A Conversation with Actor: Stephanie J. Block

Ted Sod, Education Dramaturg, interviewed Stephanie J Block tabout her work on The Mystery of Edwin Drood.

TS: Tell us about yourself and how you were bitten by the theatre bug?

SJB: I grew up in Southern California, Orange County. My father, Steven, worked as a welfare fraud investigator. My mother, Rosemarie, worked for our local school district and was later employed by American Title Insurance Company. Both of them sang during their high school and collegiate careers, but neither one of them pursued it as a profession. I have one elder sister, Renee. She was one of the premiere dancers and princesses at Disneyland but married quite young and started having a family right away. She’s now pregnant with her fifth child, and there isn’t a better mom out there. For me, singing wasn’t “a bug,” it was a passion. My parents recognized that I could carry a tune and sing on pitch at the age of three. I would sing with television commercials or jingles on the radio. I began singing at my church when I was 7 years old. And when I was 11 years old, I began taking private voice lessons. I trained with the most amazing teacher, Jill Goodsell. She is an absolute master, and I apply what I’ve learned from her, and continue to learn from her, every day.

TS: Did you know that this is what you wanted to be your life’s work once you took voice lessons?

SJB: I knew almost immediately that performing would be my career. I was involved with the local community theatres and talent shows. At the age of 14, I auditioned for a performance group called “The Young Americans.” We traveled around the U.S. and the world to perform at different concerts, corporate events and industrial shows. One of the directors of the Young Americans, David Green, approached my parents and said, “I really think that Stephanie should look into going to a high school of the performing arts.” So my junior and senior year, I attended the Orange County High School of the Arts located on the campus of Los Alamitos High School. Essentially, I was going to school from 7am until about 7pm. I still continued all of my private voice lessons, and through Jill Goodsell, I was awarded a scholarship to the Boston Conservatory of Music. The scholarship only supported arts classes, no regular curriculum. My family could not afford that school without a full scholarship, so the plan was for me to attend Orange Coast College the first two years and then transfer. I went there for five days. I felt like a lion in a cage. I looked at my parents and said, “Let me just try it out there in the real world. I want to jump in head first and start.” My parents hated the idea of me leaving college. But we made a pact. They were going to keep a really close watch on me, and if they saw me lose my focus or discipline, if they saw me stop growing in my craft or simply rest on my laurels, I was going back to college.

TS: So you started to work as a teenager?

SJB: I started to work onstage professionally by the age of 18 and was able to pay for my life. When I was 22, I attempted to move to New York City. I had done a lot of regional productions. I had an agent and was a member of all the actors’ unions (AEA, SAG, AFTRA and AGVA). I thought, “Ok, I’ll move to New York and see how it goes.” It scared me to death! Although everything seemed to be in place and I had plenty of on-the-job experience, I just wasn’t comfortable in my own skin in New York. I was intimidated by the city. I was intimidated by my competition. So about a year later I moved back to Los Angeles, continued to perform regionally and just do as much work as I possibly could. That whole time period was about finding out who I was. I needed to gain a true sense of myself and of my talent, so that no matter where I was, I had solid footing and a comfortable confidence.

TS: In 2000, things got rather interesting for you – correct?

SJB: In February of 2000, I got a call from Stephen Schwartz. He was out in Los Angeles developing a new musical. The story goes that he wasn’t familiar with a lot of musical theatre talent on the West Coast. He went to dinner with some friends and was speaking of his new project and the character of Elphaba. The amazing people he was dining with recommended me. I got a phone call from Stephen Schwartz on my answering machine. I met him the very next day and sang a bit from my repertoire. He played me a couple of songs from the show. And that’s how I was introduced to the musical that would change my life…Wicked. At this point in the process, I was to present three songs to the executives at Universal Pictures. It was going to be a very informal presentation with Winnie Holzman, who is the librettist of Wicked, explaining the plot while reading off index cards and Stephen Schwartz at the piano. That was the beginning. For the next 2 years, every several months I would get a call from Stephen saying, “We’ve finished Act I, would you come in and read for us?...Ok, now we’ve edited Act I, will you come back in and read with us?” Finally, I did an extended two-week workshop on the Universal Studios lot with Kristin Chenoweth. And I really thought that the role of Elphaba was going to be my way back to New York and my Broadway debut. Months and months later, I flew into NYC to audition for Joe Mantello. Days after the audition I got a call from Stephen saying, “You did a great job in the audition. We love you. However, you have no Broadway credits and we just can’t risk a multimillion dollar production on someone who’s never done a Broadway show let alone created a role on Broadway before. We want you to understudy Idina Menzel and stand by for her when we get to New York.” It was painful but that was the chance that I was looking for, to come back to the city with a job. Wicked led to The Boy from Oz, which then led to other shows. I’m now working on my sixth Broadway show. I’m very lucky!

Roundabout Theatre Company is a not-for-profit theatre dedicated to providing a nurturing artistic home for theatre artists at all stages of their careers where the widest possible audience can experience their work at affordable prices. Roundabout fulfills its mission each season through the revival of classic plays and musicals; development and production of new works by established playwrights and emerging writers; educational initiatives that enrich the lives of children and adults; and a subscription model and audience outreach programs that cultivate loyal audiences.

More Articles by This Author...