Interview: Broadway Alum Aaron Simon Gross Is Bringing a New Spin to GYPSY with Northwestern's 74th Annual Dolphin Show!

The Dolphin Show, America's largest student-produced musical, will soon present GYPSY as the 74th Annual production. Directed by Northwestern senior and Broadway veteran Aaron Simon Gross, GYPSY will run for five performances (with one being pay-what-you-decide) from January 22nd through January 30th in Cahn Auditorium.

Known to Broadway audiences as 'Archie,' (one of the teens from Jason Robert Brown's 2008 musical, 13) Gross is all grown up and broadening his theatrical horizons as a student, director, and performer. Below, check out what he had to say about GYPSY, Broadway, and beyond!

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Let's start by talking about the Dolphin Show. What is it all about?

The Dolphin Show prides itself as being the largest entirely run student-produced theatrical production in America. So there are hundreds of people working on it, in everything from publicity to marketing, to every design element to the orchestra. It's all undergraduate students.

Wow!

Yeah- this is the 74th year and this year is GYPSY. There's somewhere between 200 and 250 people involved and it's absolutely exhilarating to be involved with that amount of creative energy.

This is not the first time you've directed, correct?

Correct. I've had the opportunity to direct every year that I've been here. It's been a HUGE educational experience.

So it's fair to say that you've caught the directing bug?

It's what I really love. I've actually worked on the Dolphin show for the past three years as well. Not as a director- that is typically for seniors.

Has directing gotten easier?

Yes! When I began it wasn't really informed by academics in any way. But I watched and I took directing classes. Then there was a stage in the middle that was all very academic. Now I feel like I'm at the end of that curve, where I'm using what I've digested from my classes, but I'm not necessarily conciously tracking every step. It's somewhere in between where I started and the bullet point-by-bullet point structure that I was skewing towards when I was first learning.

You've obviously got a leg up having already worked on Broadway with some very important people... Do you think you get some extra respect from your peers because of that?

I'm not even sure. At least as I've experienced it, it feels like that was something that was brought up to me a lot more when I first got to school. When I first came, people would bring it up more frequently... I hadn't done anything else yet. Now that I've worked on more shows at school, and directed and dramaturged, it's those experiences that I think people draw upon when we work together.

I hope it's not based on what I've done before school. I know that those experiences I had though were hugely influencial in informing my understanding of a rehearsal room and how a director works, and how the process works. I know that has impacted me personally.

GYPSY is a monster of the show. What's the experience of bringing it to life been like?

Oh, it's been wonderful! It's been perhaps my favorite musical for many, many years... I'm 21 years old [Laughs]. I think I'm most excited about the fact that, as college students working on it, something that quickly became unlocked was how much it is about: A. The moment we realize our parents are people for the first time and B. Who we become when we leave them for the first time. It's about parents and children. It's about who Louise becomes when she leaves and that persona that she ends up construction for herself. I think that as we all leave our homes for the first time and come to college, we're all negotiating who we are outside of our parents for the first time. That's something that I wasn't necessarily conscious of before now. As I spend more and more time with it though, it's something that has really come to the forefront. At the epicenter of the play is the need to be noticed.

Wow, what an insightful perspective...

There is a fabulous quote that is from the memoir that this musical is based on. "All people play roles; eventually the act that you put on becomes such a good one that you convince yourself. What began as a pretense finally becomes a reality." I really love that because I think it's so true of everyone. Of course it's true of this shy tomboy who becomes the most legendary burlesque entertainer of all time. I know I have my own gimmicks that I've utilized for my own constructive persona. And all of the actors in the room have too- we've talked about that a great deal.

You mentioned that you're a senior now... how did you land on Northwestern initially?

I knew that I wanted to be in theatre, but I wasn't sure in what capacity. I had only ever tried acting before, outside of some internships. Unlike most BFA programs, Northwestern offers a BA in Theater, so students can dip their feet in everything and see what sticks. And the other half is that I wanted a major that half of the classes could be completely unrelated to theatre. I remember being in high school with the mindset of: "OK, as an artist I want to know the world that I'm seeking to understand."

My freshman year I assistant directed a few shows. I also dramaturged the Dolphin show and assistant produced a show and publicity directed a couple of shows. I'm on a student theatre board. What I came here to do was to try as many different things in theatre as possible. It's something that I'm excited to say that I think most students here get to take advantage of. It's been so informative and lovely.

Looking back, does 13 seem like it was a million years ago or just yesterday?

Somewhere in between. It actually feels like we've all lived so many lives since then. And yet it's so tangible. The second I see someone who I worked on it with, or I hear a song from it somewhere...it's crazy. And now looking at people's resumes, I'll see that show there because people did it in high school or middle school! That is so bizarre. It becomes very palpable.

Or even something like when I filmed an episode of 'The Good Wife'- people at school will write on my Facebook wall, "Hey, I was just watching this at home and I think I just saw you?" And oh god, that truly feels like ten million years ago.

Has the cast stayed close?

Yes, very! And of course, my best friend from growing up and I flew up and auditioned together. And we were cast together! That's someone who I lived many years with before we had that experience and I still feel like she is my best friend. I was actually just texting the librettist today about GYPSY. So it's not just the kids, but I think the team has gotten a kick out of seeing what we are doing now.

That was about 8 years from now! Where do you want to be another 8 years from now?

I am certain that I will move back to New York when I graduate. As much as I love school, I'm really ready to be back in New York. I really love directing and I want to pursue it. I have performed at school- not as much as other things. Because performing was the only thing that I knew before I came to school, I haven't pursued it as much because there were so many new and exciting things. When I have performed though, I remember how much I do love it. So even though I haven't in a while, I think I'll want to start auditioning again. And I'd love to try to get involved with dramaturgy too! It brings in a lot of things that I love about being in the theatre and being a student.

I just love the theatre so much. I want to spend my life in the theatre. I need to get to New York and figure out in what way that will manifest.

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GYPSY, with music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and book by Arthur Laurents, opened on Broadway in May of 1959. GYPSY is loosely based on the memoirs of famous striptease artist Gypsy Rose Lee and follows the story of Louise Hovick who is used by her mother Rose as means into the competitive and dazzling world of vaudeville, always playing second-fiddle to her more talented sister June. When a night's dream validates Rose's desire to escape the quiet mundanity of small-town life, Louise and June are taken on the road, hurdling across America without turning back. The electricity of change radiates in the air as the 20s meld into the 30s, vaudeville falls into burlesque, and shy Louise transforms into the burlesque queen Gypsy Rose Lee. Revived on Broadway four times, GYPSY is often considered the greatest American musical theatre achievement of the 20th century. Audiences will enjoy a tantalizing look into the show's affectionate yet daring take on the grittiness of show business life and the forging of identity within a newly liberated environment while at the same time revelling in its brassy, timeless score.

The cast of GYPSY includes Northwestern students Jessie Klueter, Alex Getlin, Garrett Hanson, Grace Kennedy, Benton Bailey, Anna Basile, Jessie Pinnick, Talia Weingarten, Andrew Harlan, Michael Kelleher, Sam Shankman, Bradley Smith, Drew Tanabe, Alex Gold, Daniel Liu, Justin Tepper, Nathan Villa, Kaja Burke-Williams, Delaney Burlingame, Janie Dickerson, Justine Gelfman, Mary Godby, Hannah Merens, Megan Orticelli, Rachel Stamler-Jonas, and Abby Weissman.

Since beginning as a swimming-pool fundraiser for the Dolphin Club in 1940, The Dolphin Show has produced over 70 musicals with teams of over 150 passionate Northwestern students each year, quickly making a name for itself as America's largest student produced musical. Since its humble beginnings, The Dolphin Show has remained a staple in the Northwestern and Chicagoland communities with its high production value, dedicated design teams, and talented casts of preprofessional student performers.

This is an exciting year for The Dolphin Show, marking the 4th time GYPSY has appeared on the Northwestern stage and thus making it the most produced musical in The Dolphin Show history. Dolphin's past productions have featured notable alumni such as David Schwimmer, Brian D'Arcy James, former Miss America Kate Shindle and many more. The 74th Annual Dolphin Show is looking forward to getting alumni involved with the production and bringing the Dolphin family back to campus to make yet another splash.