An Interview with Actor/Writer Vic Bagratuni

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Vic Bagratuni Headshot2

Haven’t heard of Vic Bagratuni? You will. Having seen this compelling actor’s stage performances twice, we reached out for an interview with Bagratuni for some insight into his current and former roles – and future plans.

Bagratuni followed a family legacy when he began his acting career. “My grandfather and great-grandfather were leading figures in acting and directing in the former Soviet Union. To live up to this legacy I was determined to become an actor.” He took part in productions in Germany and New York, where he studied at the Lee Strasberg Institute under Strasberg proteges Lola Cohen, Geoffrey Horne, Paul Calderon and Vincent D’Onofrio, as well as at the Actors Studio before moving to Los Angeles.

His favorite role thus far was being cast in Martin Scorsese’s Wolf of Wall Street. Scorsese is somewhat of an idol to Bagratuni. “Being in the film made me a better actor to be honest, and I’m humbled to have been given the experience.”

However, the role was not his most challenging. “I’ve taken on parts in independent productions that vary from challenges like learning sign language up to a level to carry on a conversation about philosophy in Waiting for a Train, and portraying a character who suffers from schizophrenia and is simultaneously dying of cancer in the play Parallel Stages. To create those characters, I had to dig deep.”

Bagratuni has new roles coming up including a role in Men of Granite starring Shirley MacLaine and William Hurt. The project is based on a true story about a high school basketball team that wins the State Championship. He’s also been cast in a television series, The Good Season, and collaborated on the independent project Sam’s Box, which has been making waves on the festival circuit.

“I’ve also been focusing on creating my own original content in theater and film, so I’m in the process of securing funding,” he relates.

His dream project? “My absolute dream would be a collaboration with Scorsese on The Irish Man or Sinatra.”

For inspiration, Bagratuni turns poetry, nature, music, and people watching. “ I like to observe human behavior and reproduce it artistically in my work.” The film that most influenced him is On the Waterfront; Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro, and Robert Mitchum remain favorite actors.

Although his training is in classical theater and his stage performances are electric, currently living in LA, Bagratuni sees himself doing more work in film and TV for now. “Of course I am staying open for whatever comes along,” he attests.

  • Genie Davis

The Strasberg Legacy – A play in 2 Acts written by Vic Bagratuni

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Not every young actor can successful star in and write an intense dramatic production, but Vic Bagratuni pulled off both roles as part of The Emerging Playwright Unit December 2015 at The Lee Strasberg Theater in New York. Starring as Gino, Bagratuni turned in a raw and vital performance in a solid drama directed by Allen B. Ford, The Strasberg Legacy.

The play takes viewers on a trip to Torre di Largo, Italy, with Gino (Bagratuni) and his family. Concerned by the nationalism he perceives in his travels, father Vito is appalled by the performance of a hypnotist named Luparello, who uses his mental powers to control his audience. Representing the control authoritarian leaders in Europe had over their followers, Luparello misuses his power, in an attempt to overcome his own strident inferiority. When Gino falls under Luparello’s sway, Vito is driven to violence. In the end, a native of the region kills the hypnotist, in a cathartic act that not only liberates Gino and his family, but also frees the audience from its role as followers of Luparello.

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An interesting concept that draws viewers into a metaphor for a political scenario all too relevant in our own current primary election landscape, it’s Bagratuni’s intense performance that elevates the production into something mesmerizing.

Closer than Ever – Musical Perfection at ICT Long Beach

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The International City Theatre in Long Beach is hosting a powerhouse of a musical through March 6th. And by musical, we mean all music, all the time.

There’s not a word of spoken dialog here, instead audiences find some twenty five story-songs composed by lyricist Richard Maltby Jr., with lush music by David Shire.  This off-Broadway classic is extremely well served by its vibrant and versatile cast members who combine strong voice with often heartbreaking emotion.

The stories these songs tell are of love – of life, of relationships -boyfriend/girlfriend/husband/wife, love lost, found, illicit, sexual, platonic, desired, and abandoned.

With no spoken dialog how does it work? Think vignettes, musical vignettes, think clear voices, spirited delivery, and a mix of the comic and the tragic. Highlights include the absolutely riveting tale of the loss of a marriage and the life of a liberated woman sung by Valerie Perri, “Life Story,” and the rageful, hilarious “You Wanna Be My Friend” sung by Katheryne Penny when she discovers her boyfriend just wants to be friends.

On the distaff side, the men in the cast are no musical slouches either. Kevin Bailey’s loving father/son tribute “If I Sing,” is also a heart-melter. Adam von Almen’s “One Of The Good Guys,” a tribute to fidelity and lost chances both, is also deeply moving.

And let’s not forget the music supporting these stand-out, indefatigable singers. Theater music director Gerald Sternbach on grand piano and Brad Babinski on bass.

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When viewing this production, we had no idea that the play was not an original production for ICT. The fact that it’s a classic piece of theater makes it no less vital – this “Closer than Ever” is “Fresher than Ever” thanks to its incredible cast and simply great score.

The International City Theatre is located in the Long Beach Performing Arts Center, 300 E. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach

  • Genie Davis; Photos by Tracey Roman

Dreamcatcher at the Fountain Theater

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The diminutive Fountain Theater may be small in size, but the performances and theme of its current offering, Dreamcatcher, are huge.
Written by Stephen Sachs, the theater’s artistic director, the play, running through March 31st, on the surface tells the story of Roy (Brian Tichnell) a passionate solar engineer bent on helping the environment, and Opal (Elizabeth Frances) the vibrant young Mojave woman with whom he’s having an affair. They find themselves at odds over the fact that Roy’s company is planning to build a massive solar energy project on ground that Opal has just discovered holds an ancient burial ground.
Beneath the surface of this dilemma is another: Opal may be pregnant, Roy may be married to someone else.
Taking place on a stage in the round that’s been transformed to a circle of desert that’s basically sand and rock, the sometimes steamy, always morally provocative dialog rockets the audience through the single act play constantly on edge. Who is right and who is wrong here? Are moral concerns to be put aside for the “greater good,” whether that is the ecology of the planet or the wife Roy left behind in Massachusetts? Are traditions, lives, past lives, animals, humans merely particles caught in a corporate machine, no matter how well-intentioned?  What is of value? An idea, a science, love, the hapless birds whose fiery deaths Roy jokes about having witnessed as they plummet into the heat of the solar panels?
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All of these questions simmer while Roy and Opal’s relationship boils over in a fight both physical and emotional, cathartic and heart-breaking. While the play may at times skim over the hard choices both the audience and the characters must make, the political, social, environmental, and moral choices and ambiguities are entirely relatable and extremely timely.
Take this one in – it’s the kind of tough, makes-you-think theater we need more of in a city of thoughtless celluloid super heroes.
The Fountain Theater is located at 5060 Fountain Ave. in Los Angeles.