{"id":1750,"date":"2018-04-19T10:31:17","date_gmt":"2018-04-19T14:31:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2017-2018\/?p=1750"},"modified":"2018-04-19T10:31:17","modified_gmt":"2018-04-19T14:31:17","slug":"former-tc-actor-makes-a-play-for-the-stage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2017-2018\/2018\/04\/19\/former-tc-actor-makes-a-play-for-the-stage\/","title":{"rendered":"Former TC Actor Makes a Play For the Stage"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ben Ribler\u2019s acting career took off in sixth grade at Francis C. Hammond Middle School, when he played Judge Wise Old Man in the school\u2019s production of<\/span> Big Bad.<\/span><\/i> More than ten years later, his love of theater has brought him professional roles in plays ranging from Arthur Miller\u2019s <\/span>The Crucible<\/span><\/i> to <\/span>Green Day\u2019s American Idiot: The Musical<\/span><\/i>. Most recently, he performed as part of the ensemble in <\/span>The<\/span><\/i> Great Society<\/span><\/i>, written by Robert Schenkkan,<\/span> at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. <\/span>The Great Society<\/span><\/i> is a drama depicting Lyndon B. Johnson\u2019s presidency during the Cold War and the Civil Rights Movement.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always been interested in telling stories and playing pretend,\u201d said Ribler. \u201cAs a little kid, I would imitate characters I saw on TV, and would create my own characters and stories in my spare time.\u201d Ribler continued his acting journey at T.C. and remained involved in the drama department throughout all four years. Ribler dabbled in directing one-act plays, but performing was always his primary focus. His first role at T.C. was a small part as Bomber in William Inge\u2019s <\/span>Picnic<\/span><\/i>. \u201cFrom there, I leapt at every opportunity I could,\u201d said Ribler, \u201cand it kept going until I graduated.\u201d His other memorable roles include Mark in <\/span>Rent<\/span><\/i>, Arthur in <\/span>Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon<\/span><\/i>, The Scarecrow in <\/span>The Wiz <\/span><\/i>and various characters in <\/span>The Laramie Project<\/span><\/i>. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Turning a childhood passion into a career, especially in the theater field, can be difficult. As an actor, developing self-esteem is just as imperative as developing skills. Ribler said that being a part of the T.C. drama department was a huge boost to his confidence and fostered many genuine friendships. \u201cIt also taught me about paying my dues and working my way to bigger and better things,\u201d said Ribler. \u201cWhen I first started at T.C., I remember going into auditions for <\/span>Picnic <\/span><\/i>and being so intimidated by all of the upperclassmen in the room. But then, as a senior, I saw the department from a totally different perspective, as someplace not scary at all, but rather welcoming and healthy.\u201d Ribler had a similar experience in college at George Mason University\u2019s School of Theater. \u201cIt\u2019s about getting your foot in the door with the confidence that it\u2019ll feel comfortable with time,\u201d he said. <\/span><\/p>\n

The audition process for <\/span>The Great Society <\/span><\/i>was fairly straightforward for Ribler. In December, a friend from George Mason University referred him to the Arena Stage theater program, which was searching for additional actors for its upcoming run of <\/span>The Great Society<\/span><\/i>. \u201cI sent in a video audition, and they must have really liked it, because I got a phone call a couple of weeks later with an invitation to join the show,\u201d said Ribler. <\/span><\/p>\n

The Great Society<\/span><\/i> began its run in early February and continued through March 11. \u201cIt was a big, big play,\u201d said Ribler, \u201cboth in scope and in emotion. In a lot of ways, it reminds me of a classic Shakespearean drama–with spirituals as the musical interludes, police riots as the epic battles, and Lyndon B. Johnson as the king with the tragic downfall. Plus, we had live fire on stage, which is always fun.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite performing in front of a larger audiences, Ribler has not suffered from stage fright. On the contrary, he believes that large crowds are often a source of energy that bring a vital element to productions. \u201cInstead of being daunted, I try to feed off of their energy–it\u2019s a boost, not a deterrent,\u201d he said. \u201cPlus, if I\u2019m actually doing my job correctly, during a performance I should only be thinking about the other characters onstage.\u201d<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

For Ribler, who just graduated from college in 2017, the task of working with a group of experienced professional actors at this point in his career was much more intimidating. Several of his fellow actors in <\/span>The Great Society<\/span><\/i> had performed on Broadway and in other highly-regarded productions across the country. A large portion of the cast and crew members had also performed together in the prequel to <\/span>The Great Society<\/span><\/i>, called <\/span>All The Way,<\/span><\/i> so Ribler was a newcomer in a very well-oiled machine. His coworkers were \u201call incredibly kind and welcoming, but there was a standard set from the first day of excellence,\u201d said Ribler. <\/span><\/p>\n

Ribler said that preparation for <\/span>The Great Society<\/span><\/i> was rigorous and included regular rehearsal from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., \u201cmuch more like a typical office job.\u201d The show held about 50 performances. \u201cAgain, this is where it\u2019s beneficial to have a large audience,\u201d said Ribler. \u201cThey give you a new energy every night to work off of and they keep the show from becoming stale.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As a former high school drama student, Ribler strongly advises aspiring actors to \u201caudition for everything.\u201d Local theaters often have open roles for teenagers, which can be great experience for young people who hope to launch a career in acting. \u201cD.C. is an amazing area for theater,\u201d he said, \u201cand there are a ton of connections to be made. There are Facebook groups dedicated to posting audition notices (D.C. Non Equity Auditions is a great one), and websites like Playbill, DragonukConnects, Actors\u2019 Access and The Actor\u2019s Center are all super helpful in finding postings for actors. Stay up on your craft too–keep taking classes to get better and better, and then keep auditioning!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In the next few years, Ribler plans to stay in the D.C. area and try to obtain more professional roles. He would like to get his Equity card, which signifies membership in the Actors\u2019 Equity Association. Many professional auditions give priority to Equity actors, so becoming a member can be a beneficial career move. Ribler is currently working on a musical in D.C. that will be up and running in April. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ben Ribler\u2019s acting career took off in sixth grade at Francis C. Hammond Middle School, when he played Judge Wise Old Man in the school\u2019s…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":1758,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2017-2018\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/ribler.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p99Jai-se","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2017-2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1750"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2017-2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2017-2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2017-2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2017-2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1750"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2017-2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1750\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1762,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2017-2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1750\/revisions\/1762"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2017-2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2017-2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2017-2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2017-2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}