By Stowell P. Watters

Staff Writer

Edwin Cahill, 32, is living out his dream as a Broadway actor in Los Angeles.

“This is it. I am doing exactly what I have always dreamed of, and Scarborough High School was the foundation for all of it,” says Cahill, who got his start as part of the Gym Dandies. He graduated from SHS in 1994.

Cahill is currently an understudy in the national tour of the 2005 Broadway production of “Sweeney Todd” where he substitutes for four different parts — Anthony, The Beadle, Jonas Fogg and Tobias. For each part Cahill must not only know all the lines, but also an accompanying musical piece.

“It is basically the hardest thing I have ever had to do,” Cahill says. “I need to know scores for the piano, clarinet and must know harmonies for the choral parts.”

 For practice, Cahill says he constantly studies the four different roles should his chance come to take the stage. He says it took him about four months to learn each part. 

Before weekly rehearsals began Cahill received a box the size of a computer monitor. Inside was every bit of music and dialogue Cahill had to commit to memory for the play.

“I laughed and said to my friend as I was holding up the heavy box – ‘They just haven’t given me enough work!’” Cahill says.

Throughout the tours, Cahill has visited cities across the nation, making stops everywhere from Dallas to Chicago to Miami, and back to the West Coast.

“Basically we tour the whole country,” Cahill says.

So far he estimates he has had to fill in about 30 times, each in front of a packed crowd. Broadway shows, Cahill says, are extraordinary. 

 “You go up there and boom!” Cahill says. “You are face to face with thousands of people, some of them famous — all of them looking right at you.”

Before this tour, Cahill made his Broadway debut in “LoveMusik.” In 2007 he sang and acted as the understudy role for actor Kurt Weill in that play.

“It has been so exciting because, the understudy thing is like a rite of passage for any stage actor,” Cahill says.

But before his days on the big stage, Cahill was a member of the SHS theatre group Oak Hill Players.

While at SHS, Cahill was a budding actor, pianist and singer and worked with current Assistant Principal Susan Ketch. Ketch was his acting coach in the Oak Hill Players productions of “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Oklahoma,” “Oliver” and “Hello, Dolly!” 

“He played those parts for all he was worth,” says Ketch. “He was fabulous.”

Before graduating from SHS, Cahill performed at Portland Players and Portland Lyric Theatre, both in South Portland, in productions of “Me and My Girl,” “Godspell” and “A Little Night Music.” During his last year at SHS he commuted to Boston every weekend for voice lessons. Of all the work he did in high school performances, Cahill says it was his parts in “Annie” and “Fiddler on the Roof” that solidified his love of theatre.

“I knew immediately I wanted to be a part of stage performances and theatre, it all started in Maine for me,” Cahill says, adding that the experience he had with the Oak Hill Players was instrumental to his introduction to theatre. “They brought real directors in and used real scene designers. They had a huge budget for such a small, regional group.”

Cahill moved to Boston after high school and enrolled at the New England Conservatory of Music where he earned a degree in vocal performance. He received his bachelor of arts from Tufts University and graduated with a major in English literature. Cahill spent a year in Paris at the Paris Conservatory of Music and studied French literature at the University of Paris.    

“I basically didn’t sleep for five years, but it was worth it,” Cahill says. “Sleep is overrated anyway.”

After college, Cahill moved to New York City.

“For a guy like me New York was just inevitable, it is where things are happening,” Cahill says.

There, he studied opera singing at the Manhattan School of Music, and had the opportunity to work with the late actor Tony Randall.

“I took a master class with Tony Randall and he said I should definitely consider doing acting and try my hand at the Shakespeare plays,” Cahill says.

At the age of 26, Cahill told himself he needed an agent and in the following years he hired one, went to auditions, worked in a restaurant and worked odd jobs. 

In 2007, Cahill’s big break came in the form of an audition with famed director, producer and 21-time Tony Award Winner Harold Prince.

 “I saw his white beard in the hallway and I almost threw up,” Cahill says, laughing.

After the audition, Cahill’s agent called him and says “I don’t know how you did it, but you booked a part,” and Cahill’s work on “LoveMusik” began.

In Boston he worked with Prince and the cast as an understudy, but when he nailed a spot on the cast of “Sweeney Todd,” Cahill was told he would have to move to Los Angeles.

“So I says, I am ready. Let’s do this,” Cahill says.

The production company currently provides him with a paycheck, an apartment with 18 foot-high ceilings, floor to ceiling windows overlooking Los Angeles and a convertible. He says the arts scene and the weather alone make Los Angeles the place to be.

“Everyday we wake up and, as a joke, say ‘Oh look, another gorgeous day in L.A.,’” Cahill says.

Cahill says one thing he could never forget are his roots in Maine. He says he understands the feelings of a young musician or actor growing up in Maine.

“You feel isolated, but if I could say one thing it would be ‘don’t give up!’ There are opportunities everywhere for people with a clear dream and drive,’” Cahill says.

He also pointed to the fact that Boston, a “major arts hub” is only two hours away.

“I am a firm supporter of the dream, just remain focused,” Cahill says.

He says the most important thing for anyone interested in progressing in the field is to obtain a degree in liberal arts, and above all, to not lose themselves in their work.

“Art imitates life, and if you have no life then guess what? You have no art,” Cahill says.

To contact Stowell P. Watters call 282-4337 ext. 219 or email news@intheleader.com