I graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in May of 2008. I had done theater outside of an academic environment since graduation but the majority of my theatrical experiences took place in theaters just steps away from a classroom. At school, the focus was on actor training and learning the fundamentals of acting. During department shows, it was your opportunity to take the acting tools that you developed in the classroom and use them in your rehearsals and performances. It was a very intense four years and the experiences I gained from school guided me into the oncoming professional world.

Training to be an actor doesn’t stop after receiving a BFA in Acting. It is just the beginning, an essential beginning, but just the start of my journey to what I hope to become: a great actor. Dr. Egg and the Man with No Ear is my first professional show after graduation and it is another beginning of this journey. Silly enough, the things I have learned during this show have nothing to do with actor training. It doesn’t have to do with how to communicate clearly without the aid of text. It doesn’t have to do with character building. And it doesn’t have to do with how to put on my makeup. It has to do with my appreciation for being a participant in the community of fine arts. It thrills me to be a member of a community where we create art and give our audiences something to dazzle their eyes, ears, and hearts with. I thrive in the opportunity to be an actor in a show even more than I did when I was in school. I am finding a more mature and richer attraction to theater and acting. Every opportunity I have to be an actor is more precious to me than before and it’s something I will never take for granted. I also appreciate with whom I am working with even more than I used to. It was great to work with such dedicated directors, actors, and crew members for Dr. Egg. Working with people that I like and who are determined to create something spectacular is what makes this collaborative art so rewarding and fulfilling.

I am still very fresh off the boat as a recent graduate and I look forward to learning more. Actor training will continue for as long as I live and in a way I will always feel like a student. But now that I am free from the hallways of school, I can join the artistic community in the search for creating great theater.

-Adam