Ensemble Theatre's resident funny Everyguy Bob Rais has never worked for a telephone answering service or been a maitre d', but he does have plenty of experience to call on for one-man comedy Fully Committed, opening today.

        He plays struggling actor Sam whose day job is the reservationist at a hot Manhattan restaurant. It demands that he juggle eight phone lines and a couple of intercoms in a comedy about people desperate to be seen dining at the right place.

        “I spent five years at the Cincinnatian (Hotel), I was a head waiter kind of guy. And I did six months in a temp job as a receptionist. And I answer phones like a demon around here,” Mr. Rais says.

        He's ready.

Loud and funny guy

        Mr. Rais, 40, came to Cincinnati in 1990 to do a show and never left. Being here, he says, “has afforded me some opportunities as an artist I wouldn't have gotten anywhere else.” Fully Committed is only the latest on the list.

        “I came here as the loud and funny guy, but (ETC artistic director) D. Lynn Meyers started casting me in other roles, and I realized I don't have to just be the loud and funny guy.”

        With Ms. Meyers' encouragement, Mr. Rais has continually deepened his character exploration to become Cincinnati theater's Everyguy. He reached a pinnacle of the American millennial male prototype last season in Dinner with Friends.

        “She's turned me into a much better actor. I'm not afraid to open up on stage.”

        Acting is only the tip of Mr. Rais' theatrical iceberg. As the director of the theater's intern company and the overseer of ETC's Adopt-a-School program, Mr. Rais is temporarily handing off some of his duties.

        He also teaches at Northern Kentucky University and will direct for reading series Theatre of the Mind later this season.

Committed to Over-the—Rhine

        In the early days of rehearsal, Mr. Rais talked about his Fully Committed character in terms of motivation.

        “Sam wants some help,” he says, “and he wants to go home and spend time with his father at Christmas.”

        As for what Mr. Rais wants, “I want to do a good job with the show. I want the the show to do well for the theater and the neighborhood, because we have a commitment to Over-the-Rhine. Here we are and here we'll stay.

        “I would like to see all of us (the Cincinnati professional theater community) open strong. I want my interns to be happy. And I want a house.”
       Fully Committed, Ensemble Theatre, through Sept. 30. 421-3555.
       

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