National Theatre Conservatory 2012 graduates reminisce
The National Theatre Conservatory, a Master of Fine Arts graduate acting school at The Denver Center for the Performing Arts, is currently presenting NTC Rep - two productions playing back-to-back in repertory through April 21, 2012. The selections? CHARLEY’S AUNT and FAHRENHEIT 451.
We asked some of the students to share their favorite memories of the three-year program as they gear up for these rigorous productions:
I have particularly fond memories of our Movement Project. I had never experienced anything like it before, and really haven’t done anything quite like it since. The project was created entirely by our class (with the guidance of Mr. Bob Davidson, of course), so I really felt a sense of pride and ownership over the whole process. It was marvelously collaborative, and everyday I had the opportunity to literally exercise new muscles. Working on a trapeze is hard, awkward, and often uncontrollable. But it becomes beautiful, and the integration of art and the physical is something I truly relish. I hope to take the skills and passion that I gained from that project and our ongoing work here back to New York with me, where quite a few NTC alums have continued to embrace the awkward, uncontrollable, and eventually beautiful nature of trapeze and indeed, theatre.
What a wonderful time it’s been here at the NTC, these last three years. I have been truly blessed to have this oportunity. A memory that will always remain indelible for me was my time during out callback weekend here in March of 2009. I was nervous, anxious, and out-of-breath due to the altitude. They gathered the 30 or so of us, lucky attendees in a room, and we embarked on an afternoon of nonstop artistic soul-bearing. I have NEVER experienced such an awe-inspiring display of gracious and willing talent. Everyone was phenomenaI! I remember thinking “I don’t stand a chance!" But how humbling it was, I thought, to be chosen to compete and share with these incredible artists. I was honored to not only witness that weekend’s work, but to also be a part of it. And for that, I will never forget it.
AMY KERSTENMy time at the NTC has been full of many cherished moments. One of my favorites may have been the first. The NTC has a callback weekend as the final step to making it into the 8 students who make the next year’s class. You perform a monologue for a large group of intimidating faces. All the current students, the 30 callback guests, board members, artistic directors, faculty and more. I performed a monologue that is set in town hall style meeting, so instead of one person behind a desk I got to perform it for 50 plus people- and they laughed, a lot. It was an incredible feeling and made me feel like the NTC was meant to be for me.
I also remember feeling a great sense of accomplishment after Solo shakes. I was determined to pull off a trapeze stunt of flying off scaffolding in wedding dress on a trapeze. I had the vision so clear in my mind and it felt amazing to actually pull it off. Nothing beats flying through the air over the heads of audience members in a a big poofy skirt and with puffed sleeves.
When I think back over the past three years of happiness and heartbreak, there are many moments which stand out in my mind as unforgettable, for better or for worse. One of my absolute favorite memories actually has less to do with me and more with one of my classmates. Our 1st year, the third year students were in the middle of rehearsing thier Repertory shows (Tartuffe and Hamlet), when one of the actors accidentally got injured and had to sit the shows out. With only a day before the show’s opening, the director asked my classmate Andrew Schwartz if he would step in and play the role of Hamlet in the last act. Our class was right in the grips of our movement project, on top of classes 6 days a week and all the other trials and tribualtions of a theater grad school. Not only did my friend and classmate step up to the task, he excelled in the performance. He flawlessly braved the boards, and made all of the NTC realize that we truly are a family. I don’t know that I ever told him how proud I was of him that opening night, or how much I admired his courage. I think we all learned a little something about courage that night, and found the answer to the question was in fact: To Be.
See these students and their classmates in the NTC Rep’s 2012 productions of CHARLEY’S AUNT and FAHRENHEIT 451 playing through April 21, 2012. Tickets: 303.893.4100.