Spring Awakening with Studio Theatre at U of L.
Interview by Keith Waits
Entire contents are copyright © 2020 by Keith Waits. All rights reserved.
Emily Vergason is a graduate of the University Of Louisville Theatre Arts program. She has worked with several local theatre groups including Wayward Actors Company, CenterStage at JCC, TheatreWorks of Southern Indiana, and The Alley Theater. Some of her favorite past roles include Yonah (Children of Eden), Ariel (The Little Mermaid), and Jo March (Little Women).
1. What is the next performance you are/were scheduled to do?
Right as this started I had just begun the spring tour for Commonwealth Theatre Center’s production of Legends: On the Trail of Daniel Boone.
2. Do you have a non-theatre job, and if so, are you able to work right now?
I also teach after school drama clubs with Drama by George and work as a Customer Service Representative for Kentucky Performing Arts. My teaching job was cut short by two weeks and I have been furloughed from the Kentucky Center for the foreseeable future.
3. When did you first know you wanted to be on stage?
When I was about 13 I saw my local High School’s production of Oklahoma. The actors were having so much fun on stage, and I had always loved singing, I wanted to be up there with them.
4. You are known for musical theatre, and you have a good voice, but how interested are you in non-singing roles?
In college I was actually trained and taught to perform in straight roles. University of Louisville traditionally features straight plays and all of my acting classes were focused on traditional acting techniques. I really enjoy getting to flex my acting muscles in non-singing roles.
5. What is your favorite role?
My favorite role to date is still Jo March in Little Women the Musical. It is a role that resonated with me personally and one that I hope I get to reprise soon!
6. What has been your most difficult role or performance?
I think my most challenging role was the role of David Collins in Our Country’s Good with the U of L. For that role I had to play a male and we all had to do extensive dialect work.
7. What roles on your bucket list?
My bucket list roles change every week but one that I have my eye on currently is Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar.
8. Besides Louisville, what other places have you worked?
I began my theatre career in Owensboro KY A fairly small town located downriver from here. Owensboro was a twenty-minute drive from my hometown of Hawesville, KY and it boasted the only community theatre in a sixty-mile radius.
9. What is different about working in Louisville?
Louisville is unlike anything I could’ve dreamed up in terms of theatre opportunity. Back in Owensboro we had two theatre companies. Louisville is saturated with opportunities both professional and amateur.
10. What music is on your quarantine playlist?
I have had Maggie Rogers on constant replay.
11. What book is on your bedside table?
I have recently been revisiting old play scripts. My current read is Vanities by Jack Heifner.
12. What is the first thing you will do when quarantine ends?
Hug my friends.
Keith Waits is a native of Louisville who works at Louisville Visual Art during the days, including being the host of LVA’s Artebella On The Radio on WXOX 97.1 FM / ARTxFM.com, but spends most of his evenings indulging his taste for theatre, music and visual arts. His work has appeared in LEO Weekly, Pure Uncut Candy, TheatreLouisville, and Louisville Mojo. He is now Managing Editor for Arts-Louisville.com.