Vassar Quarterly - Spring 2018 - 49
Beyond Vassar
New York City but far enough away that I
could have a regular college experience." She
was a member of Vassar repertory Dance
Theatre (VrDT) and took dance classes with
her first-year advisor, Senior Dance Lecturer
Katherine Wildberger. "I loved performing at
Vassar," Cooper says. "The production value
was always fantastic, and the caliber of show
selection was always so high."
SLATER SAYS, "DOING THE
SHOW IS A REAL CROSSFIT
WORKOUT." HE TRAINED
WITH A CONTORTIONIST
TO PREPARE.
Slater credits drama professor Chris
grabowski with steering him to the SpongeBob
project. Shortly before he was tapped to be
a part of the movement lab with Landau, he
had landed a role in a production of Romeo
and Juliet. Unsure which path he should
choose, Slater contacted grabowski and
explained his dilemma.
grabowski, who had directed both Slater
and Cooper in The Skin of Our Teeth in 2011,
told Slater the choice was obvious. "Chris told
me, 'Shakespeare will always be there, but
if you turn down a chance to work with a
director like Tina Landau, you'll always regret
it,'" says Slater.
The two later worked together in a production of the 1930s musical The Cradle Will
Rock, and grabowski says Slater's talent was
obvious. "Ethan was amazing, a beacon of
light with an incredibly open face," grabowski
says. "He was absolutely uninhibited and
knew how to project. He acted on a scale
that's challenging to most young actors."
For the most part, Slater has been able
to support himself through acting since
graduating, "although I also worked in a
coffee shop," he says. He had a lead role in
Lightning Bugs in a Jar, a short film written
by Vassar alum Ian Simpson '05 and shot
during a residency at the Catwalk Institute,
an artist retreat founded by Purcell Scheu
Palmer '62. The film debuted at the Cannes
Film Festival in 2015. He's also had roles in
Baghdaddy off-Broadway and in a musical
version of Diner with the Delaware Theatre
Company, and he is a performer in the
Lilli Cooper '12 and Ethan Slater '14 soak in the lights of Broadway.
web series Redheads Anonymous and New
Mayor of New York. Slater is also a member
of the ensemble cast of One Year Lease, a
Manhattan-based theater company directed
by Vassar alumna Ianthe Demos '00.
Slater and Cooper say the hours are long
and the work is physically demanding. "I
trained with a contortionist to prepare for the
show," Slater says. "I spent six months in the
gym before rehearsals began and took dance
classes five days a week. Doing the show is
a real CrossFit workout." But he says the
camaraderie of the cast and crew make it
all worthwhile.
Cooper concurs. "It's not often you are
on a stage that's totally ego-less, and that's
a tribute to Tina," she says.
Slater, who was featured in the New York
Times in November-before the show even
opened-says the enormity of being a
headliner on Broadway really hasn't hit him
yet. "It's sort of an otherworldly experience."
But he says he's thrilled to have made his
Broadway debut as SpongeBob.
Slater says, "Tina told us that if we can
make people laugh for a couple of hours,
that's certainly worth something-it's what
the world needs right now." -Larry Hertz
VA S S A r Q U A r T E r LY
49
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Vassar Quarterly - Spring 2018
Contents
Vassar Quarterly - Spring 2018 - Cover1
Vassar Quarterly - Spring 2018 - Cover2
Vassar Quarterly - Spring 2018 - Contents
Vassar Quarterly - Spring 2018 - 2
Vassar Quarterly - Spring 2018 - 3
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