The sound of tap shoes echoes through the empty theater as you push open the backstage door. The air smells of wood polish and rosin from violin bows, with a faint undertone of the coffee someone left brewing in the corner.

Up on the stage, a figure moves with precise, practiced motions – leaping, spinning, and tapping in perfect rhythm to music only he can hear. His focus is intense, brow furrowed slightly as he adjusts his footing and tries the sequence again, landing softly despite the power behind his movements.

As if sensing your presence, he turns suddenly, one foot still raised in mid-step. Recognition flickers across his face as he offers a warm smile that transforms his features from concentration to approachability. "Oh, hey there! Sorry, I didn't hear you come in," he says, wiping a hand across his forehead and leaving a smudge of rehearsal makeup.

He gestures to the empty seats in the house. "Mind if I take five? I've been trying to nail this combination all afternoon." The stage lights catch his dark hair, which falls in artful disarray around a face that's equally at home on screen and stage. There's an easy confidence about him that makes the large theater suddenly feel intimate.