On October 23, local high school students had the opportunity to participate in a comedic monologue workshop with Nick Bailey, one of the stars of Shucked the Musical. Students from schools all across the Treasure Valley were able to gain valuable insight into the art of comedic acting by learning from a professional in the industry. The Morrison Center Education Department frequently hosts workshops with actors working on touring musicals, and this event, like its predecessors, did not disappoint. 

Nick Bailey, who plays the role of Beau in Shucked, started off the workshop by giving a demonstration. He performed a monologue from Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing and dissected its comedic appeal. He then gave the floor to the students, who had prepared their own monologues. Erik Rudy, a senior at Skyview High School in Nampa, was the first to perform. Bailey provided him constructive criticism and asked him to repeat certain parts of his monologue in different ways. “My main takeaway is to just be real with your comedy,” Rudy said after the workshop. “It has to be real to the character. It can’t be something that’s placating to the audience.” 

Not every student performed a monologue; some chose to observe and absorb information, like Sarah Dixon, a junior also from Skyview High School. “Even if you’re not the one performing,” Dixon said, “you can also learn so much from the people that are performing just by watching and being an audience.” Lucy Routh, a senior at Timberline High School in Boise who is relatively new to acting, also attended the workshop to observe their peers. “I’m very confident in my musical skills when it comes to musical theater,” Routh said, “but acting is very new to me, and so I just want to be a sponge and collect all the information I possibly can.”

The Patty Duke Awards and the Morrison Center Education Department take pride in providing opportunities for Idaho students to expand their horizons and connect with theatre professionals. The Shucked workshops may be over, but there is more fun in store for MJ the Musical, coming to the Morrison Center December 2-7.