2013 CCHS grad travels with ‘Book of Mormon’
When Craig Franke entered high school he started to get serious about paving his professional future. A Drama Club member starting in second grade, he developed a passion for the stage and studied musical theater at Indiana University He aspired to one day perform in the Broadway show, “Book of Mormon.” Although working off-Broadway, the 2013 Cornwall High School graduate is currently living his dream and is in the midst of a 50-city tour.
Franke’s first show, as a Cornwall Elementary School student, was “Oliver Twist.” He and his friends thought it would be fun to join the Drama Club, but it wasn’t until he made the transition from middle to high school that he started to think seriously about acting as a professional career.
“I think I was bit by the bug because I had a lot of friends who did it and that was a really great way for us to spend time together,” Franke said. “I enjoyed being on stage.”
The young thespian started investigating what he would need to do in order to study theater in school. During his senior year he was involved in a giant audition process for college acceptance.
While in high school, Franke appeared in “Les Misérables,” “Guys and Dolls,” “Urinetown,” and “How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying.”
“Sweet Charity,” and “Into the Woods,” were among his favorite college performances. During his junior and senior years, Franke was hired to perform in a Summer Stock in Montana and performed in a number of shows including “Young Frankenstein,” “Grease,” “Jersey Boys,” and “Shrek.” He notes it was one of his favorite experiences.
Franke graduated college in 2017 and made the jump into regional theater. He was hired to perform in the off-Broadway show, “The Imbible,” which he describes as a “drunk Shakespeare type show” where the audience was served three drinks during the performance. He played the lead who served as the narrator discussing the history of drinking and how society evolved because of alcohol. He stayed with the production until March 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the entertainment industry. The show unfortunately closed as a result, but as soon as restrictions were lifted, Franke continued with regional theater for about a year before being hired for the “Book of Mormon” national tour.
Rehearsals started in August and Franke has now been with the show eight months and visited over 20 cities. His contract ends in July, but Franke is undecided if he’ll remain with the tour and sign a new contract.
“It’s a mutual decision,” he said. “They can decide not to renew my contract, but it’s in everyone’s best interest to want to renew. They don’t want to go through the difficulties of finding another actor. If I were a betting man, I think my contract will be renewed, then it’s up to me to decide if I want to stay. I assume, for a while, I probably will.”
For his part in the production, Franke learned three different parts. For most performances he plays Elder White, but he’s also the understudy for Elder Christ and Elder McKinnley.
“That is probably one of the most difficult parts, especially early on,” Franke said of learning lines for three characters. “As the show continued, if I have to do Elder Christ the next night, a part of me is like, ‘oh shoot, I should probably look at those lines.’ But being in the show and hearing those lines spoken every night, at this point I can trust it’s there.”
Franke admits the initial rehearsals were strenuous as it was difficult learning three parts and committing all the lines to memory. To date, he has yet to mix up one character’s lines for another, but there have been occasions when he started to perform the wrong choreography.
Performances are typically Tuesday through Sunday with Monday being a travel day. There’s one show at night during the week and two shows on Saturdays and Sundays.
Since a majority of the cast has been with the tour for a while, there’s no need for rehearsals unless a cast member leaves and a new performer requires a dress rehearsal after learning lines on their own.
If the tour remains in the city for a week, Franke uses some of his downtime to explore whatever city he’s visiting, that’s assuming he has the energy to do so as performances end at 11 p.m. He does have a friend on the tour who enjoys playing tennis. The two try to find a public court to play. It helps Franke keep active and serves as a means to check out the sights on the way to the courts. One of the benefits of being on tour, he said, is being able to try different food most popular to a particular region.
One of the most frustrating parts about being on the road all the time is the feeling of living out of a suitcase all the time.
“You’re never in one place long enough to unpack and put all your clothes into the hotel dresser. It’s just easier to leave it in the suitcase. As difficult as it can be sometimes, I feel I’m in a very fortunate position. Not many people are paid to do shows. I’m seeing all these places for free. I had never been to California but I went for free because the show took me there. I try to focus on the positives.”
Although he doesn’t currently have a lease, Franke does call New York City home where he has a girlfriend waiting for him to return. His parents still live in Cornwall, so during breaks or layoffs he’ll come visit the Hudson Valley.
After his time on the tour is over, Franke hopes to return to the city and either find another tour, or perhaps land a job on Broadway. In the meantime, he’s focused on enjoying the tour.
“I really like this show. It was one of my favorite shows when I was in high school. It was one of the shows that opened when I first started getting serious about this. It’s a full-circle moment to be doing a show that really inspired me to become serious about theater.”
