KISSIMMEE — Somebody should tell Dee Baker that nice guys are supposed to finish last.
At the age of 28, Baker is among the lucky minority of entertainers who can call themselves working actors.
He lives in a quaint old house in downtown Kissimmee with his wife, Michelle, whom he met in a fairy tale setting - literally. Michelle was the princess and Baker was Rumpelstiltskin in a production of the classic story.
And recently, Baker has been swiftly carving out a solid reputation in community theater, landing back-to-back plum roles in Civic Theatre of Central Florida productions.
While still portraying Tom Sawyer in the Civic's summer musical Big River, Baker auditioned for and landed the coveted role of ultimate nice guy Tony in West Side Story, which opens on Sept. 13.
''It just blew me away to get the role of Tony,'' said Baker, who considers himself more of a comedic, character actor than a leading man.
Michael Fortner, artistic director of the Civic Theatre and the director of West Side Story, had no doubt that Dee could play the pivotal role of the naive, innocent youth who falls in love with the Puerto Rican immigrant Maria.
''He's so bloody honest on stage,'' said Michael Fortner, ''He looks so all-American, so wholesome. He comes across as a basically nice guy.''
Fortner feels the audience saw those qualities in Baker's portrayal of the irrepressibly disarming Tom Sawyer and that those exact qualities are vital to bringing Tony to life.
''I want the audience to suddenly forget how the play ends and trust these two innocent people and believe they can change things with their love, and that there will be a happy ending,'' said Fortner.
Baker, working at EPCOT's Anacomical Players show, has more than 20 years of experience in the entertainment business, doing everything from musicals to stand-up comedy.
Comedy comes easily to Baker, but he becomes quite serious when talking about his portrayal of one of musical theater's most endearing and well-known romantic leading men.
''The role of Tony - it's terrifying for somebody of my psychological composition to be handed the role of a romantic lead. Convincing myself I could do it was really difficult,'' said Baker.
Actors use their own life experiences in creating a character, said Baker. And you need certain experiences to successfully portray certain characters.
Although at first glance Baker didn't think he and the heroic Tony had any common experiences, upon closer study he found they did.
''He's (Tony) charismatic - people are drawn to him and want him to lead. He's a thinking person who wants to cool things down, but he does have a passionate side,'' said Baker. ''I'm like that, too, and once I discovered it, the part became easier to play.''
When West Side Story debuted on Broadway 34 years ago, it had little in common with other cheery musicals released in the late 1950s and early 1960s, such as The Music Man, My Fair Lady and Sound of Music.
Critics thought West Side Story was much too disturbing, and The Music Man dominated the 1957 Tony awards.
Eight years earlier, choreographer Jerome Robbins had placed a telephone call to his friend and composer Leonard Bernstein. Robbins had an idea for a musical Romeo and Juliet set in the slums of New York City. Originally the plot was to take place around the Easter and Passover holy holidays and involve antagonistic Italian Catholic and Jewish cultures.
The idea didn't take shape for another six years, until writer Arthur Laurents suggested an Hispanic angle; the milieu was changed to the street gangs of New York's deteriorating West Side, where whites clashed with the more newly arrived Puerto Ricans.
Although the idea of gangs using zip guns and knives seems rather dated in 1991, Baker thinks the tragic love story, the choreography and the music are timeless.
''There are so many aspects that are timeless, it will never lose it's power,'' said Baker.
