Grade: 10
Future college: Pace University, NYU, or Elon University
Future Job: musical theatre actor on broadway
Years in theater: 3
Inspiration: Gavin Creel and Sutton Foster

Wingspan: When and why did you start theater?

Askew: “I started theatre when I did the musical Once Upon a Mattress and after that moment I knew what I wanted to do with my life.”

Wingspan: What is it like to balance school, choir, and theater?

Askew: “Some may think that it’s challenging to balance the three, however I find it quite easy, I usually just plan heavy and stay organized with my calendar and what not.”

Wingspan: How is the dynamic different from choir different from theater?

Askew: “Choir is a more independent environment where it’s mainly focused on putting singing voices together to make a balance, whereas in theatre you have to have more of a connection with all the people that you work with due to the fact that you spend so much time on stage working with them you just need to be able to trust the people you act with.”

Wingspan: What does theater mean to you?

Askew: “Theatre means so much to me. The theatre is a place where I can create magic and tell a story on a stage in-front of others. Theatre pushes me to constantly work hard and the environment makes me beyond happy because the people are phenomenal. Being able to step into different parts in the theatre not only allows me to gain experience and grow and an actor but it also plays an effect on my life because I take things from every part that I play.”

Wingspan: How has choir helped you in theater?

Askew: “Choir helps so much in theatre especially musical theatre because being able to know all of the basics with voice is important. It makes learning songs so much easier and faster and having choral knowledge gives me more time to work on the acting part since I have the singing already down.”

Wingspan: What’s the biggest challenge of being so involved?

Askew: “The biggest challenge would definitely have to be time management. This year I did four shows at the same time and I had to learn how to balance my time spent working on each show daily. Also it’s important to balance rehearsal schedules and making sure everything works together perfectly fine.”

Wingspan: As theater has already been quite time consuming on it’s own, what made you want to add choir on top of your plate?

Askew: “Well I feel that for college I need as much training as possible because the top schools only accept ten to twenty kids for musical theatre so I feel that it is crucial to have training in every aspect of the subject. Next year I plan on adding dance to my plate because I feel that every person needs to have experience with dance, acting, and singing in musical theatre, because college auditions consist of all three and you only get one shot.”

Wingspan: What have you learned about yourself through the arts?

Askew: “Through the arts I have learned so much including how to have my own creativity, how to bring characters to life, and how to be a better person.”

Wingspan: What is your advice to anyone who wants be so involved in the arts as you?

Askew: “To anyone wanting to join the arts my biggest advice is to just do it. All fine art programs at our school are so good about making the experience good and I think that it’s all worth the try if you have the time.”