Parsippany Actor Ready to Rock in 'Jesus Christ Superstar'

Lionel Ruland is a busy man. The Parsippany resident is co-owner of Livingston's New World Manga, a shop devoted to comic books and the Japanese art of manga. He is a husband and a father. He's also a longtime working actor, stand-up comedian and musician. And starting Friday, he is set to appear in the Montclair Operetta Club's presentation of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's classic rock opera "Jesus Christ Superstar."

Ruland is excited about the musical, in which he plays the part of skeptical King Herod and gets to sing "Herod's Song," one of the production's showstoppers ("Prove to me that you're no fool / Walk across my swimming pool," the character sings to Jesus before sending him off to Pontius Pilate and his crucifixion).

"I believe it's the best song in the show," he said. "This is a role I've wanted to play for a very long time, so I'm thrilled to be able to do it finally."

Ruland won the role through an audition. It probably helped that he had worked in the past with the play's director, Bob Cline. He said he's also acted in productions with the Montclair Operetta Club before.

"Luckily, it was a good fit," he said.

"Jesus Christ Superstar" debuted on Broadway 40 years ago. Most of the actors then wore robes appropriate to biblical times. To freshen the material, this new production is staged to appeal to a modern audience.

"It's very mass communication-oriented. Herod is a talk-show host ," Ruland explained. "I get to interview Jesus and it goes crazy. It's nice. It's in modern dress with a little bit of symbolic flair. The set is very simple: platforms and stairs and ramps. We do a lot with projections. It should be visually interesting and really fresh."

This modern approach comes from a historic community-theater company. The MOC has produced two shows a year since its founding in 1925, Ruland said.   

"The director is a professional casting director in New York, so he tends to attract a higher caliber of performer," he said. "So we have a lot of New York actors, semi-professional actors and professional actors between gigs as well as college students and community actors. It's a nice mix."

One of his fellow actors, who's inhabiting the pivotal role of Mary Magdalene, is Nikki Ashe of Lake Hiawatha.

Ruland, 42, could be classified as a semi-pro, but he spent much of his adult life in New York working as a professional actor. Eventually, he decided to settle down and raise a family--he and his wife have a daughter--in his hometown.

"I actually grew up in Parsippany. I went to Northvail [Elementary], Central Middle and Parsippany High Schools," he said, adding that he was part of the Par High then-Redskins marching band. 

Pursuing acting from Parsippany isn't always the easiest thing, he admitted.

"It's a balance," Ruland said. "As a professional actor, the only thing you're concentrating on is acting, so you have shorter rehearsal periods but longer rehearsals. When you're doing a community-theater show, you're doing longer rehearsal periods but shorter rehearsals. You have to balance the rest of your life--job, family and so on."

Ruland said he enjoys his day job, operating New World Manga.

"I like being the boss. It's cool to have a job I'm happy to go to each day. I have a great partner who makes my balancing act easier," he said, noting that he finds himself constantly performing.

"I do about three or four shows a year. On top of that, I'm a stand-up comic; I'm a regular at Tierney's Tavern in Montclair," he said.

Ruland also travels the country as part of a Celtic folk band, the Crimson Pirates. The band formed 15 years ago, during his two-decade stint performing in the New York Renaissance Faire. 

He is able to do all of this because of "my very supportive wife, who understands that I love to do [theater]. And my 5-year-old daughter allows me the time away to do it."

Ruland's daughter attends kindergarten at Northvail Elementary and is in the same classroom where her dad was in kindergarten almost four decades ago.

"I did my first show at Northvail," he remembered. "Every time I go into the gym there and see that stage, it brings back great memories."

Asked if he is satisfied with his life and performing career, Ruland paused before answering.

"Yeah," he said finally. "There's always a desire to get to the next level. I see friends I've worked with get their own television shows or perform on Broadway and I think it would be great to get to that point.

"My time will come. Right now I'm still able to work on my craft while getting professional gigs here and there. Plus I have the store and my family. All in all, it's a pretty fun life."

The Montclair Operetta Club presents Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s "Jesus Christ Superstar" Nov. 4, 5, 11 and 12 at 8 p.m., and Nov. 6 and 13 at 2 p.m. at the Bloomfield College Westminster Arts Center, 449 Franklin Street in Bloomfield. Tickets are $25 for adults, $22 for seniors, $15 for students with valid identification and $4 for Bloomfield College students with a valid ID and are available online or by calling 973-744-3133.