Presidio Sentinel
San Diego, October, 2013
By Laura Walcher
Just for fun, think over the musicals you’ve
seen and loved. Here’s a
little launch: The Fantastics, Dames at Sea, The 25th Annual Putnam County
Spelling Bee, Good News; No, No, Nanette; Promises, Promise…...
Add dozens more, and you’ve probably named
many of the shows that Rick Simas has produced, and/or directed, or
both - in his long musical theater career.
Since
1992, Mr. Simas, a theatre director, professor
and musical theatre specialist, has
taught in S.D.S.U,’s Master of Fine Arts Musical Theatre Program, co-directing
with Paula Kalustian. Earlier, Rick taught at the American Conservatory Theatre
in San Francisco, the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York, and
the American Jewish University in Los Angeles. His dissertation, The Evolution of Dance in the American
Musical Theatre, which helped earn him his Ph.D. in Dramatic Art from U.C.
Berkeley, is used as a text at SDSU.
Simas is a noted expert
on the works of Stephen Sondheim, Hugh Martin, Yip Harburg, and Tom Jones &
Harvey Schmidt, Leonard Bernstein and Cole Porter, among others.
We wanted to know more:
LW: You’re the “face” of the Musical
Theatre Program at SDSU … and an inviting one at that! We’ve loved every production we’ve
seen! What does it take to get students to the level of performance to which
you’ve obviously brought them?
RS. We work with our MFA students for two
years—15 units per semester, 60 units total. It takes a lot of hard work,
passion, and perseverance.
LW:
Clearly, the program’s meant to lead your students
into
musical theater careers. How realistic is this today? Do you have some stars out there?
RS: We’re educating lifelong musical
theatre artists who will teach and perform, direct, choreograph, music direct,
or work in whatever area of specialization for which they've been extensively
trained. We have alums teaching – and working in theatres – nationally and
internationally.
LW: Do students come in with some innate talent, or
experience?
RS:
Yes, with undergraduate degrees – and extensive training from other colleges
and universities.
LW: How
do students qualify for the program?
RS: It’s definitely competitive. We usually
see between 50 and 70 applicants and choose six to ten every two years. We have
a multitude of criteria.
LW:: How has it happened that your program
is only one of so few left in the country? What does this say about our
evolving culture?
RS: There are actually two MFA Musical
Theatre Programs in the country: ours and the Boston Conservatory (now starting
its second year). They are expensive to run - and have a high student/teacher
ratio.
LW. What is your own experience in Musical Theatre?
RS:
Mostly as a director - but I began as an actor.
LW: If you were to
play a part today, who would you wish to play?
RS: I don't think I have the constitution for acting
anymore! But, If I had to choose?
John Adams in 1776 (even though I'm too tall and too
old!). .Some suggest that I play
"Man in Chair" in The Drowsy
Chaperone; they insist that I am
that character...
LW:
You have a Ph.D in Dramatic Art.
Did you intend to be a performer?
Teacher?
RS: No,
I actually intended to be a director.
LW: Your Spring 2013 ‘Portfolio”
showcased our “greats” - Kander & Ebb, Sondheim,
Hamlisch, Lerner & Loewe, and a dozen others. Is there an under-40 audience
now who knows those names? Our entertainment culture today is so fragmented!
RS: Our first semester covers George M.
Cohan to Frank Loesser; our second is Lerner & Loewe through Stephen
Schwartz; our third is contemporary writers; and our fourth is an audition
showcase. We seek to engage community members and our students, hoping to
instill in them a passion for the American musical theatre.
LW: Do you have favorite shows?
RS: The truth is ... for most theatre
artists, the show we’re working on
is the favorite; if
you're passionate about the work -
it consumes you, )
Hard to choose ... but: I’ve loved - Good News,
Triumph of Love, A Man of No Importance. Plays? The Normal Heart, Master Class, A Man of Destiny.
Some little gems I'd love to direct: The
Secret Life of Walter Mitty, The Happy Time, Anyone Can Whistle. “Big” musicals I'd like to do: The Boys from Syracuse, Oklahoma!,
Canterbury Tales, My Favorite Year. And, plays: The Owl and the Pussycat, Six Degrees of Separation, Two Gentlemen of
Verona.
LW: Your short list of notable challenging
characters?
RS:
Mama Rose in Gypsy; Billy
Bigelow, Carousel; Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady; the
title role in Sweeney Todd; And, Hamlet, Macbeth, Lady Macbeth,
Richard III, King Lear, Medea and Oedipus! More recently, I’d add Beverley Weston in August: Osage County.
LW:
what does the program need to ensure a long, strong future?
RS: Our program is now guaranteed in
perpetuity, as we have two endowed positions. However, we are always seeking
community support and engagement for our students and program.
LW:
Your recent production is Man with a Load
of Mischief at North Coast Repertory Theatre - -– good reviews! Yet, I’m pretty sure few in your
audience ever heard of it? James
Hebert (UTSan Diego) said,”… it remains about as obscure as ever…” even though
he clearly enjoyed it.
RS: I may have more experience with this
‘odd’ musical than
anyone. But I love it – and, apparently, our
audiences did as well! Maybe it
will make it into the mainstream of musical theater … or, it might make it into
a sequel of my book, “The Musicals No One Came To See.”
xxxx
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