First Posted: 3/11/2014
Actor: Billy Joe Herbert
Age: 49 (in lion years)
Hometown: Hughestown
Character: The Cowardly Lion, from “The Wizard of Oz,” put on by Theatre at the Grove from March 21 through April 13.
THE WEEKENDER: Describe your character.
BILLY JOE HERBERT: I play Zeke, the farmhand, in Kansas who becomes the Cowardly Lion in Oz. He already has courage; he just needs someone to point that out.
W: Do you believe you share any of the same qualities as your character?
BJH: Yes – his courage, compassion, and wit.
W: What is your best line in the show?
BJH: “There’s just one thing I want you fellas to do before we go… talk me out of it!”
W: What’s your favorite scene of the show?
BJH: The “King of the Forest” number.
W: If your character was a real person and you could hang out with him for a day, where would you go and what would you do?
BJH: A haunted house attraction. Until I was a teenager, I would go through them with my eyes closed. Ironically, I ended up helping out at Gravestone Manor for several years.
W: If you could take three people with you on the journey down the Yellow Brick Road, who would you choose and why?
BJH: 1. Robin Williams (for comic relief), 2. Rachael Ray (in case we get hungry), and 3. my father (to see if the Wizard could have cured his pancreatic cancer).