Suburban actor happily juggles back-to-back performances, rehearsals
The last few months have been a whirlwind for actor Abraham Deitz-Green.
Twelve days after he concluded his run as Robbie Hart in Metropolis Performing Arts Centre’s revival of “The Wedding Singer,” Deitz-Green and co-star Lili Galluzzo opened the two-hander tuner “The Last Five Years” at Glenview’s Oil Lamp Theater.
When that show’s run concludes on July 19, the 2025 Northwestern University graduate will be 10 days into previews for his understudy stint in Marriott Theatre’s children’s musical “A Year With Frog and Toad,” whose official opening occurs the day before “The Last Five Years” closes.
Whew! That’s quite a run, and one most young theater artists would envy.
“I feel really grateful to be doing the thing I love, which is performing,” Deitz-Green said.
Deitz-Green clocked several 11-hour days between eight-hour “Wedding Singer” rehearsals and three-hour “Last Five Years” rehearsals. And, on at least one Saturday, he had a three-hour “Frog and Toad” rehearsal, followed by matinee and evening performances of “The Wedding Singer.”
In response to the hectic schedule, which also includes his job as a Skyline Children’s Theater instructor, Deitz-Green has prioritized rest and sleep.
“I know if I get sick, that could throw a wrench into the works,” he said with a laugh.
A St. Paul, Minnesota, native who grew up in New Jersey, Deitz-Green performed for the first time at 9 during a summer theater day camp production of what he called a “crudely abridged” youth version of the musical “Nice Work If You Can Get It.”
That led to weekly acting classes, school productions and community theater shows. By high school, he regularly commuted to New York City to perform in youth productions there.
Taking advantage of every opportunity available to him, Deitz-Green said he can’t recall consciously choosing a career in theater, but “I don’t have a memory of ever considering anything else.”
He chose Northwestern because it offered him a chance to double major in theater and cognitive science, a field he describes as “psychology with a sprinkle of neuroscience and computer science.”
Post graduation, having booked a role in Uptown Music Theater’s production of “Hairspray,” he figured he’d stay in Chicago through summer 2025. Tapped to understudy the titular role in Chicago Children’s Theatre’s “Frederick,” he decided to remain here through the fall.
“Little by little, I extended my stay,” he joked.
A year later, he calls the suburbs home.
“It’s such a wonderful theater scene,” he said. “It’s really welcoming for new actors.”
And it affords Deitz-Green a variety of acting opportunities.
“In my dream world, I would want as much acting diversity as possible,” he said. “The last year I got to do children’s shows, musicals, plays and a movie.”
He’s especially interested in children’s theater.
“So much of the media kids consume is by for-profit corporations, which don’t necessarily have the best interests of kids and families at heart,” he said. “Putting shows together for kids, each moment is thoroughly considered” with the explicit and implicit message entirely intentional.
Deitz-Green said acting in children’s theater prepared him for all kinds of challenges. He recalled a point during “Frederick” where the titular character gets lost and the other mice characters search for him. During some performances, the youngsters in the audience sat quietly waiting for them to find him. At others, the kids clamored and pointed out Frederick’s location to the other actors.
“You have to make sure they don’t feel chastised for that,” he said, adding it’s the actor’s responsibility to work with what the audience gives him.
Whatever type of theater, the goal is always the same, said Deitz-Green: “How can I invite audiences into this world I’m trying to create?”
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“The Last Five Years”
Showtimes: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday through Friday; 3 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday; and 3 p.m. Sunday, through July 19
Where: Oil Lamp Theater, 1723 Glenview Road, Glenview, (847) 834-0738, oillamptheater.org
Tickets: $65