Broadway veterans Sandra Joseph and Ron Bohmer, former stars of “The Phantom of Opera” and featured guests of Thursday’s Power of the Purse event, took time to come to the Amarillo Little Theatre (ALT) Academy to give a master class experience to young talent coming up through the ranks.
Students received professional coaching, performance feedback and insight from two of Broadway’s most accomplished performers on Wednesday afternoon, April 22 at the ALT Adventure Space.
The workshop occurred ahead of their keynote appearance at the annual Power of the Purse Luncheon and Purse Auction, benefiting the Laura W. Bush Institute for Women’s Health at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center on Thursday, April 23.
The event will begin at 10:30 a.m. with the purses and silent auction, followed by the luncheon and performance at the Amarillo Civic Center Heritage Room 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. At the event, Joseph and Bohmer will be sharing a dynamic program of stories and songs drawn from their acclaimed careers and personal journeys. Blending inspiration with performance, they will offer reflections on overcoming challenges, releasing limiting beliefs and embracing presence over perfection. ALT Academy students also will join them on stage for a special performance.
Joseph and Bohmer led a very interactive session with ALT Academy students with much praise and good advice.
‘It is really your quirks and weird things about you that can make you a star’
During the workshop, Joseph said, “I think talent is something that kind of chooses you. And in my experience, people who are drawn to the arts are typically sensitive humans who feel things deeply, and we have something inside of us that is burning to be expressed.”
“Or if you’re insecure and shy, it’s weird that you want be onstage, but here … we found our family,” she added. “I know the arts saved us when we were your age, and without it, I can’t imagine how I would survive high school. And I was there where you are and I was full of doubt.”
Joseph said she was constantly looking around her and seeing everyone who was better than her in every possibly way — and this was way before the internet.
“So, ya’ll go through social media and it’s brutal — and being sensitive to people, you feel things deeply, and what matters to me the most is not so much what kind of performers you become, but what kind of friend you become to yourselves,” she said.
“It is really your quirks and weird things about yourself that will make you a star,” Joseph said. “If you don’t bring that forward, the world doesn’t get to see that unique spark that is yours and yours alone. That’s what I think is required to survive in any industry, but especially as an artist.”
She added, “Whatever you choose to do with your career, if you’re earnest in your soul, you always will be.”
Joseph told them to learn to take care of themselves when they’re doing something that terrifies most people, because it is rough. “If you remember nothing else, remember, this crazy old Broadway lady came down here and begged us to be our own best friend and take good care of your inner life, because that’s what you’re going to bring to every character you play … every time you step on that stage — you have to trust that you are enough.”
She told them that even in audition, when she was at the top of the ladder, the voices didn’t disappear, but she learned how to work with them, put them in their place and not let them drive the bus.
Surprise visit revealed
Joseph revealed that her daughter, Austin, was traveling from New York Wednesday evening to be at the show on Thursday. She is in a Broadway production currently.
“She’s not the typical star you would think of (for the part). But they saw something different in her that was special and unique and different. And they were like, ‘we want that’.” They wanted something fresh that they haven’t seen before, Joseph explained.
Bohmer: ‘If you leap, the path will appear’
“I’m sure you’ve heard all the stories — that it’s the most impossible industry in the world (to break into). The hardest part is that there are just so few jobs,” Bohmer said. “But, if your heart is telling you that this is what you need to do — you just gotta do it.
“Have you ever heard the term people often say, ‘leap and the path will appear’?” he asked. “It’s crazy scary, but if you’ve even seen a wonderful film called ‘Shakespeare in Love,’ it is great.” He told the group that nothing was working and he just says, he just tells them it will work out.
“It’s a mystery, and that’s a bit what this industry is about,” he confided. “But somehow, it works out.”
Bohmer said that he was an actor in a show called “The Book of Mormon” for many years and a national tour. He said that he played Joseph Smith and met a man named Gray Henson, who landed a part in the cast of “Mean Girls” and went on the star in the “Elf” production on Broadway.
“Now he’s playing ‘Bigfoot’ off Broadway,” he said with a laugh. “They created a musical for him, and he’s running around doing publicity, dressed as Bigfoot.” Bohmer said the path presented itself to him because he was just so “fricking good” even though he was from a little town back in Georgia.
The Broadway duo advised the young talent that their background would not stop them. Bohmer did advise them to have a good backup plan to fall back on during hard times, but “if you feel it in your heart, you must do this, then trust it.”
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Broadway stars bring spark to ALT Academy students
Reporting by Nell Williams, Amarillo Globe-News / Amarillo Globe-News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
