Seth Steinberg makes his New York debut off-Broadway in Steven Levenson's acclaimed and powerful new drama If I Forget. The high school junior from Illinois plays the teenage son of TV's Kate Walsh.

Introduce Yourself(ie): 10 Questions with If I Forget’s Young Star Seth Steinberg

Scroll on to get to know seth a bit better as he talks about his personal connection to the play, the Tony-winning musical that made him want to act, and why Chicago pizza beats NYC.

  1. The first time I read If I Forget, I thought:
    “Oh my god, I get to say this onstage!?”
    
  2. Having had grandparents that survived the Holocaust informed my relationship to the material in that:
    It really shaped my view on Michael’s book in the play, since he’s arguing that we should stop fixating on a tragedy that deeply affected my family and me. What Michael’s argument ignores is that many of us don’t have a choice regarding our memories of the Holocaust. What Michael sees as an unhealthy obsession, for me at least, is critical to understanding my family and my history.
    
  3. The most important lesson I’ve learned working with this cast:
    Enjoy the little things about every show. No two performances are exactly the same, and no two audiences will react in the same way. The little things that set every performance apart are what make doing the show every night so thrilling.
    
  4. My favorite thing to do backstage during the show:
    I really like to draw during the show. I keep a sketchbook in my dressing room at all the times, and it’s sort of how I meditate and calm my nerves before and during the show.
    
  5. Three things I really love about living in NYC:
    1. No matter what you need, it’s 10 minutes away.
    2. The bagels; the variety, the freshness, the heavenly glow that surrounds each one. Each one is unique and precious.
    3. There is so much fantastic theater. The only problem is that it’s impossible to see all of it.
    
  6. Three things I miss about Illinois:
    1. My dog.
    2. The pizza is better in Chicago. You can have your own opinion, but if you think New York pizza is better your opinion is objectiely false.
    3. Movies don’t cost $20.
    
  7. The play or movie that made me want to be an actor:
    Avenue Q. I saw it when I was in 4th or 5th grade, so it was my first exposure to raunchy comedy, and I absolutely fell in love with it. Even through the absurdity of its puppets and its filthy humor, it felt very real to me. That show made me want to form that kind of connection with an audience, not just to perform but to share something silly and joyful with them.
    
  8. A role I’d love to play in 10-15 years:
    Max Bialystock. Or Leo Bloom. Or any character in The Producers. I don’t think there’s any other show where every character is so unique and fun.
    
  9. My pre-show rituals include:
    After I do regular boring diction stuff, I like to do another diction warm-up AND get into character at the same time by mouthing all the lyrics to a rap song. Usually something by Eminem or Childish Gambino.
    
  10. Advice I’d give to aspiring young actors:
    Never let yourself be scared or intimidated by anything. As an actor, your best choices are made when you have confidence in yourself and your understanding of the character, and your best shows are the ones where you’re comfortable with the audience. Performing can be nerve wracking, but all the things that make it scary are also the ones that make it so exhilarating.


Actors Training Center Student Lands Role in The Roundabout Theatre’s Production of IF I FORGET

by BWW News Desk Jan. 11, 2017

Actors Training Center – the acting school in residence at the Wilmette Theatre – is pleased to announce that one of their acting students, Seth Steinberg, has landed a role in If I Forget, playing at the nation’s most influental nonprofit theatre company, The Roundabout Theatre (roundabouttheatre.org) in New York.

Steinberg has worked alongside ATC Founder and Creative Director Carole Dibo to help land this role and joins the ranks of fellow ATC alumni who have gone on to pursue successful acting careers including Rachel Brosnahan, who is currently Off Broadway with Daniel Craig in OTHELLO, and who also received an Emmy’s nod for her role in House of Cards; and Zoe Levin (The Way, Way Back), to name a few.

“We are so excited for Seth to have this opportunity of a lifetime and so grateful to ATC and Carole, who trained and nurtured Seth every step of the way. ATC gave him top-notch professional training and performance experience across the board in comedy, theater, and musical theater, as well as the standards and expectations of ‘the business’, said Susan Wishnick, Seth’s mother. “Carole intuitively ‘got’ Seth as a performer and a person and, through her talent management agency, continued to guide his professional development with her invaluable knowledge, experience, and contacts. She made what once seemed impossible not only possible but now, a reality.”

Steinberg will be playing Joey, a smart and socially awkward teen, a role that he has been working his whole “acting career” to perfect.

I came to ATC when I was in fifth grade to take an improvisation class. I joined the Comedy Troupe and later, the Repertory Company. I fell in love with performing. ATC became my home base. Carole took me under her wing and coached me every step of the way, including before every audition,” said Steinberg.”I think Carole may be the only person more excited that I was to find out that I got cast! I never imagined I would have this oppurtunity, but Carole and ATC make dreams come true.”

Since the school opened just 10 years ago, ATC students have gone on to pursue many successful careers. When seeking young talent, directors from Chicago’s Shakespeare Theatre, Goodman Theatre, and Steppenwolf know where to look for exceptional talent. From NYC to LA, there is no other place like ATC.

Steinberg’s success is not a surprise to Dibo who has been in the industry for more than 30 years. “We train our students to work in this industry,” says Dibo. “Mastering the craft of acting is not a talent or skill that comes naturally to most people, and our dedicated and accomplished teaching staff works with aspiring actors to help them develop the talent to do so.”

ATC does not just train students in the fundamentals of acting, but also prepares them for auditioning and working in front and behind the camera. Classes at ATC are repeated for mastery, ensuring students are ready to hit the ground running once opportunities arise.

“I’m so grateful to Carole Dibo and Actor’s Training Center for getting me where I am toady. Both are workshops I’ve attended and private coaching sessions have been so helpful and directly applicable to real world audition and acting experiences,” said Lucas Jade Zumann, former ATC student who has gone on to star in a late 70’s drama 20th Century Women alongside Annete Bening and Elle Fanning.


Seth started doing improv when he was in fifth grade. At 13, he began studying at the Actors Training Center in Wilmette.

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