The LIU Post campus in Brookville ushers in a new, exciting age in its Department of Theatre. At the forefront is the New Works Initiative, which is intended to foster original stage productions. Overseeing this effort is the first artist-in-residence, who will play a major role in expanding the creative scope at the Tilles Center.
On May 15, it was announced that Woodbury native, New York Institute of Technology graduate and Broadway’s own Adam Pascal will be the inaugural artist-in-residence. Pascal has an impressive theatrical resume, including a Best Actor Tony nomination for creating his leading role as Roger Davis in the acclaimed musical Rent in addition to leading roles on Broadway in “Aida,” “Cabaret,” “Chicago,” “Memphis,” “Disaster,” “Something Rotten!” and “Pretty Woman The Musical.”
He has accumulated television and film credits, including “School of Rock,”and in 2005, he reprised his role as Roger Davis in the film adaptation of “Rent.” Recently, Pascal received rave reviews for his “Off-Broadway stint in DRAG: The Musical.”
Pascal will direct the world premiere next spring of “Feels Like The First Time,” a musical based on the iconic band Foreigner. He will also teach master classes, participate in the Sept. 5 Foreigner acoustic concert, perform a solo concert on Nov. 23, and appear in special engagements, including a guest spot at “RENT in Concert” next February.
In a recent interview, Pascal was bursting with excitement as he spoke about this new chapter in his life.
What was your impression when you were approached to be the first artist-in-residence at Tilles?
I was incredibly honored and super excited. I’ve been teaching for at least 10 years and I really enjoy it. The timing was perfect when I met Tom Dunn, who told me about this new program and asked if I’d be interested in working on it. I jumped at the chance. To be back on Long Island and work here in this capacity is so exciting for me. So much of my career has been traveling. It would be a luxury to be able to work and then go home at night.
What will you be doing as an artist-in-residence?
I’ll be doing a series of master classes and directing the Foreigner project. The master classes are not a weekly semester-type class. The vision is teaching them for three or four hours at a time. We’re still determining that. Because this is the first year that they’re doing this, we’re figuring out my part of the curriculum as we go. We’re considering what would be most beneficial for the students and myself.
What is your curriculum going to include?
The focus is on acting through song. The course is geared toward performance and helping students in a musical theater capacity figure out how to be actors when they’re singing. I’m not giving kids voice lessons. I didn’t study voice, so I don’t even know how to articulate to somebody the mechanics of singing.
You didn’t study voice?
That’s correct. I grew up playing in rock bands, so that’s how my voice developed and the singers that I was influenced by were these very strong pop-rock tenor-sounding guys like Freddie Mercury, Steve Perry and Lou Gramm. I was attracted to all of these great male singers who had powerful voices. That’s how my voice developed. I never studied voice, but I learned a lot of technique by being around it.
How do you feel about directing a musical about Foreigner?
I’m such a Foreigner fan. I’m so intimately familiar with the music and I’m also intimately familiar with how to make a musical. If you bring me good material, I can create something really good. I’ve already got the songs that I know are good, but that’s not nearly enough, especially with this type of a musical where you have to figure out how to use the songs. Unlike a traditional musical, where the songs are written to tell the story, this is different. You have the already existing songs and you have to figure out how to tell a story using these songs that weren’t written in a narrative way.
I didn’t see the script I was initially given as viable, and the Foreigner people allowed us to start from scratch and come up with new ideas and a new script. I’m so excited about the ideas that the writers, Dave Abbinatti and Stephen Garvey, have produced, and I think it’s going to be really fun.
Why do you think that this Foreigner musical is a great first production for Tilles’ New Works Initiative?
If we do it right, it’s going to get a lot of attention. I think it’s going to kick off this initiative with a huge bang and set them up for whatever is to follow. I’m hoping that this is a big success and establishes this program as a place on the East Coast that’s close to New York City, close to Broadway, where artists can come and develop really great new work.
How did you wind up auditioning for Rent?
I grew up on Long Island and one of my neighbors was Idina Menzel. She was already cast in the show. She knew they were having trouble casting the Roger Davis role and thought of me because he was a singer in a rock band.
What can the audience expect when they come to your solo concert at Tilles?
I have a piano player and I play acoustic guitar. I’ll go through my career with songs and anecdotes about particular times in my life so it’s definitely a retrospective, starting with Rent.
