NU hosts array of Broadway talents

Story and photos by Joshua Maloni
Niagara Wheatfield Tribune, November 22, 2007
Lewiston Porter Sentinel, November 24, 2007

“Curtains” director Scott Ellis shares a story as actors Debra Monk and David Hyde Pierce listen. Each was honored Monday at Niagara University.

An impressive lineup of Broadway talent visited Niagara University on Monday. “Curtains” director Scott Ellis and actors David Hyde Pierce, Debra Monk and Karen Ziemba came to campus as guests of the theater department. At a convocation in Alumni Chapel, each received recognition for career achievement.

Prior to the ceremony, the foursome spent more than 90 minutes with NU theater students and faculty. The honorees answered questions and shared their experiences with eager pupils.

Ziemba, a Tony Award-winning actress and singer, told students her success came as a result of “getting out there and not being afraid to fail.”

Monk, a veteran of stage and screen, echoed that statement, encouraging theater majors to take the bad with the good. She said her failures, “have taught me a lot more than my successes.” Overcoming adversity, Monk said, “has given me great confidence to know I can go out there (and succeed).”

Ellis, a four-time Tony Award nominee, said success is relative. Whether a show flies or flops, “you work just as hard on the ones that don’t work as the ones that do.”

David Hyde Pierce, speaking, lent his experience to NU students.

Pierce, best known for his role as Niles Crane on the Emmy-winning “Frasier,” encouraged students to pace themselves. In other words, the key to avoiding burnout is, “you have to not do everything.” Actors work better when they’re not lighting the candle at both ends.

“You have to preserve your health by sometimes not having fun outside of the show,” he said.

Despite career success, each of the panelists said they avoid complacency and self-satisfaction at all cost. Pierce said actors should strive to make each performance better than the last. Ziemba said, “You never stop learning. You never stop studying.”

As to fame, Pierce said it helps bring in an audience. It also, obviously, opens doors. But, he stressed, “It has no effect on the pleasure or satisfaction you get out of a career.”

John Kander, one half of Kander and Ebb – Broadway’s most legendary songwriting duo – joined the “Curtains” quartet on Monteagle Ridge. The lauded composer has visited NU several times as a result of his friendship with director emeritus Brother Augustine Towey.

“Bro,” as students call him, has consistently afforded his actors the opportunity to learn from theatrical masters. Monk told the audience, “you all are the luckiest kids in the world. I think this is a very special place.”

“He cares so much about you and your future,” she said.

Towey, in turn, credited his colleagues on campus. In addition, he called the honorees incredible human beings and artists.