cheers” and 22 Disney Pixar movies, is returning to his roots, taking the stage at the Edgerton Center for the Performing Art as Scrooge in “A Christmas Carol” from Dec. 16 through 18.
“I'm thrilled to visit my alma mater and work with Sacred Heart's talented theatre students,” Ratzenberger said. “This is a great way to get into the holiday spirit.”
Tickets for “A Christmas Carol” can be purchased at the Edgerton Center website, edgertoncenter.org.
Ratzenberger is a Bridgeport native, growing up in Black Rock. He said he grew up along the water in boats, even previously wanting to be a tugboat captain.
But he's no stranger to the stage.
Approaching college age, he said he originally wanted to go into the Marine Corps. But, one of his friends that he worked with at the Grand Union in Fairfield talked him into going to college. He took the entrance exam, got in, became an English major and got his start in theater.
“As a matter of fact, the stage I'm working on now doing Scrooge is exactly the same stage I started on,” he said.
Ratzenberger said he originally didn't have plans of becoming an actor. While there, though, he met a man named Ray Hassett.
After graduation, Ratzenberger said he was a carpenter in Vermont. Hassett moved to England to become a social worker, and after visiting Hassett for a week, he decided to stay. The two started a comedy duo, performing across Europe as “Sal's Meat Market” for eight years.
Ratzenberger moved to Los Angeles after that, and the rest is history. He said he has been back and forth to Connecticut frequently over the years, with some of his family still living here.
This time, he's back in Connecticut because Executive Director of the Performing Arts Department Jerry Goehring invited him to return to SHU and play Scrooge.
This is his first time starring in “A Christmas Carol.” He joined the cast on Dec. 5, though the others started earlier. He quickly got into character, though.
“Scrooge is that kind of character that ... always gets up on the wrong side of the bed,” he said. “His bed doesn't have a right side.”
So, to prepare for the role, Ratzenberger said he simply also gets up on the wrong side of the bed.
“We're still in the process,” he said about preparing to play Scrooge.
Since arriving on campus, he said he has been impressed by the talent level in the student actors he has been working with.
“I think everybody in Connecticut should be very proud of that university — the way they've grown and the graduates that they're sending out into the world,” he said.
He also is excited to be back where he began.
“This is the way I started,” Ratzenberger said about being on SHU's stage again. “It's very nostalgic for me and it's very heartening to see how much talent and how seriously [the students] take the work. It's very gratifying.”
This year, the production will benefit SHU's theater program with all of the proceeds going towards it.
Ratzenberger said the arts were an integral part of education.
“We use a different part of our brain in the arts,” Ratzenberger said. “Everything starts with the arts and grows into other things.”
Architecture and design, for example, are rooted in the arts, he said. And for aspiring actors, his advice is to go out into the world and do different types of work, like carpentry or road paving. Having skills of their own, he said, is important.
“That's one of my advice that I give to all young actors. Get a skill that you own, and then go be an actor,” he said. “It becomes part of you.”