ATC’s Aaron Cammack Finds Redemption
Writer Shannon Severson
Arizona Theatre Company’s resident artist Aaron Cammack is bringing fresh energy to this season’s holiday production of “Scrooge!” as Tom Jenkins, performing alongside Tony and Olivier Award winner Shuler Hensley. For Cammack, who will demonstrate his Brazilian jiu-jitsu-derived strength by walking on his hands across old Ebenezer’s coffin, the role represents another milestone in a remarkable journey of transformation.
“Character arises out of circumstance.” It’s an axiom that Cammack uses to teach his acting students, particularly when they have difficulty connecting with a role. The key, he explains, is to justify the character’s intentions, just as we do with ourselves in real life.
“When someone says, ‘This character is not me,’ I say that might mean there’s a side of yourself you haven’t looked at yet,” he explains. “It’s an essential acknowledgment for an actor to make.
“I feel particularly qualified to make that point because, growing up Mormon in Middle America, I didn’t think hard drugs and jail time would ever be in my future. I woke up to the experiential fact that anything could happen; circumstances can drastically change.”
In August 2019, Cammack was released from his last of many stays in the Pima County jail for drug offenses. Some of his time was spent in solitary confinement, also known as “disciplinary lockdown.”
“I was walking in circles running Hamlet speeches,” he recalls, “and thinking I would never be on stage again. When I got out, I ran to a 12-step meeting. I was so desperate not to use again because I’d already lost so much and was looking at considerable prison time if I got arrested again. I’d lost my car, my house, my money, my education and had repelled everyone who loved me. I’d caused a lot of harm in every area of my life. I was pretty certain there would be no coming back; I was very unkind –– very unwell –– for a long time.”
Today, as Arizona Theatre Company’s resident artist — a position created to cultivate local talent and forge deeper connections with the community – Cammack has found his way back to the stage. His role in “Scrooge!” marks another highlight in what has become a remarkable comeback story.
“‘Scrooge!’ is put together by an amazing team,” Cammack says. “It’s an amalgam of genius. This year has new orchestrations and some new twists. Shuler Hensley, an absolute legend and truly the kindest man you’ve ever met, is reprising his role as the old miser. We have 35 local artists between cast and musicians and a dream team of creatives, including Emmy-nominated choreographer Spencer Liff, who has worked on 10 seasons of ‘So You Think You Can Dance.’ The songs are all by Leslie Bricusse, who was the composer for ‘Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory’ [with Anthony Newley].”
From the Big House to the Playhouse
So, how did this Midwestern-born talent find his way back from the big house to the playhouse? He took a chance, and so did Matt August, Arizona Theatre Company’s Kasser Family artistic director.
Cammack decided on a whim to audition for “The Glass Menagerie.” He recited a few monologues and broke down in tears on stage. He figured he’d blown the audition, but he hadn’t. Instead, he was cast as the protagonist, Tom Wingfield.
“Tom is in a kind of prison,” Cammack observes. “That feeling was very raw and fresh for me; it was easy for me to access that part of his experience. That production was directed by Chanel Bragg, who I credit for essentially bringing me back home to the theater. Then, once I was in proximity to Matt August’s brain, creative fervor and insane level of expertise, my fire was reignited. I did a few smaller shows around Tucson and ATC kept hiring me. Matt pulled me aside last season and introduced the idea of ‘resident artist.’”
The Resident Artist program, modeled after August’s experience with The Old Globe in San Diego, represents Arizona Theatre Company’s commitment to nurturing local talent. As a resident artist, Cammack performs in multiple productions throughout the season while also teaching and mentoring within the community.
“When I first saw Aaron onstage, I felt he was an exciting, developing talent that I wanted to nurture and support,” August says. “We created a seasonal ‘resident artist’ position in order to ensure that Aaron had the wherewithal to support himself as a full-time actor working in various roles throughout the season, and so that we could continue to embrace our local artists and give them dependable employment at a fully professional level with other nationally renowned artists. I hope the program is a success, as it has been with our resident playwright Elaine Romero, and that we will have the wherewithal to continue it in future seasons.”
Cammack has also appeared most recently as Lesgate in “Dial M for Murder” and as Mr. Marks in Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage’s “Intimate Apparel.” After “Scrooge!” Arizona Theatre Company audiences can spot him in the fast-paced, Sherlock Holmes-inspired comedy, “Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson — Apt. 2B.”
Recovery and Restoration
The soft-spoken, thoughtful actor’s in-person demeanor belies the challenges he has faced, but his dedication to both his craft and his recovery comes through in every masterful performance. Just as audiences have connected with this resident artist, Cammack has also connected to Arizona as his adopted home state, the friends he’s made and the audiences who have embraced him.
“You can go anywhere to screw your life up,” he acknowledges. “That’s possible no matter where you go. But I can attest to the incredible amount of resources [in Arizona] for people who are not doing well. It’s a receptive, kind, compassionate community — a really good place to build your life back. I owe my life to the local recovery community.”
He remarks that he feels deeply supported by the willing and attentive audiences of Arizona Theatre Company, by its creative team onstage and behind the scenes, and by the family with whom he’s reconnected.
“I’m fortunate, and it doesn’t always work this way for everyone,” Cammack says. “In my case, my family was willing to come back to the table. What was important to them — and I’m beyond grateful for this — was that I make a demonstration and not just blabber off promises. ‘Stop saying you are going to do better. Just show up and do it. If not, then let us move on because you’re breaking our hearts.’ My family is heroic for its resilience and forgiveness.”
This support system and the opportunity to act once again — a pursuit he embraced back in a Lubbock, Texas, high school when his teacher, Miss Suzanne Wiley, saw his talent and discipline and inspired him to quit his basketball team and immerse himself in books on method acting and other prominent acting techniques — has helped him stay the course in his recovery and thrive to the delight of Grand Canyon State theater enthusiasts. Cammack hopes his story might help others, too.
“For readers struggling, I want them to know that although it’s tremendously difficult at first, recovery is so possible,” he says. “We always leave out a key component about people hitting rock bottom, and that is that you have to believe that life can be better without all of that stuff. If I hadn’t come to believe that myself, I’d likely still be getting high, or I’d be dead. I know that you can find a way to cultivate a sense of hope that life can be better. I know because I did it — against the odds! You just have to accept the help.”
As Cammack rehearses, performs, teaches acting workshops and privately coaches actors, from novices to seasoned Broadway and television actors of all ages, he steps into every day with that sense that life can be better — one day at a time.
Arizona Theatre Company’s ‘Scrooge!’
Dec. 7–28 // See website for showtimes // Tempe Center for the Arts // 700 W. Rio Salado Parkway, Tempe // $50+ // atc.org
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