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We’ve already told you a bit about John Rubinstein because he wrote the incredible score for ENDER’S GAME ALIVE, but we’re going to sing his praises yet again for two reasons: one, he delivered an incredible performance as Major Anderson; and two, we adore him more than words can express.
Tony Award Winner John Rubinstein as Major Anderson.
In our music blog, we told you all about the musical background of John Rubinstein: how he’s the son of world-famous pianist Arthur Rubinstein; how he made his Broadway debut in 1972 as the title role in Pippin, directed by Bob Fosse, for which he received a Theater World Award, then later won a Tony for his work in Children of a Lesser God; how he wrote original film scores for The Candidate
John has appeared in nearly two hundred television episodes, from CSI (2013) to Dragnet (1967) and literally everything in between. You name it, he has played it, and all with a commanding presence and natural grace. As a narrator, we near that two hundred number yet again. John has made a name for himself in terms of being the go-to guy for what we’ll call the best-selling male thriller, having given voice to works by heavy hitters such as Jonathan Kellerman, Tom Clancy, and James Patterson. We’ve had the absolute pleasure of working with John for years on a variety of projects. From the King James Bible to vampirical anthologies to Report from Nuremberg, John is simply one of those actors who can do it all.
CAST LIST
Andrew “Ender” Wiggin………………Kirby Heyborne
Valentine Wiggin………………………….Susan Hanfield
Peter Wiggin………………………………….Paul Boehmer
John-Paul Wiggin…………………………..Arthur Morey
Theresa Wiggin…………………………..Gabrielle de Cuir
Mazer Rackham……………………..Richard McGonagle
Chamrajnagar/Fly Molo/Pol Slattery…..Vikas Adam
Jayadi………………………………………..Samantha Eggar
Colonel Graff………………………………..Stefan Rudnicki
Doctor/General Levy……………………………..Theo Bikel
DeeDee/Server………………………………………..Janis Ian
Dap………………………………………………………..Rex Linn
Bean………………………………………………..Emily Rankin
Alai/Stilson……………………………………Sunil Malhotra
Mick………………………………………………….Kathe Mazur
Bernard/Dink/Carn Carby………………Jim Meskimen
Shen………………………………………….Taylor Meskimen
Major Anderson………………………….John Rubinstein
For ENDER’S GAME ALIVE (available NOW!), we wanted to give John a part he could really sink his teeth into, and what better role than Major Anderson, the opinionated and commanding teacher at Battle School in charge of the Mind Game. Little did we know, however, that Orson Scott Card had decided to invent a brand new character for this audioplay, Major Jayadi, in order to overcome the challenge of telling this entire story without narration. Consequently, many of Anderson’s lines ended up going to Jayadi, but of course John is a pro, and he took it all in stride (see the video below, tee-hee). Anderson’s role remains an iconic one, regardless of line count, and one that John delivered with his usual power and poise. Plus, with a new character to play with, we were able to add the gorgeous Samantha Eggar to the cast, so we like to think it was a win-win all around.
