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Jul 05, 2021 Academics Session One Arts

Spotlight on Acting for the Stage + Screen

EXPLO students in the Acting for the Stage + Screen course share their experience workshopping an original piece for their peers. Learn more.

Victoria Lyons

Those of us lucky enough to have been in attendance at the first Explosé of the summer were in for a treat when the students of Acting for the Stage + Screen took the floor. The actors performed an original skit which is, in the words of Simon, one of the students in the course, "the greatest play I've ever seen, and I got to see Hamilton in theaters twice." 

Sure enough, the skit brought down the house, and hilarity ensued the moment the group took the stage. Before the performance, three students gave insight into the creation of the skit, reflected on their experience this week in Acting for the Stage + Screen, and shared their thoughts on all things acting.

Can you tell me about your upcoming Explosé performance?

Abby: So, we were playing an improv game in class, and we were flipping through a book of prompts, and the one we got was, "After four failed marriages, a failed comedian makes a deal with the devil." So, we made up a whole entire improv scene about that, and Lisa, our instructor, thought it was really good and that we could perform it at Explosé!

Simon: It's about a comedian who is a terrible comedian. He has no funny jokes, and everyone leaves his show because of how terrible he is at it. So, then, the devil comes in — her name is Darla — and she says she can offer him anything he wants if he makes a deal with her. 

Who do you play?

Abi: I play one of the ex-wives and an audience member.

Abby: I play the devil. 

Simon: I play the comedian, Eddie.

Have you done a lot of acting before?

Abi: Yes, I have some acting experience in some school shows. I've done SeussicalThe Little MermaidHigh School Musical, and I've also done some of my school's revues, where we perform medleys of songs from different decades, different Broadway shows, all kinds of cool stuff. 

Abby: Not so much — I did a couple of school plays, but I only had one line in one of them! I've really liked this class a lot, though, and I definitely feel like I learned a lot. 

Simon: No — I was in two school plays a while ago. But I was recently watching the show WandaVision, it's awesome, and I saw the behind-the-scenes, and it looked like the actors were having a lot of fun. I thought maybe, if I became an actor, I could have a lot of fun like that. So, I thought I might start here at EXPLO. Maybe I would've taken an acting class at home, but I wasn't sure I wanted to commit to that, so this seemed like the perfect thing because it's a week long, and it really was a lot of fun. 

What are some other highlights or takeaways from your experience in Acting for the Stage + Screen?

Simon: We watched some movie clips, and we got to do cold reads from some TV shows — that was so much fun. I would really recommend the class. Lisa, our teacher, is awesome, and she brings a lot of expertise. 

Abby: Lisa made sure that we were learning how to act for the stage and the screen and taught us what's different about each. We also did mock auditions, which was fun. 

Abi: We also learned more about different careers in the industry. I think that was a real highlight for me. I actually really want to go into a career in the arts. I'd really love to do wardrobe design for Broadway. So, it was really cool to learn more about that, because, before this class, I thought wardrobe was just taking pieces and putting them together — I thought it was a really small job. But it's actually a huge job!

Abby: We also watched a bunch of behind-the-scenes stuff showing that not everything about acting is glamorous, and that there's so much work that goes into every single tiny detail. 

Do you have any favorite plays, musicals, movies, or TV shows that you think you'd really love to work on?

Abby: The show ended already, but I would want to be on Brooklyn Nine-Nine. I actually already picked a character for myself: I would be Captain Holt and Kevin Cozner's daughter. 

Abi: I'm a big theatre person, and I just saw In the Heights on HBO Max, and I really fell in love with all the choreography and the dynamic of the show. Or maybe something like Cinderella...like a modern Cinderella! That kind of story would be fun.

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Victoria Lyons