Quarantine Interviews: Jamie Pierson

Well, he is first of all he loves it. He's really excited about the prospect of doing it, and he was really disappointed when things had to shut down. But the rehearsals have been a good way to structure it and keep him thinking about it and connect with the rest of the cast, which is one of the reasons why he wanted to do the Lion King, why he went out for it. Because he went out for the Christmas play this year, having not really done acting other than the Avalon Theatre camp. It's really one of the few things that he asks for every summer: 'I really want to do the Avalon theater camp.' He loves Curtain Call, he's had a lot of fun with it, he's gotten some really interesting fun parts to do each year for the Curtain Call. Then when the Christmas play came around, we said, 'You want to go out for this?' He didn't really know, hadn't gone through an audition before, and just kind of went for it. Then when Lion King came around, he's not in love with musicals, but he went for it. I think the role of Scar is a good one for him. I think he's a budding character actor. So yeah, he loved it, and it has been really good continuing a connection, having a little bit of structure to do the online rehearsals.

Yeah, I think he's nervous about singing solos and stuff like that. I know that's not hidden from anybody. But I also think he didn't really know much about musicals. I grew up outside of New York, and we used to go into the city once in a while to see some of the classic musicals. He just never really was exposed to it that much yet. So he was worried about the singing, but he has kind of come around. He really enjoys it. He doesn't want a solo, but for the part he's got, he's got to do it. Kimberly worked with him and said, 'You don't have to really sing it too much, you can kind of chant it, you can kind of speak it.' I think giving him the leeway to come to it on his own has been really good, and that's one of the things Kimberly is really good at.

Sure. Well, I think that this has really highlighted how important the Avalon Foundation and the theatre are to the cultural life of this community. The building itself, the Avalon Theatre, is a beautiful building, but the foundation is so much more than that. From the multicultural festival, the farmers market, all the other things, the summer concert series that we're not going to have. We've always really enjoyed going up and down, you see your friends, you see your neighbors, you listen to some good music. So I think it's really highlighted how many things the Avalon really does for the community. Unfortunately now that it's gone, that's one of the things I find missing the most.