Frank Delaney

Working actors in Alaska could all fit on a very small stage. When Frank Delaney tried to make a living at his chosen craft, he had to move from Anchorage to Cincinnati.

“At the time when that was my primary source of income, I was choosing to live a very extremely modest life. I was fortunate that the company I was working for provided my housing,” he recalls.

Acting is a contractual obligation in Delaney’s current position as managing director of Perseverance Theatre. He appeared recently in The Great Leap at the UAA Mainstage Theatre, where he previously trod the boards as a student in the ‘90s.

While acting in college, Delaney found work in radio, first as a DJ and then in the engineering department. For twenty years, IT was his primary day job, acting on the side. Juggling IT projects taught him the management skills he now uses to run Alaska’s most prominent professional theater company, alongside Artistic Director Leslie Ishii.

“It’s hard to find a job in the arts, particularly in theater in Alaska,” Delaney says, “so I’m really lucky as far as that goes.”

Alaska Business: What’s the most daring thing you’ve ever done?

Frank Delaney: Pack up my entire life and move to Illinois to go to grad school… It was scary and one of the best things I ever did.

AB: Is there a skill you’re currently developing or have always wanted to learn?

Delaney: I’m currently learning Norwegian, which has been really interesting and fun. I want to pick back up my singing lessons.

AB: What do you do in your free time?

Franke Delaney: [he laughs] That shouldn’t be as hard a question to answer as it seems to be. I like board games a lot; I play a lot of very geeky, complicated board games.

AB: What’s your favorite way to exercise?

Delaney: I don’t like to exercise, but… My favorite way to exercise is in combat workshops. It is a drudge for me to get to the gym and do an hour in there, but I will do an 8-hour sword workshop without thinking about it.

AB: What’s your greatest extravagance?

Delaney: Post-pandemic, we think differently about extravagances. Right now, probably my biggest one is I eat out.

AB: What’s your favorite local restaurant?

Delaney: I have so many, but my absolute favorite is 49th State [Brewing].

AB: What are you superstitious about?

Delaney: I mostly observe superstitions out of respect for other people. For example, in this building [the UAA Fine Arts Building], I won’t say “MacB” [Macbeth] backstage.

AB: What supernatural experiences have you had?

Delaney: There’s a lot of people who think that all theaters are haunted. I don’t necessarily believe that, but I have had a couple weird experiences in theaters where I know I’m the only one who’s supposed to be in the building but I hear weird sounds or doors closing… that kind of thing.

AB: What’s your best attribute and worst attribute?

Delaney: One of my best traits comes from theater training: I’m willing to listen and adjust how I do things… My worst trait is probably that I’m a little bit of a know-it-all. My sweetie would probably say that I’m very much of a know-it-all. I bump up against that a lot, and I’m working on it.