Local Star Comes Back To Help Up-And-Coming Actors

Before he was the star of one of the biggest touring plays in the country, he was a student here at UCO.

“So now that’s my role and no one can take it away from me. I’ll fight you if you try,” said Michael Andreaus.

Andreaus plays the role of Otis Williams, the lead role in the play “Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations”.

“There’s about two and a half hours in the show, I’m on stage for all but five minutes of it,” said Andreaus.

The play has gotten amazing reviews, touring all over the world, but being on the Civic Center stage in Oklahoma City was surreal for the actor.

“I mean the last show that I did, after I sang my number, I cried on stage, just because it was so overwhelming for me to think about where I came from,” said Andreaus.

The show is on a three-week layoff before resuming in Canada, which was perfect for Michael to do something he really loves.

“But it also gives me the opportunity to come back and hopefully impart a little knowledge,” said Andreaus.

It’s called a masterclass, where he gets to spend time with music theater students at UCO, an assignment that Michael took extremely seriously.

“It’s something that I wish I would have been able to see more of,” said Andreaus.

His road to success was anything but typical.

“It was about a 16-year-gap between when I graduated high school and when I made the decision to go back to school at UCO and pursue a musical theater degree,” said Andreaus.

Andreaus was able to pass along performance and career advice.

“You just have to know what it is that you want and know what it is that you’re willing to sacrifice until you get it,” said Andreaus.

Students soaked up the knowledge and took notes, and Andreaus was equally impressed with their focus as well as their talent.

“They were incredible, some of them were at a level that I wish I was at when I was here,” said Andreaus.

Andreaus has a few more days left on his break, before they head to Canada. The show is expected to run through March of next year, Andreaus plans to stay with the production no matter how long it runs.