For actor聽聽G鈥22, the best part of working on the Broadway musical 鈥溾 is making people smile every night.
VanAntwerp (right) laughs with 鈥淪hucked鈥 castmate James Brewer. (Photo by John Behlmann)
VanAntwerp, a member of the show鈥檚 ensemble and understudy to two of the leads, and the rest of the cast performed at the Tony Awards on Sunday, June 11. 鈥淪hucked鈥 was nominated in nine categories, including Best Musical, and castmate Alex Newell won the award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical.
鈥淭he best part is listening to 1,000 people laugh together,鈥 VanAntwerp says. 鈥淚鈥檝e done big comedies before and something about it now hits differently. In such a divided world, 鈥楽hucked鈥 gets people who come from all over the country.鈥
He began working on the show in 2022 while earning a master鈥檚 degree in (TRF) from聽the. VanAntwerp had already been acting for about 15 years, including the longest-running portrayal of the character Bob Gaudio in Tony Award-winning musical 鈥淛ersey Boys鈥 and recurring roles on TV shows, including 鈥淭he Affair鈥 and the critically acclaimed 鈥淏etter Call Saul.鈥
But in evaluating his career during the pandemic, VanAntwerp decided he was ready for something new. The TRF program offered an opportunity to sharpen his storytelling skills. A year later, he鈥檚 working a grueling eight shows a week in the Broadway hit, but had fun getting ready for the Tonys.
鈥淎ll the lead up to the Tony Awards, doing promotion with other shows and rehearsing for our performance at the awards, is almost just as much fun as the event,鈥 he says, 鈥渨hich are kind of the perks that nobody tells you about.鈥
I started working on 鈥淪hucked鈥 about 18 months ago while I was at 黑料不打烊 in grad school. I would go away for about a month or six weeks at a time to work with the cast and create the show. It鈥檚 the first time I鈥檝e ever had an opportunity to create a show from the beginning, and although it may not be as glamorous as or as well known as other shows I鈥檝e worked on before, it鈥檚 been my favorite creative experience thusfar.
The cast of 鈥淪hucked” performs on stage. VanAntwerp is second from left. (Photo by Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman)
The best part is listening to 1,000 people laugh together.聽I know that sounds like a basic answer, but I鈥檝e done big comedies before and something about it now hits differently. In such a divided world, 鈥淪hucked鈥 gets people who come from all over the country. Many come in hesitant, but by the end of the show, people leave with their chemistry changed and that鈥檚 something that I鈥檓 most proud of from what we do in the show.
I have a lot more experience being on stage and it鈥檚 such a pleasure to perform on stage every day, but there鈥檚 something wonderfully unique about a film set. There鈥檚 a ton more pressure on set, a ton more payoff if it goes well and a lot more stakes if it doesn鈥檛, too, because it鈥檚 forever. You can鈥檛 blow an entrance, or if you do bad work that day, you don鈥檛 get to do it again tomorrow.
And I think that鈥檚 one thing that鈥檚 beautiful about theater is that if you were at an incredible performance, that鈥檚 yours; the next day it won鈥檛 be the same. But there is something beautiful about making a film and having it be forever, feeling like you always have it, whereas with theater, it鈥檚 gone. It鈥檚 fleeting in the wind.
VanAntwerp during a rehearsal for 鈥淪hucked.鈥 (Photo by John Behlmann)
Newhouse really helped me develop the skills to match this new ambition to be my own writer and storyteller, and in a supported and safe way. Everything I wrote and the short films I worked on really changed my mindset and confidence in myself. My time at Newhouse broadened my horizons in a way that I was yearning for when the pandemic hit, and it鈥檚 something for which I am incredibly grateful.
[The most valuable thing I learned from Newhouse] is that the most important part of storytelling is to tell it. Newhouse gave me a license to be ambitious and to know my own value that I could do something like that. I learned how beneficial it is to be surrounded by a community of storytellers that are empowering each other to go after their individual stories and interests.
I鈥檝e been producing this short that was written by a friend of mine from 鈥淛ersey Boys.鈥 We had a bunch of recent TRF graduates on the project, so I鈥檓 excited to see the final edit.
I also have a bunch of scripts I wrote and was advised on by professors at Newhouse that I鈥檓 taking meetings for. Newhouse has such an amazing network! If you have a good idea that you think is good for HBO, there鈥檚 somebody at HBO who went to Newhouse that you could talk to and has the exact thing you鈥檙e looking for. The Newhouse family is everywhere.
Story by Alexandra Lobel, a senior in the in the Newhouse School
