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Fringe Musical Scene Stealers, Part 2

Jennifer Camp singing “He Holds Me” in Is There Anybody Out There?

Jennifer broke my heart and the hearts of the audience at The Mead Lab when she sang the emotional “He Holds Me”. Being single and being alone a lot, the song really hit home. It’s the first time in my Fringe experience this year where I really choked up. A powerful performance from a great singer/composer.

Joel: Tell us about yourself.

Jennifer: I’m from the Bay Area. I graduated with a BA in Performance Studies from the University of the Pacific in Stockton, CA. I’ve been singing for as long as I could talk, and started taking voice lessons in third grade. By the time I was in high school I had studied piano and voice, and participated in band, choir, drama, and community theatre productions. From the time I was very young I always wanted to be a singer. In sixth grade my parents took to NYC for the first time and we saw the Broadway production Les Misérables. It was then that I discovered musical theater and realized how music and songs could be used to tell a story-both an overall story in a show and the experience of an individual character. After the show I thought “I want to do that,” and when it came time to apply for college, I majored in theater.

In college I performed in many productions including the 2003 KCACTF regionally nominated production of Berlin to Broadway. I have also written and performed my one-woman autobiographical show titled Unbroken, which I hope to reproduce in the next year.

In addition to being a performer, I also use a wheelchair and have brittle bone disorder. I have always felt that my life experience as a person with a disability has helped to enhance my craft as an actor, because actors utilize their own experiences in character development. The characters I portray do not need to be written as having a disability for my own unique perspective to be able to contribute to a character’s story.

Joel: Tell us about “He Holds Me”.

Jennifer: I have been writing my own songs since high school, and had started writing “He Holds Me” just prior to when Suzanne Richard decided to direct Is There Anybody Out There?, based on the different ways people communicate. I told her about the song and it seemed to be a good fit for the show. I wrote the lyrics and melody and Stuart Weich, our accompanist for the show, arranged it. ”He Holds Me” is about communication through touch. Despite how the title initially makes it sound, the song is not about a romantic or sexual connection. Throughout everyone’s lifetime, people need to have the experience of being touched, be it a long hug, having someone’s arm around your shoulder, holding your hand for support, etc. This is a basic human need and while this form of contact isn’t anything sexual, it can still be an intimate connection. We all have periods of time when we experience and are more aware of a physical distance, and this song tells the story of someone who has gone through such a length of time without feeling this connection that she has to breakdown and asks a friend to give this to her, because the feeling of isolation is too great.

The song is autobiographical, and while everyone can relate to it, I think it is especially poignant for persons with disabilities. In my experience, as a person with a disability, I have gone through long periods of time without feeling this kind of physical connection because people are intimated by my appearance or simply afraid of hurting me. I was nearly 21 years old when this lack of connection really started to affect me, and I had to ask a friend to hold me. I just needed to feel close to someone, it had nothing to do with romance. Just as the song says, once this understanding and connection is established with someone there isn’t a need to explain or use words to communicate. Sometimes we just need to feel. Songs can be used to say things we cannot adequately communicate in words alone, while touch can express our thoughts and emotions on an even deeper level.

Joel: What has your Fringe experience been like this year?

Jennifer: I have really enjoyed participating in the Fringe Festival. It’s a great way to give artists and companies the chance to present a broad range of works to the audiences of DC. I’ve especially enjoyed performing with Open Circle Theatre under the direction of Suzanne Richard. The entire cast and company has been amazing to work with. I’m looking forward to next year’s festival and whatever opportunities come next.

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Rob McQuay singing “This Is The Moment” in Is There Anybody Out There?

Joel: Tell us about yourself.

Rob: I’m and actor in the DC theatre community. I’ve been performing in the DC area since 1987 (before that the Baltimore scene) mostly in musical theatre, though my training at McDaniel College was not. In 1990 I broke my neck in a body-surfing accident at Ocean City, MD. This landed me in a wheelchair for mobility. With the help of my family, friends and colleagues, I decided to continue my theatre career as an actor, and have worked fairly consistently for the last 19 years earning 4 Helen Hayes nominations, 3 for acting and 1 for directing.

In 1997, I answered God’s call in my life to serve Him in the Ministry. I served as an Assistant Pastor for 10 years in a Parish outside of Baltimore and am the self-appointed Chaplain to the theatre community, making hospital visits, doing funerals and weddings in addition to prayer before performances and counseling.

Somewhere along the way I met Susie Richard as we served on several committees and panels for Disabilities and the Arts. When Susie started Open Circle Theatre, I was a natural to be involved. With the mission of highlighting Performers with Disabilities, Open Circle has provided those of us who might not get opportunities elsewhere to “strut their stuff” as is evidenced by our cabaret, Is There Anybody Out There in this year’s DC Fringe Festival.

Joel: Talk about your songs in the cabaret.

Rob: When Susie contacted us about doing a cabaret in the festival, she proposed the idea of communication in various forms, such as relational, technological, political, spiritual, etc…, so naturally, I latched onto the idea of communication in the spiritual sense. In our early concept discussions, Susie and I talked about a character journey that would see me as a minister/priest coming to terms with his own faith. A questioning, if you will, of whether to continue in ministry or not. This allowed me to incorporate the song “This Is the Moment” from Jekyll and Hyde as an epiphany moment when my character finally puts on the collar. (Since I’ve always wanted to play Jean Valjean, this concept also allowed me to do “Bring Him Home” from Les Miserables!) The problem, however, was that we placed “Bring Him Home” before “This Is The Moment” and our original concept arc didn’t quite make sense. It seemed weird to sing a prayer like “Bring him Home” without the collar on and then to dramatically put the collar on at the end of “This Is The Moment”, so we decided to simply use the collar for the entire show. We were also working on specific character choices for everyone else so that we would recognize different character types just by the costuming, so without the collar at the top of the show it would be somewhat nebulous visually.

Joel: Talk about your Fringe experience.

Rob: As for the Fringe Festival, it has been a treat to be involved in this city-wide theatre event and even though our show is not very “fringy” (edgy), I hope that it has provided some entertainment to those that have seen it and that they might have a better appreciation for all performers even those that do things a little differently. As for my colleagues, it is always a pleasure and an education to work with you.