‘Triple threat’ theater student to study on Broadway this summer
Broadway is gaining a USD student this summer.
Braeden Garrett, a junior from Centralia, W.A., will be attending the Open Jar Institute, a Broadway-integrated actor training program, from June to July in New York City.
Garrett is just one of 60 college students that will be attending the program.
A musical theater major, Garrett said he was first interested in USD’s theater program after auditioning in high school.
“I was told by a lot of people that this was the school I should go to because it focuses a lot more on the individual training and making sure you have a personalized training instead of just being mass produced out of a school, and I haven’t been disappointed,” he said. “The professors really take an interest in their students and helping them out and are there for us to talk to about anything.”
Garrett has done seven productions with USD and will be doing his eighth this spring.
Garrett said he was given the opportunity to audition for the Open Jar Institute during the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival.
“I heard about it (Open Jar Institute) last year but I was unable to audition, so I really made it a point to be able to audition this year,” Garrett said. “I went to audition, and James Gray was running the audition and workshops and we have no way of knowing. We had less than two minutes to do an audition and then about a month later I heard back.”
The trip to New York costs about $3,000. Rehearsals are every day of the week, starting at 8:30 a.m. and going until 11 or 12 at night. Garrett said he’ll be staying his uncle during the program.
Matt Nesmith, an assistant professor of theater who’s been working with Garrett since 2013, said this summer will give him the chance to better improve on his already impressive skills.
“He’s one of our most motivated students,” he said. “He’s also one of our best triple threat students, triple threat meaning singing, dancing, acting, and the program he is going into is certainly going to further train and propel students who have abilities in those areas. Braeden is a particularly strong dancer, and I think working with folks in the program will help him tremendously. I think in the last year in the terms of his work, he has really blossomed.”
This summer is an ideal time for Garrett to go, Nesmith added.
“I think this is a good time for him to go,” he said. “He has one more year left of school, so this will be a good opportunity for him to build that network with people in New York and getting ready to take the larger leap of going into the real world.”
Garrett said he has a lot to be excited for.
“This will be my first time going to New York, anywhere farther than Michigan really,” Garrett said. “I’m excited to be able to experience New York, but more than that, I am excited because every day you wake up at about 7:30, 8 a.m., and you’re going almost all day, and at the end of the day, you get to go and see a Broadway show. I’m excited for the whole process. We are going to be working incredibly hard, constantly, non-stop and then at the end of the day we are rewarded with a Broadway show. They are going to make you work for that reward, though.”
Because Garrett is the first USD student to attend this program, Nesmith said it will be a learning experience for the whole department.
“Braeden is the first to go since I’ve been here,” Nesmith said. “It’s great because then he will be able to share his experience with other students ,and if it’s a good experience, which I hope it will be, then we will hopefully have more students that will look into doing it.”
Garrett said he wouldn’t have been nearly as prepared if it weren’t for the training and help he’s gotten at USD.
“I would say very confidently that USD produces some of the most professional actors, theater students and fine arts students in the Midwest region,” Garrett said. “They really focus on making sure that we are ready to go out into the real world. They make sure we know the schematics of going into an audition and what we need to know and what we should audition for. They really give us a very broad and detailed view on everything.”
