Undergraduate College & Major/Minor: Asbury University, BA in Music (emphasis in vocal performance), minor in Intercultural Studies
Where are you working now? I’m working at an International School located in Tamil Nadu, India. It has a British academic curriculum and caters to students in standards 1-13. About 50-60% of the students are Indian, and the rest come from all over the world, from places like South Korea, UK, and Africa. What do you do there? What do you love about your job? I primarily give private voice lessons to students and staff members. In addition, I also assist with two choirs, junior school classes, and I serve as a dorm support for standard 9 boys.
Ah! There are so many life-giving things that I love about my job:
To be able to teach and encourage students to free up their voice, grow in technical skills, and most importantly, to fall more and more in love with singing and their own voice
To sing nursey rhymes with the little ones in junior school as they warble out their “ah”s, mimicking the time I sang opera for them
To make something beautiful, collectively with the choirs
To hang out with my dorm and my now newly acquired fourteen younger brothers. They really are wonderful, and they never cease to make me laugh!
The beauty of the area I live in! What a joy to explore!
The diversity and the rich lives of the staff members; what a blessing to be able to learn about their experiences and listen to their wisdom.
Favorite SVGS theatre memory: Ah, when our name was called as we ranked in the top 10 at the VTA Conference, with our little show called Almost, Maine. We were shoved in the back of a massive ballroom behind 2,000+ people; we had a split second of stunned disbelief, then an explosion of cheering and screaming and then Ms. Maxton-Whitacre went forward to get our prize, while everyone else in the room is trying to figure out who the heck we are. Then the after blur of our celebratory dinner, and all of us cramming into a hotel room to practice our scenes again (which we had learned just two weeks prior). Such an unexpected and sweet memory 😊
Favorite show you’ve ever worked on: Does My senior recital count? If so, I loved it because my goal was just to have fun and hopefully the audience would have fun too. We all laughed and cried together, and then feasted on sweets and chicken nuggets afterwards! Shows -- The Addams Family, my last show in High School, such a sweet memory of a beautiful cast and dark humour 😊 or Document, because dying onstage, choking and spitting blood is always a treat.
Advice for current high school theatre students interested in working in the performing arts industry:
Learn to measure your success differently; artists are rejected more than they are accepted, but that makes you no less successful. Your ratio of no’s vs yes’ is different than other fields and that’s ok!
The skill to audition is different than the skill to act
Practice! Practice! Practice!
There will be things you won’t be able to change (height, voice type, natural strengths, etc.). Accept that this is a part of who you are and work on honing the things you can grow in. Then walk into a room, with the confidence that you have something to offer that no one else can, and that it is absolutely essential to the show.
When you don’t get the part/role, ask for feedback if possible and learn from it! Most of the time, though, it has nothing to do with you, but their own preconceived notions of what they wanted. There is a myriad of reasons why we don’t get the part/role so don’t waste your time fretting about what those are. Auditioning is a part of the job> Audition and move on.
Be and stay humble: you are not the most important person/part of the show production
Work ethic, Kindness, and Charisma/Networking are usually way more important than talent
Don’t turn your nose up at roles/ always be gracious and kind to everyone. You never know who people may become to be.
Be yourself, cliché I know, but in a world of performing, we performers can spot fakes from a mile away… so don’t be one!
Has your theatre training ever helped you in a non-theatre circumstance? Absolutely! I was born with a cleft lip and palate and really struggled with a speech impediment. When I was in 1st grade, my parents encouraged me to join theatre to help me get over my shyness. Not only did theatre do more for helping me with my speech impediment than any speech therapy I received, but it also showed me how we can express ourselves in so many ways other than just words.
Anything else you think potential SVGS theatre students should know? Be a sponge, and ask all the questions! Lay down your pride to be the best/right and allow yourself to really value and take direction, constructive criticism, and also encouragement! Keep away from the destructive game of comparison and gossip Have so so much fun 😊 Mrs. Maxton-Whitacre likes to be called “Mom” or “Max-Whitty" Aaaaannnnd…. save your quarters for poptarts; they are absolutely essential.