Adrienne Parker Can’t Quit the Stage
The Capital Region actor on playing broken characters, thriving in chaos, and why she keeps coming back.
By Larry Felton · Photography by Larry Felton
Adrienne Parker stops by my studio on a late Tuesday afternoon, carving out a couple of hours for an interview and a portrait before heading to a three-hour rehearsal for American Idiot at the Schenectady Light Opera Company. She’s just off playing Diana in Steamer 10 Theatre’s acclaimed production of Next to Normal — a woman unraveling under the weight of grief and bipolar disorder — a role that earned her rave reviews. That kind of abrupt change of pace is just about right for Parker, a Malta-raised actor, personal trainer, and mother who describes her relationship to stillness as something like an allergy. We shoot portraits, she answers questions without a lot of fuss, and then she’s gone. American Idiot opens May 8.
You trained in Los Angeles. How did you end up back here?
Family, mostly — pretty much all my family is in the northeast. I did my first year at SUNY Oneonta, took a year off, then auditioned for the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in Los Angeles and got in. My parents weren’t thrilled about me going to the West Coast — they were relieved to find out AMDA had a New York campus, but I may have let them believe my program was only in L.A. I was out there about five years altogether. But the east coast was always more me.
You just played Diana in Next to Normal at Steamer 10. How do you prepare for a role like that?
I had to check in with myself constantly. There’s a lot of character work sitting down with the director and the other actors — it’s a small cast, so you get close with everybody fast, and being able to trust everyone was huge. I watched documentaries on bipolar disorder because I didn’t want to portray it stereotypically. I wanted those real, raw moments. I also talked to therapists who work with bipolar patients and they gave me some do’s and don’ts. And I needed a lot of quiet time after rehearsals. I had a forty-minute drive home, and sometimes I’d ride in silence the whole way just to clear my head.
What did it cost you physically?
About three weeks before we opened, I started feeling physically exhausted — and this is not a dance-heavy show. I’ve done dance shows and been way less tired. It was like everything was weighing on me. When I’m crying on stage, I’m really crying. A big part of that was having my son’s old clothes in the box my character goes through. It made it full circle in a way I didn’t expect.
Now you’re immediately into American Idiot, which is a completely different animal. How do you switch that fast?
Actors are crazy — we can switch like a light switch. I needed something different. If I hadn’t done American Idiot, I probably would have taken time off. There’s serious content in this show too, but it’s nowhere near what Next to Normal was. This one’s been more lighthearted so far.
Tell me about Whatshername — she’s the lead female role in the show. Why doesn’t she have a name?
She’s basically the light in Johnny’s life — they fall into this fast, intense romance, go down a dark path together, and eventually she gives him an ultimatum: it’s me or this lifestyle. He chooses the lifestyle. As for the name? It comes from a Green Day song, and I think they wanted that song to be about her when Johnny sings it in the musical. But I’ve been trying to give her a name for a month now. If anyone has suggestions, let me know.
Walk me through a typical day.
I’m up around 6:20, go to the gym, take a class, maybe train a client. Then I get my son Brooks ready for school, drop him off, come home and work, pick him up, handle after-school stuff. If I have rehearsal, I shove food in my mouth and run out the door. Gym, school, work, rehearsal. On a loop.
How do you hold it all together?
Sticky notes everywhere. Written calendar, phone calendar, computer calendar, actual physical planner. It’s chaotic — but I grew up constantly busy, always with a sport and theater after school, and I thrive in chaos. When I’m not doing enough, I get bored, and boredom leads to depression. Staying busy keeps me out of that.
What sustains serious theater work in this region?
We’re really lucky with the arts here. There are a lot of places to take a class, do community theater, step up from community theater, and there is paid work in this area. But people need to give community theater more credit. Shows I’ve seen in the past few years have been incredible — sometimes I’m sitting there thinking, why am I paying for this “professional” show when it’s not as strong as what’s happening on a community stage? You do have to have the time and be willing to commit. But the work is here.
When it gets hard — when the balance breaks down — what keeps you going?
I just love it. I don’t think I’ll ever feel the same way doing anything else that I feel on stage. It’s just in me. I can’t fathom not doing it.
Green Day’s American Idiot runs May 8–10 and 14–17, 2026 at SLOC Musical Theater, 427 Franklin Street, Schenectady.
