Anyone familiar with West Virginia Wesleyan College knows that John Waltz is the Director of Admissions. However, it may come as a surprise to many to find Waltz is an excellent actor as well. He loves working with the Wesleyan theater program. According to Waltz, the theatre program is extremely talented and he learns so much from working with them. This extra outlet allows him to do something he enjoys as well as learn to collaborate, communicate, and have a team work ethic that he can use in his daily life. He really commits to becoming his character within theater presentations.
Although he does not have a specific technique he uses to morph into the new person, he does research, observation, and imitating of others to be able to gain knowledge of the character. According to Waltz, the most important thing about becoming a character, which is outside of your comfort zone, is to try to understand their motivation and attempt to accomplish things as that person would. Sometimes, due to the feeling of uncertainty, the actor or actress will get a bit of stage fright, but John Waltz is a strong believer in “if you are prepared, the scene should be the easiest part.”
John’s toughest performance thus far has been during the production of “Pippin”. In this production, Waltz was gracefully supposed to dance and move about. Unfortunately, this is not one of his strong points so he described the experience as “a tragic thing to watch.” He suggests that you should ensure you are prepared, allowing you to do all of the work required for the role and get yourself physically ready to be a necessity.
Look out for John Waltz, Director of Admissions, in future productions at Wesleyan as he exchanges his professional attire for a costume or two!