We met at a Bible study my Junior year. Being the perpetually shy person that I am, I was surprised when this girl named Jenny not only remembered my name each week (it was a BIG Bible study), but she also met me with a weekly hug. I don't think I've ever met someone who loves people as deeply as she does. Soon, we were taking Saturday morning five mile walks, and talking about everything from Jesus and the future, to Shakespeare and acting. I blame her for my addiction to Marvel superhero movies. Jenny is currently a senior theater major at Christopher Newport University (I swear, the coolest people are theater majors). Check this out:
1)
Now what was the prompting to study Theater in college?
Good question! Sometimes I don’t even think I know the answer. My mom would say it’s
because I’ve been putting on plays, playing dress up and quoting movies since I
was two! My first Broadway show was Beauty
and the Beast when I was twelve and my mom says that I came out of that
show and said, “This is what I want to do for the rest of my life. Be on
stage.” I would have to say those words were only reaffirmed when I saw Phantom of the Opera three years later.
I did theater or ‘drama’ as it was called, all throughout high school. I
performed in several shows and worked backstage on a few as wardrobe and run
crew.
When I wasn’t involved in a show at school, I
was going to as many community theater auditions as I could. My first community
show after a multitude of auditions was with Leesburg Theater Company as Mrs.
Spencer in Anne of Green Gables. The
following summer after I started college and throughout the last three summers
of my college career I have worked with The Middleburg Players on their summer
musicals starting with The King and I
to this past summer’s production of The
Sound of Music. I couldn’t be more thankful and blessed for the community
within Middleburg Players, they have been so wonderful and loving and
supportive and I hope I can work with them at least one more summer before
going out into ‘the real world’.
2) Did either of
your parents have a Theater background?
Not at all! My
family is retired military with both my parents working in various fields in
business. My uncle did theater in high school and on the side in college. Funny
enough he has been taking an acting class and has just been cast as an ensemble
member in a local musical! I’m so excited to see that God has brought an old
passion of his back into his life. My sister is closer to me in the
entertainment/arts field she loves making movie trailers and her newfound
passion is making promotional videos for her favorite Hockey teams including
her high school team. I am very thankful for all the love and support of my
family. Though they still don’t understand much of how the business works
(neither do I) they have been completely supportive of me with what I would
consider one of biggest dreams.
3) What sort of performances are you drawn to (in yourself, and
in others)?
That’s
a toughie. I guess my favorite performances are the ones that are simply real
and truthful, the ones that tell a great story. I love when I watch a movie and
the movie isn’t just great because of the plot and the effects. What really
makes a great movie or any kind of performance is when you can tell that the
cast of performers is a family and get along incredibly well with each other. They
know what they are working on is something amazing. Sure this doesn’t happen
all the time but when it does it makes a lasting effect on the performance.
My
favorite roles are heroines. Not necessarily an ingénue but characters like
Belle from Beauty and the Beast and Éowyn from The Lord of the
Rings. Characters who believe in themselves and are strong and confident.
Characters who are dreamers and who may or maybe a little, have romantic
tendencies. These women just are inspiring and have qualities that I hope I
have within myself.
4) Do you read plays, and if so, which are your favorite?
As surprising as it sounds for someone studying
theater, I really only read plays that I’m assigned to read in school or if I’m
preparing for an audition. Most people will tell you that plays are meant to be
seen instead of read. I’m not sure I have an all time favorite but I do like
musicals a little more than plays. In the whole overarching umbrella of
literature I prefer books. I’m terrible at picking favorites but I’ll name a
few. Lady Emily mystery series by
Tasha Alexander, Chronicles of Narnia
by C.S. Lewis, The Lord of the Rings
by J.R.R. Tolkien. I love fiction almost anything with fantasy, science fiction
or historical fiction.
5) Is the world of theater as cut-throat and competitive as
we've been led to believe?
The
world of theater is terribly competitive. I have had to face an incredible
amount of rejection and try my best not to take it personally, because the
director has what they want in mind and if I don’t fit into that picture then
that’s the way it is. At the same time, when you are auditioning you are trying
to put as much of you out there as
you can while still playing a character and it’s really really tough. I am so thankful that God has been with me every step
of the way because sometimes I have to hit that wall of rejection, even failure
and figuratively get shoved down to the ground. It hurts a lot, and often comes
with doubt and discouragement. All I can do is get up, dust myself off and keep
going. Unfortunately, favoritism is also an issue in the theater world. Not
that the favorites aren’t good at what they do, a lot of them are brilliant.
The downside is opportunities for those who try to gain experience are taken
away and aren’t given the chance to learn and grow. I guess that’s just the
nature of the business. In terms of cut-throat I personally haven’t experienced
anything in terms of backstabbing or people who try and ‘buy their way in’ so
to speak but it wouldn’t surprise me that it happens.
6) The program at your
university encourages students to learn not only acting theory and techniques,
but also stage technology and lighting. What has been your favorite technique
to learn?
Unfortunately, I haven’t had a lot of experience other than in
community theater to apply some of the acting theory and techniques that I have
learned over my college years. Not that I don’t work on them outside the
classroom but I have gained more experience within the backstage portion of
theater. Last year I was chosen to be an Assistant Stage Manager (ASM) for Brighton Beach Memoirs by Neil Simon. It
was an incredibly blessed and unexpected experience. Definitely one of my
favorites. I had never done a backstage role of that caliber before. I was able
to experience the entire rehearsal process from the other side of the table. I
set up the stage every night, made several copies of the script, was on line
call, gave line notes all sorts of odd jobs were thrown into one. By the time
we got the show up and running I along with a fellow ASM were basically in
charge of everything that went on backstage including our run crew. It was an
eye opening experience that called for a lot of my time (2 ½ months),
organization skills and patience. Though it was very much a thankless job
sometimes it was definitely a worthwhile experience. I got to know some great
people and worked with one of my best friends who was my mentor and Stage
Manager for not only Brighton but the
last show that I assistant stage managed which was Humble Boy by Charlotte Jones.
7) What would you love to do after graduation?
Ah, the question on every senior’s mind! The
future is really in God’s hands and I’m excited and slightly terrified to see
what that is going to be. I would love to work at Disney World or Disneyland
doing character work, ideally one of the princesses. The idea of being that character to kids and
bringing a smile and a joy to their face sounds like the most rewarding
experience. After a lot of reflection and tweaking not only by me but mostly God
I actually don’t see myself on Broadway anymore, which is rather sad to say.
Not that I don’t want to do theater I would love to continue doing it but
probably through tour companies or smaller theaters. I would love to be Belle in Beauty and the Beast that would be just incredible (Getting to wear
that famous yellow dress? Heck yes!). I think my heart really is in the film
business. I’m such a huge movie buff that getting to act in movies and tell
stories on film whether on television or the silver screen would truly be a
dream come true. If you asked me right now if I could be in anything what would
it be, I would say if it was television then the up and coming Marvel S.H.I.E.L.D. show being done by Joss
Whedon and his brother. Silver screen? Without a doubt Marvel’s Avengers 2, also conveniently done by
Joss Whedon. As you can tell I’m a big nerd about superheroes and fantasy.
Nerdy and proud!
8) Finally, what actors and performances are you most excited
about this year?
·
The Hobbit – Martin Freeman and the
rest of the cast are going to be brilliant.
·
Iron Man 3 - Come on, it’s Iron Man
and Robert Downey Jr!
·
Star Trek: Into Darkness- About time it came
out!
·
Thor: The Dark World
- My two favs. Chris
Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston. That is all.
THANKS Jenny! As always, if you know an artist (yourself included) who should be talking about their art, drop me a line.
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