The millennial musical now at the Music Box Theatre in New York boasts a score by Oscar-nominated Benj Pasek and Justin Paul of “La La Land” fame, and book by Steven Levenson.
Monday, February 20, 2017
CMU grad goes from the stage to the jungles of Borneo and back again
The millennial musical now at the Music Box Theatre in New York boasts a score by Oscar-nominated Benj Pasek and Justin Paul of “La La Land” fame, and book by Steven Levenson.
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As I always, it's motivating to read of the success of CMU grads, but this story does even more to inspiring. We all get tunnel vision here and pride ourselves on the success of our alums that we start to think the first summer internship makes or breaks our career and that it's Broadway or bust! Kristolyn Lloyd sets a great example (in part because of her Broadway success) because she spent time to listen to herself and what she wanted to do with her life and gained outside experience. It's so important for artists to work in other fields and use their experiences with their training. It sounds like Lloyd struggled a bit while she was here, but perhaps the combination of difficult training and life experience is what's needed to make it. While I believe there's no perfect formula for theatrical success, perhaps the combo of our BFA program and some years abroad are a good start.
Reading about her life is so inspiring. Just because people kept saying no to her, she kept trying and would not stop to do the things she loved. Also reading that she quit acting to go on youth mission is truly amazing. I wonder what the final straw was though for her quitting? Was the rejection to much? I got the chance to see her perform twice. Once off Broadway in Heathers. The second time on Broadway in Dear Evan Hansen. In Heathers she was fine, her performance was not bad, there just was not anything special about it. In Dear Evan Hansen she was truly amazing. She brought real life to the character and symbolized so much for people my age. I know a lot of it has to do with the writing, but her acting in this was a game changer. I recommend to everyone to go see Dear Evan Hansen!
This article is so intriguing as I have been listening to the Dear Evan Hansen soundtrack on repeat for days. I have yet to realize there was a Carnegie Mellon Alumni in the mix. I am inspired by Kristolyn's perseverance and inability to say no in the face of rejection. She easily could have given up when told she was not good enough to be a musical theatre major, but she never gave up. Who knows what Dear Evan Hansen would have been without her voice or her amazing acting talent. Her work both on the stage and off is inspiring as a current student in Carnegie Mellon's School of Drama. At times the curriculum seems impossible, and the chance of failure great. However, with preparation and perseverance one can outlast the hard times and learn from the amazing individuals around them. Who knows maybe one day I will not be listening to Kristolyn through my headphones, but instead from backstage as we work together.
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