When Travis A. Knight (BFA 2007, Theatre) takes the stage at Broadway’s August Wilson Theatre in Paranormal Activity, he’ll fulfill an ambition that dates back to his college years.
Recently, Knight’s mother ran across a graduation card he received from a friend and their parents. The message inside: Get us front row seats to your first Broadway show.
“And now, I’m doing the thing that I’ve always wanted to do,” Knight said. “I don’t actually think it’s quite hit me yet.”
Knight makes his Broadway debut as James, one half of a young couple who moves from Chicago to London for a fresh start. They soon discover that something isn’t right in their new home.
Written by Levi Holloway and directed by Felix Barrett, the play tells an entirely new story inspired by the popular horror film series by the same name.
As associate director for Paranormal Activity in Chicago and Los Angeles, Knight expected his future with the production to involve helping restage it in other parts of the world.
Then a casting change put him onstage, with just seven days of rehearsal before performing for an audience in Washington, D.C.
“That’s what I thought my journey with this play was going to be,” Knight said. “It was just going to be getting it on its feet in different parts of the world. And then here we are.”
From UWM to a professional career
At UWM, Knight found mentors and opportunities that helped shape his approach to acting.
He credits numerous faculty mentors, particularly Bill Watson and Rebecca Holderness, who he calls the “godfather and godmother” of his acting training, and Sheri Williams Pannell.
One formative experience came when Knight, then 20, was cast as Walter Lee Younger in A Raisin in the Sun directed by Watson. It was his first opportunity as an adult actor to shoulder the responsibility of leading a production.
“To be trusted in that way by Bill and my other teachers to be able to do something like that, it’s a big deal,” Knight said. “Sheri played my mom, and it was incredible to get to act opposite a pro at that time.”
Knight began working professionally in Milwaukee while still a UWM student. After graduating in winter 2007, his career took him from Milwaukee stages to five seasons at American Players Theatre and, eventually, Chicago.
His credits now include work with Goodman Theatre and Steppenwolf Theatre Company, and more than five years as associate artistic director of A Red Orchid Theatre, where he remains an ensemble member. He also performs motion capture for video games, including Mortal Kombat 1 and the Call of Duty franchise.
Those nearly two decades of work have reinforced a lesson Knight’s faculty mentors instilled in him about the importance of relationships.
“This world is so small and you will work with people again and again and again,” Knight said. “Leading with kindness and curiosity is going to be the thing that really drives you forward.”
His path to Broadway is proof. Knight met Paranormal Activity playwright Holloway in 2018 when they performed together in Small Mouth Sounds at A Red Orchid. They became ensemble members at the same time and over the years collaborated on projects including Grey House and Turret, both written by Holloway.
“You go out in the world, you work, you network, you establish relationships, and you be a good person and an artist that people want to work with,” Knight said. “That’s what I’ve been doing since I graduated.”
Every show is electric
Knight was drawn to Paranormal Activity in part by the challenge of creating horror onstage. Holloway sent him an early draft of the script several years ago.
“Oftentimes when you read his plays, they feel impossible,” Knight said. “I love that impossibility because it forces you to get real creative.”
That creativity translates into an unusually active relationship with the audience. Knight has heard audiences scream, laugh nervously and even call out warnings to the actors.
“For two hours, this audience comes in, and they lock in, and they all buy in,” Knight said. “It’s just like this energy between us and them. Every show is electric.”
The reality of his Broadway debut began to sink in during the production’s recent run at Boston’s Emerson Colonial Theatre. After the final performance, Knight and castmate Cher Álvarez returned to the empty stage after getting out of costume. With the ghost light on, they thanked the space and the crew.
“We took a moment to let it sink in,” Knight said. “The next time we do this, it’s going to be at the August Wilson Theater on Broadway.”
Lessons that endure
As Knight reaches that milestone, he still sees lessons from UWM throughout his work, particularly an understanding that theater is fundamentally collaborative.
“Even if you are the lead in a play, it’s not just your show,” he said. “You are held up by everybody else around you.”
UWM also gave Knight a place to experiment, make choices and fail. Experiences he considers essential to developing as an artist.
“Make choices, fall on your face. Don’t be afraid to show up,” Knight said.
And after nearly 20 years as a professional actor, he still returns to the sense of play he cultivated as a student.
“We get to play pretend and scare people and do all these sorts of things,” Knight said. “This is our job. And that’s what I got to go to school for. And I got to do it at UW-Milwaukee, which was an incredible place to do it.”
Paranormal Activity opens August 14 at the August Wilson Theatre. Learn more on the production’s official website.
Story by Oliver J. Johnson