I have always loved to be on the stage, in the eyes of the audience, entertaining others. I’ve played everything from the tiny little munchkins from "The Wizard of Oz," to a 1930’s drunken police officer from "Arsenic and Old Lace," and even to a 1980’s greasy teen gang member of "The Outsiders." Each role I take on presents new obstacles and different expectations for me to embrace. I go to various lengths to achieve the persona of my characters and let go of my own self while on stage. The work that I do takes weeks of rehearsing and practice, over and over again, trying to perfect becoming someone else. When I first started acting I didn’t think much of the characterization process. I always assumed that people memorized their script and that would be more than enough for anyone to get into character. Little did I know what would be in store for me when I became the actor and had to assume the roles myself.

From the way you walk, the way you talk, (the way you make them feel inside) acting has so many different facets that you have to overcome in order to embrace a new personality. These subtle nuances, such as the way you stand when not being spoken to or speaking, might seem like personal habits of yours. Truly, these habits are actually the small aspects of your own personality escaping through the cracks of your character façade. Every role I’ve been in has taught me something about myself, and subsequently others. I’ve realized the small things that I’ve always noticed in others really are examples of the big parts of their personalities. Acting has taught me about so much about body language, the character of others, and most importantly, my own character.

1. "The Wizard of Oz"

You might think that the hardest role for me to get into was being a Munchkin in "The Wizard of Oz." 5’9” me did have a very interesting time going through the physical transformation into the tiny, colorful, and friendly figure the greets Dorothy at the beginning of her journey. However, being a munchkin taught me a lot about my personality in the sense of my engaging nature. I thought that having such a vast physical change would surely mean that I would have a rough transition into this persona, yet what I learned opened my eyes. The character of a friendly and personable munchkin required someone willing to let others take the reigns, someone willing to go the extra “mile” (or at least that’s what it felt like while walking on my knees), but most importantly, someone who didn’t necessarily need to be in the spotlight. While I love being an actor and being in the spotlight, I never realized how little of importance it is to me that I maintain being the center of attention. Maybe it comes from all those lessons in kindergarten about sharing?

2. "The Outsiders"

When I stepped out into the bright sunlight, from the darkness of the audition room I had two things on my mind: what part would I get and could I handle it? "The Outsiders" seems to be one of those books that all Long Islanders can relate to, mainly because almost everyone has read it (even my mom!) The role for me was overwhelming, to say the least. I was thirteen years old and as so many young teenagers feel, I had been part of a clique. I wasn’t especially cool, nor did I go out and raid the town nightly. I was classified as smart by my school’s standards and those were the people I associated with. Being the nerdy type in middle school, how was I supposed to channel any aspect of a street rat? I realized so many of my blessings through that role and really had my eyes opened to the harshness of what others had to live like. Additionally, I learned so much about my own body language and that I could read so much about myself and others just by how we held ourselves, how we spoke, and what types of things we lent our attention to as priorities.

3. "Footloose"

The anthem for the angsty teenage rebels and lovers of the 80’s. This show opened my eyes to the difference of opinions and how people really do genuinely act on what they think is best for others. While the Reverend Shaw didn’t want to make the teen’s miserable (or maybe he did, I’ll leave that for your own interpretation) he chose to make decisions for the town based on the best interest of his beloved daughter. Ren McCormick’s mother might have seemed like she was against him at times, but just like the Reverend Shaw, she was doing what she thought best for her child. Parent’s and children can clash in opinions, just like how religions, political beliefs, and personal philosophy can clash as well. These differences in opinions aren’t meant to be spiteful or rude (most of the time) but to be kind and to look out for others. The lesson I learned from this was that everyone might be working together for a common good, yet the issue of communication is highly prevalent. Watching Ariel and Reverend Shaw argue and seeing body language that expressed their constant need to actually sit down and discuss their thoughts. Communication is key.

4. "Arsenic and Old Lace"

Arsenic was the first show I performed in where I felt like I could do anything. Maybe that was partly the “Senior Year of High School” ego I had. Regardless I really felt very comfortable with everything from the audition to the rehearsals to the performances (which does not and has not ever happened again.) I was out of my element as an alcoholic police officer, so it took a lot of time on my part to learn the patterns for both types of people and then to decide which parts of both were most important for when I meshed the two, I had a lot of trial and error during rehearsals. While the end results were fantastic, the process of getting there was brutal. The entire rehearsal period taught me all about the importance of time management and how no one person fits into one specific category. An alcoholic, a police officer, and a man from the 1930’s were three drastically different fields that I had to combine in order to create my character and to find a unique and accurate blend that was successful for the role, I had so much more to do than just watch a youtube video about an accent or a google article on body language.

5. "Anything Goes"

My first role in a high school musical, my first principle role in a show, and my first big name show that I recognized before looking it up in anticipation of auditions. "Anything Goes" was an amazing experience, an amazing show, and had an amazing cast that left the audience on their feet at the end of each performance. Playing the Captain of the ship, I had to be big, bold, and most importantly, loud. I learned from that role that I was none of those things in my own personality. I had no issue with anyone upstaging me prior to that show, and I was timid and reserved in my roles. That all changed when I had my “love tap” that shoved me in the right direction. Being woken up and realizing that my role didn’t match my personality but I still needed to put on a good performance made me realize that I could be anyone I set my mind to and that my own personality should never hold me back from my personal ambitions and successes.