In the precious little spare time he had between musical rehearsals, Jack Lopuszynski went ahead and dazzled the judges at this year’s Shakespeare Monologue Contest, administered by the Pittsburgh Public Theater on February 19th.  His performance garnered an invitation to the Showcase of Finalists.

How did you prepare for the Shakespeare Monologue Contest?

I picked my monologue about a week before the contest. I probably should have done it a little sooner than that, but it is what it is! I happened to choose a monologue from Act 2 scene 3 of Two Gentlemen of Verona by a character named Launce in which he complains about his dog being the “sourest-natured dog that lives”. After it was picked, I memorized it and we had a “coaching session” where professional Shakespeare actors came to NASH and gave us a few tips on our acting. After that, it was a lot of working in my basement trying to figure out the little things about my performance, and how I could make the audience laugh with a monologue that isn’t in a format that the audience is used to hearing. That was probably the hardest part of practicing for the contest.

What events did you compete at?

There are two rounds to the contest: the preliminary round and the finalist round. The preliminary round lasts two weeks, and over the course of those two weeks 1,200 students compete in the contest. The contest date for NASH kids was on February 5th down at the O’Riley Theater, and on that day we went down and performed for the kids from our school and a small panel of judges. Two weeks later I got a call after school on a Friday saying that I was nominated as a finalist in the contest, something that I’ve been working towards for all 5 years that I’ve been competing! For the finals, which were on the 19th, there are 4 divisions, and in my division I was competing against seven other kids from various schools across Pittsburgh. For that part of the contest I went down to the O’Riley at night and performed in front of a large audience (the contest was open to the public) and a larger panel of judges, including the Pittsburgh Public Theater’s artistic director. That was really an amazing experience, and I did in fact get the audience to laugh!

Where do you go from here, after placing as a finalist?

Well, I didn’t end up winning this year’s contest. But I am honestly honored to have been invited to perform in the finals… it’s such a small percentage of people who get that chance. I have some new ideas for monologues to do and ways to perform now, though, so I will absolutely try to enter the contest next year one last time and see if I can get as far as I did this year. But I’m glad that now my focus can be the school musical!

What was the prize?

The winners of the contest received the full works of William Shakespeare along with a flex season ticket subscription to the Pittsburgh Public Theater’s 2018-2019 season. That is one thing I would have loved to win… the Public puts on some amazing shows throughout the year.

How did you manage the monologue and musical at the same time?

I do have to say… the weekend of the contest was really a ton to handle! I only found out that I was a finalist on Friday evening. On Saturday I was able to practice, but we had a lot of family things to do on that day so I didn’t have a ton of time to do really anything. Sunday and Monday I was at NASH all day rehearsing for the musical, and I actually had to leave musical early on Monday to make it to the contest on time. So that weekend was a bit crazy logistically. But it was still doable. I did manage to get my homework done and I was still able to give 100% to both the musical and the contest, even if I lost a little sleep.

What are you most excited for the audience to see in the musical?

It’s really a great show this year! The cast is so talented, and we work so well together as a team. I think that the experience of seeing a North Allegheny musical is something that isn’t easily forgotten, and just by watching you can really see the level of work that goes into putting on such a huge production every year, and I’m always excited for an audience to see just how much we want to put on a show for them. For this show specifically, though, there are a couple of cool parts that I’m really excited about; one being the ocean storm scene. The logistics of putting this scene onstage are insane: the lighting is crazy, there are set pieces flying in, set pieces flying out, PEOPLE flying in and out, the biggest set piece in the show splits in half, and everything has to be perfectly timed to music. It’s really a fantastic scene, and I’m sure the audience will love it.

 What do you love most about theater?

As a whole, I love how much there is that goes into the production of a show. There are so many people who work to make a production happen, and every single person has a job, a responsibility that needs to happen: and hundreds of things will happen in the span of one second. It’s kind of mind-blowing, actually, when you think about it, and I love just letting everything happen around me and I love the feeling of being a part of something greater than myself. But at an individual level, I love theater because every role is a chance to become something else. Each time you step into a character, whether it’s the leading role or a dancing ensemble part, you get a chance to become someone new for a couple of short hours, and a chance to give the audience a moment that they will keep with them long after the show has ended. I love finding those moments, and I especially love being a part of creating them.