Dream stage

Actor gives up career to relocate to Joliet

Few people at 26 can say they are living a dream come true, but Kamal Angelo Bolden of Joliet is one of them.

In June, he quit his $50,000 job as a manager of a Tennessee rental car company to pursue an acting career in the Chicago area. Bolden hadn't packed his first bag when he received a phone call requesting he audition for the title role in "The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity," a play that combines the themes of professional wrestling, racial identity and pop culture.

It's a role, Bolden said, that has developed and challenged his acquired skills.

"Because this play has so much audience interaction, you have to be able to pick up cues very quickly to adjust the mood for the audience," Bolden said. "If the audience has a lot of energy, you want to give that back. If not, you want to bring them along in the story more. You cannot do this play by rote."

Bolden plays Chad Deity, a black, a pro wrestler who becomes the target of an ambitious Hispanic wrestler teamed with an Indian, hip-hop influenced Brooklyn kid. The play runs through Nov. 1 at Victory Gardens Biograph Theater in Chicago.

If he hadn't been cut from his high school basketball team, Bolden, who grew up in Peoria, might never have considered acting. A friend then invited him to join the speech team, but Bolden hesitated.

"I thought you just sat around in a circle with other kids telling ghost stories and other tales," Bolden said.

But he changed his mind when the team included acting and competitions. Bolden enjoyed himself so much he participated in forensics while studying business administration and entrepreneurship at Bradley University in Peoria.

Following graduation, Bolden moved to Tennessee, where his then girlfriend lived, and found a job managing a car rental business, a job that did not satisfy his creative leanings. He decided part-time acting would solve the problem.

Bolden became involved in Nashville Children's Theater, Tennessee Repertory Theatre and the Nashville Shakespeare Festival. Then his aunt, who lives in Joliet, offered him a home rent-free so he could audition for Chicago-based performances.

"My family is good like that," he said.

After the close of "The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity," Bolden will have a six-week break before he begins rehearsals for "The Island," a two-man show about apartheid in South Africa. That play opens Jan. 27 at the Remy Bumppo Theatre in Chicago.

Eventually, Bolden hopes his acting takes him to Hollywood where, like some fortunate actors, he can pick and choose the roles he wishes to tackle. In the meantime, he's perfectly content to perfect his craft as he networks with fellow actors.

"The people you put around you influence your experiences and really create your art," Bolden said. "I'm happy to be working in this market. In corporate America, I was not happy. I feel like I'm already living my dream."

Performances for "The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity" are at the Victory Gardens Biograph Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays, 5 and 8:30 p.m. Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays. Tickets cost $37-$48. Ask the box office about special discount offers. Contact the box office at 773-871-3000 or www.victorygardens.org.