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Sunday, July 07, 2002

By Karen Carlin, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

Justin Deas doesn't travel with his own drummer -- yet you can almost hear the rim shots after about every other comment he makes during an interview.

	"Guiding Light's" Justin Deas stars as Nathan Detroit, a down-and-out gambler with a floating crap game, in Pittsburgh CLO's "Guys and Dolls." Deas was born in Connellsville, Fayette County. (Matt Polk, courtesy CLO)

The actor, who was trained at Juilliard, has played Shakespeare and has won six -- that's right, six -- Daytime Emmy Awards, sounds like a regular guy who's having fun with his life, his career and his family. And he possesses the very un-starlike quality of making himself the butt of his jokes.

"It's like the first day of school," he says during a lunch break on the first day of rehearsal for Pittsburgh CLO's "Guys and Dolls." "I've just finished not singing and not dancing. It's like I'm in the wrong place."

He describes his talent in musical theater as "doing plumbing for someone's house, and I don't know anything about plumbing."

But don't let Deas fool you. He's done the song-and-dance gig before, from "Grease" to "The King and I." He'll take on the part of good ol' reliable Nathan Detroit in the CLO's fourth show of the season, opening Tuesday.

Deas says that to get him to play Nathan, all CLO had to do was ask. But he now says the people at CLO are trying to find out just who did the asking so that they can "fire them and me with them.

"I've put director [Van Kaplan, CLO executive producer] in a deep funk. I think Van's ready to slit his wrists."

	"Guys and Dolls" Where: Benedum Center, Downtown. When: 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays; also 7:30 p.m. July 14. Through July 21. Tickets: $12 to $44; 412-456-6666.

Performing in Pittsburgh will be a homecoming of sorts for the 54-year-old actor. He was born in Connellsville, Fayette County, where his mother is from. "A lot of the clan is still there," Deas says.

But Deas hasn't been back to this area in about 25 years, when he was in Pittsburgh to visit Carnegie Mellon University. He says he's impressed with how much the city has changed in that time.

"It's a gorgeous, wonderful town. ... To come out of the tunnel, and all of a sudden, it's there. It's like Shangri-La. The people are great here, too. But they must have committed some great sin" to have him here on stage.

Deas lived in Connellsville until he was about 5 or 6 but spent the rest of his childhood traveling with his family, including to locales as far away as Mexico and Iran. "My wife is convinced my father was in the CIA," Deas says. "He was a businessman, as far as I know. I don't remember any CIA shenanigans."

His wife is actress Margaret Colin, whom he met when both were on the daytime drama "As the World Turns."

"She makes all the money and has all the talent in the family," Deas says. The couple married in 1988 and live in New Jersey with their two sons -- Sam, 12, and Joe, 9.

When Deas began his professional career, he thought he'd take the same route as other actors -- waiting tables. "I went to New York and tried to find a job as a waiter. I spent two or three weeks telling everyone lies about being a waiter. I worked in Paris as a waiter," and so on. Then Deas learned about a stage role, auditioned for the show and got the part. "It was because I failed as a waiter that I became an actor."

At the time, Deas didn't believe he'd appear in TV or movies and the like.

"I was very happy doing regional theater. You get to do the greatest parts that have ever been written."

He adds that an actor can make a living doing that type of stage work. "But if you need a root canal, you have to knock over a 7-Eleven."

	Justin Deas and Victoria Clark play Nathan Detroit and the adenoidal Adelaide in Pittsburgh CLO's "Guys nad Dolls," which opens Tuesday and runs through July 21.

Deas discovered that daytime dramas could provide a steady paycheck. His soap stints have been on "Ryan's Hope," "As the World Turns" (one Emmy), "Santa Barbara" (two Emmys) and "Guiding Light" (three Emmys), where he's played Buzz Cooper since 1993. Last month, "Guiding Light" celebrated its 50th anniversary.

"It's a warm and gooey feeling" to be a part of the show, Deas says. The actors "all care about their work and each other. I feel very happy."

He's also happy that his job allows him and Colin to provide a stable home life. "She does plays and stars in movies. She has to go out, and I'm home. That's how it works out. Once in a while, I'll do something and she'll stay home," Deas says.

At the moment, it's Deas who'll be on stage, with a cast he calls "a nice bunch of people. Vicki Clark is wonderful. Bob Cuccioli is fabulous. The only clunker would be me. I'll hold my breath."

And if that doesn't work, he has another idea.

"Talk about stage presence -- I'll have to buy individual stage presents for the audience."

Rim shot, please.