Actor Speaks with OFHS Thespian Society

Oak Forest High School Thespian Society members had a special guest speaker at their meeting on Wednesday, February 10th. Jeff Award nominee and actor Jake Morrissy took the time out of his day to speak to the Thespians, Thespian Adviser Michael Blakley, Assistant Drama Director Victor Pazik, and Stage and Technical Director Edgar Gonzalez about some of his experiences in college and professional acting.

An Oak Forest High School (OFHS) Alum, Morrissy won the Jeff Award in 2019 for his role as Leo Bloom in Paramount Theatre’s production of "The Producers."

Morrissy shared that while he was participating in "The Producers," he was also auditioning for other shows that he would not hear back from for months at a time.

Such was the case with the auditioning process for the "Book of Mormon" on Broadway. He tried out for Elder McKinley and didn’t hear anything for months. Then, he tried out again for other roles and still didn’t hear anything. This same routine happened over and over until he finally learned he had won the role of Elder McKinley.

Morrissy was recently scheduled to appear in a new musical called "Secret of My Success" when he learned that the show was shut down on March 13th due to COVID-19.

Morrissy also shared with students that he felt he was well-prepared for collegiate acting.

He said, “We did amazing stuff in a cafeteria (referring to his time at OFHS). You don’t need millions of dollars to do amazing work. You just have to work harder. Anything is possible if you work hard for it.”

There were many people who told him not to go into drama, but he pushed past the doubt. He said, “I dug my heels into my soul and honestly said that this is all that I wanted to do. There are ways to do things cheaply [in college]. For example, you could go to a community college, but take acting classes and get an agent while you are there. Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t make it. All you need is one yes.”

At OFHS, Morrissy said his most notable theatre experience happened before he was even an actor in the theatre program. He went to see a show called "Scapino," directed by Oak Forest High School Media Specialist Cheryl Harris-Sumida and fell in love with the slapstick humor of the show and the actors. Although he went to this show as an excuse to get extra credit from his French teacher, he knew he wanted to be a part of this group and this energy. Morrissy then tried out for the next show, "Oliver!" and made the ensemble!

That was the start of his theatre career.

His advice to OFHS students about taking classes in college was to take classes that interest them.

He said, “When you have electives, take what you think would be fun! Take what you can see yourself doing every day.”

He also suggested that students do something outside of theatre or whatever their major is.

"You need to round yourself out so you can play your authentic you," he explained.

Students asked his advice about what they should perform in college auditions. He said that the songs are normally set by the school, but that students should “do a monologue that is completely you!”