Artist Myth #8c: Your Art is Totally Original

Myth Eight: Your art is totally original

From my interview with solo performer Rusty Dewees on art and originality. “I found My most successful show is called “The Logger,” which are stories about a blue-collar logger in rural Vermont. The stories are authentic and came out of me based on my experiences growing up here. But for the longest time, people thought I was the logger, much like people think “Larry the Cable Guy,” is the character he portrays.

For a while no one knew about the other side of me, the business man, the actor who’s been on The Guiding Light or went to New York and studied theater. I had to ask myself if I really wanted the public, who had been coming to see this working class character, to know about this other part of me. In the end, I decided that as an entertainer, I felt like my fans deserved to know all the parts of me.”

Rusty Dewees is “the Sammy Davis Jr. of the Green Mountains.” He is a comedic artist, actor, producer, writer, musician, who was formally trained at the George Loris Actors Theatre School and the Lee Strasberg Institute in New York. Dewees is best known for his portrayal of The Logger in his one-man shows, which has spawned three Logger DVDs, two CDs, five calendars, Logger apparel, a book and a compilation of columns for syndicated and regional newspapers. In addition to notable roles off-Broadway and in national commercials, he has appeared on All My Children, Law & Order, and Saturday Night Live. www.thelogger.com.