By John R. Behn
On Thursday, Oct. 5, the Utah State University Eastern Theatre Department opened its doors to its fall production of “Catch Me if you Can,” a psychological thriller/comedy by Jack Weinstock and Willie Gilbert adapted from the French version by Robert Thomas. This is the second installment of spotlight interviews showcasing the actors in this production.
For this spotlight interview, we are presenting Tyden Gee (pictured at left in the photograph above), who is performing in the lead role of Daniel Corban. Gee was born in Hersey, Pennsylvania, home of the Hersey chocolate bar. His family moved to Rochester, New York when he was two or three years old and relocated to West Jordan, Utah, 16 or 17 years ago. Gee graduated from Copper Hills High School in West Jordan in 2020.
When asked what his favorite hobbies were, Gee stated, “Other than acting, of course, my very favorite hobby is skiing. I ski every winter at Snowbird. That’s my escape. That, and skateboarding, and occasionally video games.”
When asked why he chose USU Eastern, Gee stated that he knew some students who were attending USU Eastern and because of what they told him about the campus, he came down, took a tour of the campus, and liked what he saw. At the time, he was attending the University of Utah, taking general classes, and all his classes had “hundreds” of students in the classes. He specifically liked the fact that classes at USU Eastern were smaller and he liked the campus.
Gee’s major emphasis of study is theatre arts, and he will have his Associate of Arts in Theatre degree by the end of the year. He intends to continue at a four-year university, perhaps Logan, but he has not yet decided which college he will attend.
In his high school, Gee was involved in theatre arts and was secretary for the theatre council there. He also performed in several shows such as “My Fair Lady,” “Drowsy Chaperone,” and “Beauty and the Beast.” Additionally, he was co-captain of the improvisation team, which was called Table for Ten (there being ten participants), and credits that activity as being one of the more fun parts of his high school experience.
When asked what the motivation was for getting involved in this latest production, Gee responded, “It was the production, last year, ‘Sherwood’ I just had so much fun with that, especially taking it on tour … I saw how Corey (Ewan) worked with the actors and had the opportunity to see that [same thing] when I did tech for ‘It Runs in the Family.’ I figured that working in this play would give me more one-on-one time to work with him and really hone my skills.”
When asked how he would describe the theatre program at USU Eastern, Gee stated, “In my opinion, comparing it to the University of Utah, I did theatre online and didn’t really meet my professors at all. And specifically, in Price, the biggest thing that should make people want to come here is the size and you have so many more opportunities to get on stage. I’m so lucky to have the role that I have, this being only my second year here.”
When Gee was asked what the greatest challenge for him in this production was, he stated that it was the challenge of putting away his own urges to respond in a certain way to situations and respond as the character would respond. He called the process “re-wiring my brain.”
When asked what he would like the community to know about this production, he stated, “Although this production is small and you will see many of the same actors as were in the previous production, everyone is giving 100% to the production. If you come, you will be pleasantly surprised.”
So, make a date to come out and watch “Catch Me if you Can,” USU Eastern’s fall theatre production. The remaining production dates are Oct. 11-14 in the Peterson Black Box theatre in the CIB building at USU Eastern in Price. Doors open at 7 p.m. and tickets can be purchased at the door. USU Eastern students’ admission is covered by their activity fee.