Seth started doing improv when he was in fifth grade. At 13, he began studying at the Actors Training Center in Wilmette.
Review: Evanston freshman makes his professional theatre debut
Seth Steinberg only began performing in musical theater two years ago but he’s already been cast in a professional production. Pretty impressive for a 15-year-old.
The Evanston Township High School freshman plays Nathan Lukowski in Kokandy Productions’ “The Full Monty.”
Nathan is the son of the main character, Jerry Lukowski. “He’s sort of a dad in a lot of ways — 12 going on 40,” Seth said. “In a lot of ways, he’s voice of reason for his dad.”
Seth hasn’t seen a production of the show but he watched the movie before he auditioned. “I got a general idea of the character and it gave me a direction to look, in terms of behavior.”
The David Yazbek (music and lyrics) and Terrene McNally (book) musical, based on a movie by the same name, is about unemployed American steel mill workers in Buffalo, New York, who, desperate to provide for their families, decide to bare all onstage to earn money — despite their less than perfect bodies. Nathan’s dad Jerry is the one who comes up with the idea.
“It’s a story about normal guys that have to do something that a lot of people think is crazy,” Seth said.
“It’s fun to watch these guys get persuaded into doing this and seeing them build their confidence over time and finally pulling it off.”
Seth started doing improv when he was in fifth grade. At 13, he began studying at the Actors Training Center in Wilmette. “I tool classes there, and then I joined the comedy troupe and the repertory company,” he said.
The actor praised the training he received there as well as the experience he gained by performing in numerous shows, including “13,” “Snoopy The Musical,” “A Christmas Carol: The Musical,” Little Mermaid: The Musical,” “Carrie: The Musical,” “Legally Blond” and “It’s Christmas Charlie Brown.”
When Seth learned he had been cast in “The Full Monty,” “I was really surprised,” he admitted. “It was my first professional audition.”
Seth said his parents were “really happy” with the news. “I’ve got nothing but support from them, ” he said.
Director John D. Glover said he cast Seth because, “At auditions, Seth presented as somebody that was just a kid. He wasn’t trying to act. He wasn’t trying to perform. He was very natural, very organic. We really liked him. We thought audiences would find him endearing because he’s so real onstage.”
Seth said working in this show has been “great. I’ve really enjoyed it. Everybody has been really, really friendly.”
The actor admitted that it wasn’t easy juggling schoolwork and the show’s demands but, he declared, “I really love it.”
Read the original article here.
Copyright 2017, Chicago Tribune
Evanston
Mryna Petlicki
Pioneer Press
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