By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
Thursday was supposed to be the opening night for “The Little Mermaid,” the all school musical at Bowling Green High School.
For theater seniors this can be the capstone of the high school careers, and for the others a highlight of the year. But those young actors are instead holed up at home, unable to join together.
Ethan Brown, co-president of the drama club, said: “Though the directors have yet to announce their plans for the next few months, I think many students in the club have already begun to make peace with the fact that our final theatre performance of the school year may already be behind us.”
On Thursday afternoon, though, a couple dozen students gathered together virtually for a master class using Zoom with Trevor Miles, a cast member with a Broadway touring company of “Hamilton,” the signature musical of our times.
Miles led them through the “theme step” of the musical. They accompany the words : “Just like my country I’m young, scrappy and hungry and I’m not throwing away my shot.”
The step returns throughout the music in different contexts, he explained.
Miles worked them through the step first in slow motion, until they were doing it on their own to a recording of the song, each in a different space in their homes, while he stood in his residence in Toronto watching them on a screen. A far cry from the intimacy of the usual theater experience.
Still Miles connected with them from afar sharing how he got to where he is, emphasizing the importance of persistence.
He grew up in a small coastal town in Oregon and had “very little exposure to the arts.”
But he took piano lessons when he was young, and started singing. Then in high school he saw his first show, a touring company production, “Wicked.”
That’s what he wanted to do, he decided. Miles was confident of his acting abilities, and his singing, but he knew he had to learn to dance. At 17, he was getting a late start, but he devoted himself to learning first at a local dance company and then at Cornish College of the Arts, and at summer workshops across the country including at the American Ballet Theater in New York.
He became “obsessed” with dance. Miles even considered a career in ballet. Once in New York, he worked with a couple dance companies and realized he missed the theater.
Miles auditioned for a role in Hamilton and failed, twice. The second time he was one of two finalists for a swing role. The other guy was hired. He didn’t hear from the company for a year, and then they contacted him about another opening. He had to start the audition process from scratch. He got the part in the chorus with a featured part as George Eacker. In “Hamilton,” he explained, the chorus is on stage more than any of the leads. They adopt a “backup singer” attitude, always shaping their performances to jibe with whoever has the spotlight.
Getting hired took persistence. That and the willingness to take risks are qualities that serve people well whether in theater or interior design, another field he’s passionate about, or any other job.
Now Miles is hunkered down in Toronto, where “Hamilton” was playing when the pandemic closed it and everything else down. The New York based artist decided to just stay there. He bought a piano, and challenged himself to record one cover song a day. Sometimes he likes the result, other times, he doesn’t.
In the end success is doing what you love, Miles told the students.
Terra Sloane, a junior who participated in the virtual workshop wrote in an email afterward: “It is always nice to hear from professionals that know what it’s like to be in our shoes. Hearing that Trevor has gone through similar experiences and had come so far gave many students a great amount of hope for their futures, no matter what they go on to do.”
Brown said the drama club is working hard to stay connected even while staying at home. This was one of five virtual activities planned for April, though the only one featuring a Broadway personality.
“We have all missed performing and spending time together,” Sloane wrote, “so being able to do even an aspect of that was extremely comforting in a stressful time. I couldn’t have asked for a better way to celebrate opening night.”
Miles said he was pleased to play a small role in the occasion, as bittersweet as it was.
Drama teacher Jo Beth Gonzalez suggested maybe they could invite him back at another time only in person.
Miles does regular workshops wherever the show is playing. Teaching, he said, is “the biggest reminder of what I do and where I came from. Coming from a town that had such little exposure to the arts I would have given anything for an opportunity like this.”
