Name: Rich Sommer
Age: 34
Neighborhood: Chelsea
Occupation: Actor, currently in Harvey on Broadway.
Who’s your favorite New Yorker, living or dead, real or fictional?
My manager, Dale Davis. She died a couple of months ago. She was my favorite kind of New Yorker. She wasn’t born here, but she lived here forever and loved it deeply. She knew everything about the city.
What’s the best meal you’ve eaten in New York?
Our first Restaurant Week, my lovely wife and I ate at One If By Land. Getting to eat that food after a steady diet of ramen and lettuce was mind-blowing.
In one sentence, what do you actually do all day in your job?
These days, I spend the day trying to give my wife and kids some attention, while trying not to freak out about the potential I have to forget every line I have in the play.
What was your first job in New York?
Temping at the Columbia Operations Office, I think. Lots of typing, ten-keying a bunch of codes. I divvied up the numbers to figure out how many I needed to do each day to reach the requirement by the end of the month, and did that many in about two hours each day. Two hours of work per day. They paid me for seven. It was good.
What’s the last thing you saw on Broadway?
My wife and I took our 4-year-old daughter to see Mary Poppins, her first Broadway show. So fun.
Do you give money to panhandlers?
Rarely. Buskers, more often.
What’s your drink?
A Gin-Gin Mule at Bathtub Gin. It’s spicy and full and citrusy. Yum.
How often do you prepare your own meals?
Just about never.
What’s your favorite medication?
Anything with a “PM” after the title.
What’s hanging above your sofa?
The cord to our laptop.
How much is too much to spend on a haircut?
$50.
When’s bedtime?
1 a.m.-ish.
Which do you prefer, the old Times Square or the new Times Square?
Never really knew the old one, except for what I saw in movies. I go crazy when I have to walk through Times Square, but I think I prefer the current version to the one I read about.
What do you think of Donald Trump?
I think he kisses everyone’s ass way, way too much on Celebrity Apprentice.
What do you hate most about living in New York?
Humidity.
Who is your mortal enemy?
Either Ben or Jerry.
When’s the last time you drove a car?
April, when I was last in Los Angeles.
How has the Wall Street crash affected you?
My only foray into anything stock-market-related was in my eighth grade social studies class. I have steered clear ever since.
Times, Post, or Daily News?
Times. I hate the Post.
Where do you go to be alone?
Anywhere that is not our apartment. I honestly haven’t had a ton of alone time this summer. I share my dressing room with another actor, and if I’m not there, I’m usually with the fam.
What makes someone a New Yorker?
I was always told it took living here for at least ten years. Which means I officially do not qualify.
