The role of Uncle Henry in the Jewish Community Center of Houston’s production of The Wizard of Oz was Sam Linda’s first real experience on stage. He was eight years old. Linda says he knew then that he was hooked on acting – and he’s been performing ever since – currently on Chrysler Hall’s stage in the role of Ed, the hyena, in the national touring production of The Lion King.
As a child in Houston, Linda attended Sunday School, became a Bar Mitzvah (he says his parents “made him,” but he’s now happy about that – especially since he’s still friends with his Bar Mitzvah Buddy), and went to synagogue with his family for all of the major holidays, and some of the minor ones, too.
Linda’s teen years were spent at Houston’s High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, where half of each school day concentrated on theater classes, including everything from voice lessons to learning aspects of lighting, costumes, etc. Those classes he says, ensures he really appreciates the behind-the-scenes people, who “work many more hours than I do.”
In 2016, Linda left Houston for Chicago to attend Northwestern University, where he majored in theater. He’s one of those 2020 graduates whose graduation ceremony and festivities took place via Zoom.
Not to be deterred, however, he’s remained in the Windy City, appearing in several productions at various theaters. Among his favorites are the Band’s Visit and Fiddler on the Roof.
“I’m obsessed with the score of the Band’s Visit,” he muses.
Besides singing and dancing, Linda plays the piano and is a self-taught percussionist.
The original animated version of The Lion King, he says, was “on the VHS rotation at home” when he was a toddler. He first saw the stage production when he was 12 years old once the national touring company made it to Houston.
Linda’s audition for the show is a story filled with mishaps that sound as if they are perfect fodder for a film about the trials of young actors. His agent encouraged him to put together an audition tape that turned out to be good enough to get him a ‘callback’ to New York City. His trip from Chicago included being “trapped in Milwaukee” due to a cancelled flight, managing to get the last seat on “a crack-of-the-dawn” Delta flight bound for New York, taking a cab to the wrong place, and basically “feeling like a train wreck running on four hours of sleep” when he finally arrived at his audition. “Maybe all of that helped,” he laughs, as he got the job!
And it’s a job doing what he loves that is taking him around the country to see and experience new places, such as Norfolk. (When asked if he had ever been to this city, he first responded, “Is THAT how you say it?!?) Quickly getting the pronunciation correct, he says he hopes to explore the entire area as time permits.
Feeling like he’s standing on the shoulders of Jewish humorists such as Eugene Levy and Mel Brooks, as well as those of his great grandfather who ran the synagogue in Crowley, La., Linda is appreciative of his roots. That great grandfather had a truck spray-painted orange with ‘Shalom Y’all!’ on the side.
“I think I inherited some of that humor. He wore his Jewishness on his sleeve.”
“There’s no way I would be where I am without the support of my parents,” he says. “They are my biggest support system. I try to tell them I appreciate them when I can.”
Linda says he is “Super grateful that I get to do this. It’s so cool.”
The touring schedule for The Lion King says, “To be continued,” so Sam Linda might be on the road for a good long while.
The Lion Kingruns through Sunday, May 17
at Norfolk’s Chrysler Hall. Tickets are available
at the Scope Arena box office and at Ticketmaster.com.