By Jaehun Lee
Arts reporter
As the school year comes to a close, another year of South Stage, Newton South’s theater company, also comes to an end. Many art-loving students will witness the graduation of seniors who have been an integral part of the program, but none more so than senior John Aber, who closes his South career as Romeo in the 33rd annual Shakespeare production, Romeo and Juliet.
Contrary to popular belief, Aber was not always a “theater kid.” In fact, he never planned on doing theater until he discovered it in seventh grade.
“Between kindergarten and freshman year, I played baseball, pretty much three seasons a year,” Aber explained. “It was all I wanted to do until I discovered theater.”
This discovery was brought about after Aber saw his first Broadway show, which lead to a growing passion for music. He began to learn musical instruments, sing, and become more active in musical theater.
“My parents got tickets to see a Broadway show called Rain: a Tribute to the Beatles, my first Broadway show, and it completely changed my life,” Aber recalled. “It inspired me to learn how to play musical instruments like guitar and bass, which I ended up doing and still play to this day. I wanted to learn how to sing, but was self conscious and didn’t really know if I was good enough. So, I played baseball and guitar for a while until freshman year, when I discovered the musical Jersey Boys. I watched clips of the Broadway cast performing on the Letterman show and the Tony Awards, and I was hooked. I had no idea that you could combine playing singing, acting, and dancing with musical instruments to create a musical about a band! Something about that show really inspired me, and I ended up stopping playing baseball and instead took voice lessons.”
“I don’t exactly know how to put it into words,” Aber said. “Getting to go up on stage and perform is just a blast – it’s kind of indescribable when you’re in front of an audience and in the zone. It’s a rush.”
It was Aber’s summer before sophomore year when he really took off in musical theater.
“The summer going into my Sophomore year I did my first musical, Rent, in which I played Roger Davis,” Aber explained. “I had so much fun doing that show and I have not stopped doing theater ever since.”
Aber has grown as an actor immensely over the past three years, landing leading roles in many South Stage’s productions of Arabian Nights, The Rocky Horror Show, Park Angel, Urinetown, among others.
As he made the switch from sports to theater, Aber found that immersing himself in theater through lessons and classes as well as through watching shows helped him immensely. But the most important lesson he learned was to have the tenacity to power through setbacks.
“Something I would recommend to someone who wants to branch into theatre is to work as hard as you can,” Aber said. “Keep auditioning! So what if one show doesn’t cast you. It’s not the end of the world and [it] should motivate you to work harder!”
To Aber, the fun of being an actor and being on a stage in front of masses of people is what kept him signing up for auditions season after season.
“I don’t exactly know how to put it into words,” Aber said. “Getting to go up on stage and perform is just a blast – it’s kind of indescribable when you’re in front of an audience and in the zone. It’s a rush.”
However, being an actor requires a lot of work when not on stage or in rehearsal. Much like offseason training for sports, Aber pointed out that it is very important for actors to work on basic skills and keep them sharp.
“I think having perseverance and tenacity are invaluable for an actor,” Aber explained. “Yes, the “main event” of acting is performing onstage in a show, but there is so much work to be done before opening night. Working on voice, dance, and acting is imperative and requires a lot of work. Having the determination to put in that work is extremely helpful for an actor.”
“Something I would recommend to someone who wants to branch into theatre is to work as hard as you can,” Aber said. “Keep auditioning! So what if one show doesn’t cast you. It’s not the end of the world and [it] should motivate you to work harder!”
While his career in theater could be considered shorter than average, Aber boasts enviable memories as an actor.
“Being in Rent was an amazing experience,” Aber said. “It was my first show and I never realized how close a cast could come and how much fun you can have as a cast. Getting to experience this all while performing– in my opinion– one of, if not the most, beautiful musicals of all time was an extremely rewarding experience.”
Still, Aber also finds joy in less serious productions, like Urinetown: The Musical.
“Bobby is one of my favorite roles of all time, and to be able to play him at South with such an amazing cast was a fantastic experience,” Aber said. “Aside from having a blast singing those songs, it felt like the culmination of a lot of shows and a lot of hard work during my high school theatre career. Luckily I still have Romeo and Juliet to look forward too, but Urinetown was my last musical in high school. I’m very happy to have ended my high school musical career on a high note.”
While his passion has grown quickly, Aber is sure of his dreams, and spent much of the first half of the year working to ensure that he could follow his heart during college.
“This winter I auditioned for many college musical theatre programs to pursue my dream of becoming a professional actor,” Aber said. “I got to go to New York City and audition in studios around the theater district for some great schools. It was also very rewarding and showed my how demanding the life of an actor is.”
As Aber leaves South Stage to pursue his dream of becoming a musical theater actor on Broadway, he will look back on it with fond memories.
“South Stage has inspired me to work as hard as I can,” Aber said. “It has taught me teamwork, how to expand your horizons, bravery on stage, and responsibility. I want to sincerely thank Mr. K, Ms. Perkinson, and every single person involved in South Stage for making my years there fantastic.”