This week’s campus celebrity is involved in many activities around campus, mainly finding his niche on the stage. Jonah Greenawalt is a senior English major who is a member of the Strange Bedfellows, the Manic Optimists, and is performing in a play, called The Melancholy Play. His experiences as a performer with the on-campus improv comedy troupe, the all-male acapella group, and the theater department allow him an interesting outlook on his life at Bates. Her Campus Bates had an opportunity to sit down with Jonah and chat about, well, everything!
Hometown: Wayland, Massachusets
Where do you live on campus? 10 Frye
Three words your friends would use to describe you: Depends on which friends you ask…
Best place to hang out on campus: Skelton Lounge
Why did you choose to come to Bates? I liked that it was a drivable distance from home, but I also liked how I could say I was adventurous and going to school out of state. I also don’t mind bragging about how I can tolerate a Maine winter.
More seriously though, it seemed like a school where athletics and arts hold pretty equal weight. Bates is a good place for a primarily artistic person, but someone who is also an enthusiastic spectator of sports and contributor of school pride.
Why did you decide audition for an acapella group? I wanted to have a group of people coming from multiple class years to call my family (cheesy, I know) and find a place to call home.
Favorite part about the ManOps: I love the fact that it changes so much every semester. There are new members, new leaders, new songs. I love that I can constantly redefine my experience.
The Manic Optimists
Describe your experience in the Strange Bedfellows: I have nothing but positive things to say about the Bedfellows. When I look back at college, I’m definitely going to remember being a part of this incredible group. The other members are people I might have never crossed paths with, as we all are interested in an array of things.
I want to stress that I loved my experience so much because I never felt that I was the “best” at improv, but I felt comfortable as an amateur and was constantly having fun.
Funniest joke you’ve ever told: When I was in 7th grade classroom aide for a fourth grade class at my Hebrew school, I told a joke that was a hit across the board. I said, “What’s loud and sounds like apple?” and then just yelled, “APPLE!”—the elementary schoolers absolutely loved it.
If you could switch places with a comedian, who would it be? Amy Schumer… not only does she have a huge following, but she also plays a successful juggling act of mixing serious and contemporary issues with mainstream humor.
Synopsis of The Melancholy Play: The play follows a woman named Tillie as she navigates being both melancholy and happy. These emotions, and subsequent actions, create ripples that either deeply attract or deeply repel the people around her.
(Go see The Melancholy Play November 13-15!)
Your role: I’m an Italian psychiatrist named Lorenzo. He is a satire of a European romantic, as well as represtenting the medical intrigue that surrounds changing emotions.
Other hobbies: I really like sewing. I fancy myself quite the seamstress.
Secret fear: When I was a kid, I was deathly afraid of earthworms and, sometimes when it rains, the fear comes back to me.
Advice for freshmen: Don’t be afraid to have regrets.
Plan for your future: I know I want to teach eventually, but I want to work for awhile to have cool stories to tell my future students.