How to Work in Atlanta Theater Year-Round

Rare is the Atlanta stage actor able to make a living solely as an actor. Even rarer is one who is able to support himself and his family in Atlanta theater for more than three decades.

Best known for his portrayal of Ebenezer Scrooge for 16 years in the Alliance Theatre’s “A Christmas Carol,” Chris Kayser has been a full-time actor since the 1980s. Returning to this year’s production running Nov. 19–Dec. 24, this time as the ghost of Jacob Marley (a role he also played in 1995 and 2001), Kayser has participated in the holiday tradition for 21 of its 26 years.

“I wanted to make absolutely sure I never had a bad year,” he says. “I saw that happen to some other actors where they’d stay too long and drag themselves through the run of a show. It was important for me to lead by example and do my best in every show. To make sure I never had a bad year, I decided to stop playing Scrooge in 2013. Marley’s a really important role and it’s fun. Another great thing is I get to sing in this fantastic choir of wonderful singers from all around Atlanta.”

Charles Dickens’ timeless tale has been something of a holiday miracle for Kayser, who has two children born two years apart, both on Dec. 23. Though he no longer feels the same financial responsibility now that his children are adults, the stability of such a steady role has certainly been a welcome gift each holiday season.

“This job has been such a blessing to have when I needed it so bad,” he says. “I was so lucky to have two steady gigs, both during tough times for actors. I was a resident artist at Georgia Shakespeare for 25 years, so I always had great work in the summertime. Then I had ‘A Christmas Carol,’ so I always had work at Christmas. I just needed a fall show, winter show, and spring show to fill up my entire year.”

Thanks to the strength of his résumé and his willingness to play a variety of characters, obtaining additional stage roles hasn’t been difficult for Kayser. Breaking into the local film and television industry, however, has proven to be a challenge.

“When Georgia Shakespeare abruptly closed at the end of summer of 2014, I was suddenly out of work for five months, which had never happened to me,” he says. “I tried to make myself into a film and television actor and my agents got me a lot of auditions for good parts. But I never got cast, so now I’m back in theater.”

Kayser, who also supplements his career by narrating audiobooks, admits that he has been very fortunate to have had the opportunities he’s had. He has a degree in French and was pursuing a career as a professional tennis player when his first acting role was thrust upon him; another actor dropped out of a play Kayser’s girlfriend was in.

“I just happened to be with her in the director’s office and he couldn’t find anybody,” recalls Kayser, who has never taken an acting class. “He looked at me and said, ‘What about you?’ He shoved the script across the table and I read the scene. He was just frustrated enough that he said, ‘It’s not a very big part. I’ll show you what to do. You’re boyfriend and girlfriend, so hopefully there’ll be some chemistry there already. I’ll pay you $50 a week.’ I was beyond thrilled because I was a professional actor.”

That thrill never went away. Kayser takes the stage at Aurora Theatre for “Wit” Jan. 14–Feb. 7. Though “A Christmas Carol” has defined his career to a large degree, Kayser credits his longevity to a willingness to be diverse in the characters he plays.

“Even though I’m not really a singer or dancer, I work at singing and dancing so as to be more hireable,” he says. “I worked on being able to render accents and made sure I didn’t get pigeonholed as one thing or another. Any time you have a success, people tend to want to repeat that success. You have to go after roles to prove that you’re versatile and can do different kinds of roles. In the long run, that makes for a long career.”