Five Questions with Sarah Davis

Yesterday, I wrote about the phenomenal summer season Contemporary Classics has put on, producing or co-producing three contemporary musicals overlapping themselves during the month of July. Over the next week, we're going to be featuring several of the performers making these shows happen.

First up is Sarah Davis, who appeared in Zanna Don't!, which closed at the Rep earlier this month, and is currently playing one of the leads in The Yellow Wood, CC's well-received musical, which finishes its run at the Center House Theatre this weekend (tickets $15-$20). Sarah Davis has also worked with the 5th Avenue and the Village Theatre.

1. Where did you grow up, and how did you end up where you are now? I grew up in Bellevue and started taking voice lessons after joining a girls choir when I was seven. I starting doing theatre when I was ten and never stopped going. I grew up doing the KIDSTAGE program at Village Theatre in Issaquah, which taught me so much about the professional theatre world--it was amazing training. From there I knew I wanted to go to college for musical theater, so I applied and was accepted to The Boston Conservatory. I just graduated this past May with a BFA in Musical Theater. My plan was to go straight to New York, but I am staying locally for a while to do a production at 5th Avenue and hopefully many more!

2. Which performance, song, play, movie, painting, or other work of art had the biggest influence on you and why? I had to opportunity to play the leading role in a Village Theatre Originals show when I was 18 called Terezin, and it was about a working camp during the Holocaust. It was the first professional production I had ever done, and I was taking on a character that was extremely demanding vocally and emotionally. I think this production had the biggest influence on me, because it was the first show that I felt I really grew up in and came into my own as a performer. I dreamed about the show every single night, and though the show did have its lighter moments, it made for some interesting dreams.

3. What skill, talent, or attribute do you most wish you had and why? I don't know exactly what skill or talent I wish I had, but one thing that I wish I had in my life would be softball... I used to play softball seven days a week year-round, but that clearly became difficult with my theatre schedule. If I could, I would play softball all day long and then go to rehearsals every night. That would be a perfect world.

4. What do you do to make a living? Describe a normal day. Well I'm working on that whole making a living thing still. I will be employed at 5th Avenue soon so that will help for a while. A normal day for me would be a good workout and then a long day filled with craftmaking. If it's not nailed down in my house, it will be painted or covered in jewels. I usually spend all day making frames, boxes, hair bows, jewelry, or anything else I can think of.

5. Have you ever had to make a choice between work and art? What did you choose, why, and what was the outcome? Yes, ha, and my bank account and parents can attest to the fact that I chose art over work. Having been in school the last four years in Boston, I never really had time for a side job, so art naturally took precedence, but I've found that even in the summer, I've somehow managed to completely fill my time with shows instead of a job. Of course the goal is to support myself by doing art, whether it be in theater, making jewelry or clothes, or what have you, but that may take a while.

"Five Questions" was originally developed by Andy Horwitz of Culturebot.org, an NYC-based website covering contemporary performance and culture.