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Drama Alumni Sing the Praises of Cabaret By SEAN DAVIS
Since the first class began training in 1968, the focus of the Drama Division at Juilliard has been on a "straight acting" program. The School reminds prospective students every spring as they prepare for their auditions that they might be asked to sing—but that the program is not a "musical theater program." Nevertheless, the current third-year acting students will be featured this month—as they are each spring—in the annual musical cabaret performance, which has been presented for the past three years at the West Bank Café. Expect to hear an evening of songs ranging anywhere from Broadway show tunes to classic standards to some of Bob Dylan's classics.
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| Drama Division alumnus Patrick Heusinger. (Photo by Jason Friedman) |
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These statements are not as contradictory as they might seem. Though a trained singing voice is not required for admission into the Drama Division, the training of Juilliard's actors includes three years of singing class, punctuated with an evening of cabaret at the end. And it is no big secret that students have profited from it; for a program that is not aimed at musical theater, such credits are not a rare find on a Juilliard graduate's résumé. I talked to two recent alums now working on musicals, who said their work in singing class and in the cabaret laid a strong foundation for their current work. Both Patrick Heusinger (Group 33) and Tracie Thoms (Group 30) are flexing their musical muscles right now: for Heusinger, it's on Broadway, taking over the role of Fyedka in Fiddler on the Roof. Thoms is currently in San Francisco, filming the movie version of the Broadway musical Rent, in which she is playing the role of Joanne.Heusinger joined the cast of Fiddler on January 4, just as Harvey Fierstein replaced Alfred Molina as Tevya. But before he was ever cast in the show, he had already noticed how his work in cabaret helped prepare him. During his audition, Heusinger noted that he was able to take notes and make adjustments without getting too "in his head," which he says is a compliment to Deb Lapidus, who teaches Juilliard's singing class for the actors and also directs the third-year cabaret. Heusinger had done musical theater in high school before coming to Juilliard, but during his first year at school, when he saw the third-year students perform in cabaret, his appreciation for the craft was heightened. He recalls watching Tracie Thoms and her class perform that night—a night that Thoms credits as giving back her confidence in her singing.The year before she arrived at Juilliard, Thoms had worked on five musicals. By the time she got to the School, she says, she had developed a phobia of singing because she didn't take care of her voice when she sang, and used it in an unconstructive manner. Right before coming to Juilliard, she auditioned (and was called back) for the Broadway production of Rent—but because she lost her voice, she didn't follow through with it. And Thoms could not be happier about it now. "Thank God I lost my voice. If I had done Rent, I would have destroyed my voice. Juilliard taught me what to do with it."
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| Tracie Thoms (Photo by Chia Messina) |
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Both Heusinger and Thoms believe that Juilliard's cabaret performance provides an opportunity for actors to stretch themselves in ways they might not be able to experience otherwise. This is for several reasons. One, according to Thoms: "If you're a little bit scared to sing, it's horrifying." Heusinger adds: "When you're in that space watching people sing, the people who really move you are the ones who are vulnerable. And that's not an easy place for people to live." But that very reason, says Thoms, led to her experiencing breakthroughs in her acting. And though both Heusinger and Thoms have natural singing ability, they both agree that natural ability is only one part of the equation. Because everyone in the class participates in cabaret, there are people with all different levels of ability—which only makes the evening better.Thoms says that her classmates were very musically talented, but she learned a lot from those who weren't singers. "It was inspiring to be around that many singers and it was inspiring to be around people who didn't sing at all, because of the work that everyone brought."
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A Musical Evening of Cabaret
West Bank Café
407 West 42nd Street
Thursday-Saturday, March 24-26
For time and ticket information, please see
the calendar.
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Heusinger says he learned just as much watching the cabaret performance every year as he did performing it in. One song in particular that Heusinger recalls—from the same show that featured Thoms—was sung by Steve Boyer. "It was a song about baseball and his dad. I remember being completely moved, and was shattered by the simplicity and truth that he brought to it. The thing is that you believed he was singing about his dad, and that's something I always tried to bring to my acting, throughout my education." Thoms says that Heusinger's observations about that song highlights what cabaret is all about. "Steven had a really beautiful song, and allowed himself to be naked and vulnerable on stage," she says.It's the vulnerability and truthfulness that singers bring to the stage that Heusinger and Thoms encourage the current third-year class (Group 35) to reveal at their cabaret. And a final bit of advice, which Thoms adds with her friendly laugh: "Go out there and be a star."Sean Davis is a third-year drama student.
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