Actor Grey Henson visits family, Macon theater roots

Grey Henson sat on the second row at Theatre Macon on a recent Friday night. His mother, Paige, was next to him.

His brother, Jack, also was in the house that night, so it was a family affair at the sold-out performance.

I’m not sure how many of the 48 young people in the cast of “Newsies: The Musical” were aware that a Broadway actor was in the audience that night. Maybe word trickled backstage before the show and ran footloose up the steps to the dressing rooms.

Grey glanced at the playbill. There was a senior from Northside High School and an 11-year-old student from Madison Dance Studio in the cast. There was a young man studying computer science at Georgia Tech in the role of Bunsen. And a young lady who is a psychology major at Georgia Southern in the ensemble.

He did not recognize any of the names or faces.

“It was weird seeing a show at Theatre Macon where I didn’t know a single actor or actress on the stage,’’ he said.

Actually, he did see someone he knew.

Himself.

Yes, Grey Henson saw a little of Grey Henson in every song and dance step. It took him back to the time when he tapped his way through “Dames at Sea” on that same stage. He reminisced about playing Marius in the Youth Actors Company production of “Les Miserables,” a life-changing experience for almost everyone in the cast.

He could never forget his first romantic lead as “Curly” in “Oklahoma.’’ He carried the traditional theatre expression for good luck – “break a leg’’ – a little too far when he severely sprained his ankle on opening night. He followed his curtain call by spending three hours in the emergency room.

But he didn’t miss a single performance for the entire run. He vowed to do it on crutches in a wheelchair. The bone could have been sticking out of his leg and he would have been out there singing “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning’.’’

Now, as someone who turned 34 last month, his advice to young performers is to find what makes their heart race, what brings them joy. It’s called passion. Grit. Your calling in life.

“I got emotional watching all those kids on the same stage where I fell in love with acting,’’ he said. “There was a big part of me that was jealous of their joy and their confidence. There was just an ease to all of them. It’s the privilege of youth.

“They were doing it on a scale which seems so big but was comforting, small and safe. Watching them reminded me of why I do it. And every time I perform professionally for thousands of people, I want to do it like I did on that stage.’’

Next month will mark his 10th anniversary living in New York City. He has appeared on Broadway as Elder McKinley in “The Book of Mormon.’’ He was Damian Hubbard in “Mean Girls,’’ a role that earned him a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor.

This past January, he completed a two-year run in “Shucked,’’ followed by a two-week stint as Michael in “tick, tick … Boom!” at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. It was directed by Neil Patrick Harris (Yes, Doogie Howser.)

His television credits include appearing in episodes of “Suburgatory,’’ “Girls5eva” and with Tina Fey (who wrote “Mean Girls”) in a “Saturday Night Live’’ skit. A major announcement about his next Broadway role is expected in the next few months.

“I’ve heard famously that after you’ve lived in New York City for 10 years, that’s when you’re a true New Yorker,’’ Grey said. “But I don’t feel like it. There’s not a day of my life that I don’t think of Macon, Georgia. I have always felt a tether. It was such a great place to grow up. It will always be home to me. When I come back to Macon, there is a feeling that is unmatched.’’

From his family’s home on North Avenue, no stage was too large for his aspirations. His parents, Paige Henson and the late Johnny Henson, named their youngest son after Thomas Gray, one of the most influential British poets of the 18th century, whose most famous work is “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard.’’ (Only the Hensons spelled Grey with an “e” instead of an “a.’’ )

He always went by Grey, not Thomas, except when the teacher called roll on the first day of school.

“For a week in middle school, I had everybody call me Tommy. But it didn’t last,’’ he said, laughing.

He made his stage debut as a 6-year-old in “Peter Pan.” His most memorable moment came in a scene when Wendy was on the ground, surrounded by the Lost Boys of Neverland.

“I noticed her foot was in the wrong place, so I gently moved it with my foot into the right spot,’’ he said.

Everyone in the audience got a kick out of it, too.

It started on the dance floor. At age 4, those floors were wherever he went around the house. When Paige tried to sign him up for dance lessons, the first studio turned him away. He was too young. He would be the only boy in a class of little girls.

So she took him to Jane Madison at the Madison Dance Studio. He learned jazz, tap and ballet. He transitioned into theatre, but dance was his focus. He had aspirations to become a professional dancer.

After his sophomore year at Stratford Academy, he attended the North Carolina School of the Arts to participate in an intensive summer ballet program.

He enjoyed it, but he also began to realize how dance was more restrictive than acting. You have to be a certain body type and follow a regiment.

He observed the theatre kids at the camp. He was jealous.

“I was drawn to the kids who were acting,’’ he said. “It just seemed they were having more fun than I was.’’

The biggest influences in his hometown were his dance instructor, Jane Madison, along with Theatre Macon’s Jim Crisp and Katy Carr. Jim is the former artistic director and Katy was director of the Youth Actors Company.

And, of course, there was his mother. They are very close. She is a longtime champion of the Macon arts community.

It was Paige who encouraged him to attend college 733 miles from home, at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh, the oldest conservatory training college in the U.S. and the first to grant degrees in drama.

As a junior, he auditioned with the national touring company for “The Book of Mormon.” After two years, he transitioned the role of Elder McKinley to Broadway in 2014.

So he didn’t land feet first in New York City looking for a job, like a lot of aspiring actors. The job took him there. He did a mind-boggling 1,600 performances of “The Book of Mormon” between August 2012 and August 2016.

“It always felt possible for me to do what I do now, and I think I owe a lot of that to Macon,’’ he said. “The people here put me in the right place to pursue all of this professionally. They helped me see it was an attainable goal, that it didn’t feel like it was so far away.’’

As he left Theatre Macon on that recent night, he moved through the lobby where all the fresh-faced actors and actresses in “Newsies” lined the hallway to take their bows. He looked each one of them in the eye and told them what a great job they did.

Half a lifetime ago, he stood on the same checkered tile floor leading out to the sidewalk on Cherry Street.

“I still feel so connected with Theatre Macon,’’ he said. “I feel like yesterday I was 17 years old.’