Before heading to NYC, Jonathan Jensen answers our Stage Questionnaire
New York is about to get a package deal. Jonathan Jensen — actor, singer and theater administrator — and his wife, actress Jessica Jensen, are headed east together. The Kauffman Center’s director of patron services has been busy behind the scenes downtown, but he has also kept a foot on the stage and a hand in theater projects. On the eve of his departure, The Pitch conducted this exit interview by e-mail.
The Pitch: You’re planning a move to NYC. What brought about that decision?
Jensen: It’s now or never. It’s always been a dream to live and work in New York, and with my recent management experience and my wife’s training at UMKC, we feel confident that Kansas City has prepared us to make a splash in the biggest theater-community pond around.
What do you hope to accomplish there?
It would be great to win a Tony … haha. More importantly, I hope that I can have some impact, big or small, on the future of our industry and the artistic community as a whole.
Where’s home?
Terre Haute, Indiana
What brought you to KC or kept you here?
My wife is a graduate student at UMKC.
How and when did you decide on a career in the performing arts?
When I was deciding on which college to attend, I was debating whether I was going to swim in college. I had been recruited by some big schools, but I really wanted to pursue musical theater as a career. Unfortunately, swimming at 5 a.m. and rehearsing until midnight wasn’t going to work out well. I distinctly remember going for a run with my best friend and talking about the decision to ditch swimming and focus on acting. I think I would have been happy as a swimmer in college, but I think my life has turned out extremely well given the choice I made. It would have been the difference of balancing my swimming career with my schoolwork and acting as opposed to just acting alone. I was able to focus much more on my studies, and I believe that paid off.
Where did you train?
Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana
How and when did you get into acting?
I was 10 when I was in my first musical, Big River. I was in the ensemble. It was produced at the local high school. I felt so cool because I was in elementary school but performing on the “big stage.” That led to many bit parts as the token kid, i.e., Winthrop in The Music Man, etc. I got hooked.
How often do you perform?
Now, I’m not able to perform very often. I sang with Sutton Foster in Indianapolis, Indiana, last October. That was the last performance where I was onstage. Prior to that, I did a couple of staged readings of The Circus in Winter in Muncie, Indiana, and New York City. Locally I performed in Dada Is Dead/Long Live Dada at the KC Fringe Festival in 2012.
How and when did you get into writing for the theater, and what projects have you been involved in?
I started writing when I was at Ball State. I was involved with writing the musical adaptation of The Circus in Winter, a novel, during the final semester of my undergraduate studies.
With whom did you collaborate and what has your role been on this project?
Initially, I was a member of the writing team. I contributed to writing the book, or the scene work, of the musical. I peppered in some lyrics, too, but I was also used as a performer to present the piece at the conclusion of the project. I collaborated with 14 other writers at Ball State under the direction of Beth Turcotte and the Virginia Ball Institute for Creative Inquiry. We collaborated with the novelist, Cathy Day, as well, who has since become a great friend.
[page]
What has it been like to adapt a novel and also to get it produced?
It’s been a long, involved process that started with a conversation in 2009 with our project sponsor, Beth Turcotte. She wanted to write a musical, and we went from there. After finding the novel, we finished our first draft in the spring of 2010. It has been rewritten numerous times since then. In fact, a new writer, Hunter Foster, has recently joined the team to help improve the piece and get it to the level it needs. I’ve participated in readings in Muncie, Indiana; Chicago; and New York City, but I have never been in a fully produced version yet. It was presented at the Kennedy Center’s American College Theater Festival in January 2012 in small pieces and won several awards. It will have its first professional production in October 2014 at the Goodspeed Opera House in Connecticut.
Your wife, Jessica, also is in theater. How did the two of you meet? Do you perform together or work on joint projects?
Jessica and I met as students, and we started dating during a production while playing each other’s romantic interest. It was a classic “show-mance.”
Who’s your inspiration?
I am inspired by the teachers in my life. Whether that’s been at home, at school or out in the world, these teachers have shared their knowledge and experiences with me. I hope I can honor their legacy by sharing the knowledge I gain with the next generation of actors, administrators and artists.
What are the best parts about what you do?
I work in the coolest environment anyone could dream of, and what makes it better are the people who share that environment with me.
What are the hardest parts?
Working in the theater, especially when 330 performances and events are hosted in your facility, really limits the time you get out to other venues. Kansas City has so much to offer. I’m blown away by the productions our companies produce. I only wish I had time to see them all. I have to be very selective, and that is hard. There are many wonderful choices available to our audiences.
Do you prefer being onstage or working behind the scenes, and why?
Whether I’m working behind the curtain, on the stage or in the lobby, the heartbeat of the theater is still present. I feel the same rush of adrenaline if I’m working on a script as an actor or if I’m planning for the next production as an administrator.
Onstage or off, what’s the worst thing that has happened during a performance?
I was working during a dance performance a few years ago in Indiana when one of the dancers fell and broke her arm. That was pretty bad because it was obvious to everyone from the moment it happened that she was seriously hurt. I’m glad nothing has happened like that for a while.
What’s the best thing?
I met my wife.
What’s your favorite theater genre?
Musical theater
What’s one of your all-time favorite shows? As a performer, Violet. Every element — the cast, crew, music, set, direction, choreography, concept — was perfect. I could have performed in that show for years without getting tired of it. As an audience member, August: Osage County on Broadway.
What’s one of your favorite local shows?
Inspecting Carol at the Unicorn
Inspecting Carol was a very funny show. As I recall, your wife was in it.
Inspecting Carol was great. I saw it a couple of times, not only to see my wife but because I really enjoyed it. A nice holiday spoof is fun when mixing up tradition with new experiences.
