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Community theatre creates a wonderful opportunity for talented people to dip their toes into performing in a fun, relaxed environment. At Town & Gown, we are always excited to welcome newcomers. I recently sat down and interviewed Austin Rauschuber, who will be making his Town & Gown debut as Dr. Jekyll and Edward Hyde in our upcoming production of Jekyll & Hyde.
Brittanie: Tell us a bit about yourself. What is a day in the life of Austin Rauschuber?
Austin: I am a work-from-home software engineer living in Stillwater. I'm married with one kid. My wife is a professor at the university. A day in the life is us waking up, letting out our 4 dogs George, Blizzard, Bobo, and River, getting them ready for the day, getting our son ready for school, taking him, and dropping him off. Then me hanging out at home and working for most of the day.
I work on email marketing technology. So, if you get spam mail in your inbox from like Target, Best Buy, or Gap that's all my fault, and I'm sorry.
Then, at the end of the day, we pick up our son from school, take him to classes and activities, and do fun stuff together. As a family, we love music, art, dancing, and having a good time. Then, my evenings are coming to Town & Gown and getting ready for this show.
Brittanie: Have you done musical theater before?
Austin: I did a little musical theater in high school my junior year. I was in the ensemble for the show Anything Goes, and in my senior year I played a character called Ralph Sheldrake in White Christmas. I was in the chorus for one opera production in Connecticut with the Yale Opera.
But otherwise, I've not done theater since. A lot of singing, a lot of like show choir stuff, that kind of thing. But no theater for probably the last 10 years.
Brittanie: What made you decide to audition for Jekyll and Hyde?
Austin: We moved to Stillwater a year ago, and I had heard of Town & Gown. I knew some folks who had done productions there. I saw on Town & Gown’s website and a Facebook post that they were auditioning for this show.
I was really excited! I hadn't done a theater production in a while, and I really enjoyed this show. “This is the Moment” is a song that has sort of stuck with me for forever and a day. Firstly, I sang it at my high school graduation. Then, at Purdue University, it’s the song that the Men's Glee Club sings at every graduation. They do 5 graduations a year in the spring, so we sang it at 20 graduations around the college.
I was familiar with the show and enjoyed the music a lot from it. I thought it'd be an exciting opportunity to just come out, audition, and get myself out of my comfort zone a little bit and see what happens.
Brittanie: This is a very unique role. As you play two sides of one man. What was your
process, and making such an extreme distinction between the two?
Austin: The process is a bit threefold for making the distinction between the two.
How do these characters talk?
Right. First and foremost, neither of them are American midwestern boys like I am. It’s about finding, the actual speaking voice, how they sound, and how they talk! What does that sound like for both Jekyll and Hyde? And what makes them different?
Next, was about figuring out physically how they're different.
How does Jekyll stand? Why would Jekyll stand a certain way as a middle-aged youngish man who's a professional in old London versus this monster of the streets? How do these 2 people walk around, how do they stand? How do they compose themselves?
And then, what do they want?
What is it that each of these people want in life, and how do they carry themselves? How do they act, think, and talk? What is different between the two? Or what is the same but presented in a different way?
Brittanie: You don't spend much time backstage. But do you have a favorite onstage and
offstage moment for the show?
Austin: My favorite part of the show is a piece called “Confrontation” because it (without spoiling anything) lets me play around with a lot of different feelings, emotions, and ideas in an extreme way. It’s a unique piece that lets me let loose and have fun in different directions at the same time.
Brittanie: Do you have a favorite fun moment during rehearsal?
Austin: Favorite fun moments from rehearsal have just been when we've had opportunities to just work together as a cast. Especially in scenarios like scene reading and character work, where we get to learn about how everyone views the show.
I just loved the opportunity to get to meet all the cast. In getting to know them as people, I understand their vision for the show, their characters, and what this means to them.
I’ve appreciated being able to enjoy the community part of community theater. Community is important in two different directions to me. It’s theater of the community, as in theater that represents the town of Stillwater. The second part is about taking those people and building their own community. I've just enjoyed the process of becoming part of a community here at Town & Gown.
Brittanie: This is your Town & Gown debut! How did you find us and how has your experience been thus far?
Austin: I first found Town & Gown as an audience member. I was looking for what things are here in Stillwater. I'm new to the town and looking for ways to be involved. After researching I found, Town & Gown, and was excited that there was a strong history of Theater that existed within the community that I could both go to watch and be a part of.
My experience coming into Town & Gown has been super inviting. From the first moment of coming into auditions, I really felt the community that exists within Town &
Gown.
I've felt embraced and supported through this whole process. I'm a little bit fresh coming into theater here. I haven't done it in a while, which made me nervous and question if I’m able to put on a two-and-a-half-hour show that has intricacies and moving parts. But everyone has been reassuring through this whole process, helping me build up the confidence, skills, and space to try things in a way that has really been a wonderful experience for me.
Brittanie: Do you have any pre-rehearsal things to help you get into character?
Austin: Sometimes I will listen to the show or run through some things before I get to the theatre.
But a lot of days, it is just a lot of trusting the process. Accepting that once the lights come on, you're in costume, and on stage, that you've worked on this enough and that you know it enough. You know your lines, you know the music, you know your motivations. Everyone around you is doing everything right to make the right environment for you to do your best work on stage.
Other times the preparation is honestly not thinking about it too much. It’s getting in the car, playing some 90s NSYNC, or having a jam session along to “Rumors” by Fleetwood Mac. Sometimes I need to get rid of the day and everything else that exists outside of what I want to do, and just trust that when I get to the theater, when everything's there, when everyone else is doing all the right things around me, that everything that we've worked for months on end will come out as it has time and time again.
Brittanie: For a memory regarding the show, when I think of ________ I can't help but smile.
Austin: When I think of the people that I get to work with, I can't help but smile.
I really am so impressed by both the performance and the ability of all the people that I get to work with on stage, but also with how they are as people.
You know I really do love this cast of people, the production staff, and everyone that works so hard here at Town & Gown. They are some of the nicest and hardest-working people that I know. They really have made me feel at home in a community that I'm pretty new to, in a way that I haven't felt at home in a while.
Brittanie: What are you most excited for people to see in this production?
Austin: I am most excited for people to see all the parts of the show where the cast comes together. I love the big ensemble numbers. And there are some great duets and quartets in this show. I really am excited for the audience to get to see how we can come together as artists.
We get to be more than the sum of our parts whenever we work together. The beauty of live theater in such an intimate space with no microphones, no amplification. Just a group of 22 singers, 15 feet from your face, singing together and making beautiful music, while playing interesting characters, and having fun together!
Don't miss Austin Rauschuber's Town & Gown debut in Jekyll & Hyde. The production will run October 2-6 & 9-13. Tickets may be purchased by clicking here.
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