Jake Epstein: From ’Degrassi’ to ’Spring Awakening’
For actor and musician Jake Epstein, the offer to take over the role of Melchior Gabor, the sexually-driven male lead, in the national tour of Spring Awakening, was one he could not refuse. Epstein, best known for his role as Craig Manning on the hit Canadian series "Degrassi: The Next Generation," had long been a fan of the provocative show, which won the 2007 Tony for best musical and is currently touring the nation. It comes to Atlanta’s Fox Theatre on March 9 for a week’s run.
The 22-year-old described being part of the national tour as both a "dream come true" and "terrifying." EDGE caught up with the multi-talented performer about his rock star fantasies and the art of performing nude scenes in front of family members.
Right for the role
EDGE:How has the show been going?
Jake Epstein: It’s been amazing. The whole experience for me, joining this tour, has been a dream come true. I’ve been a huge fan of the show since it was on Broadway, and saw it when it came through Toronto. I hung out with the cast there, and literally a month later, to join the tour was incredible.
EDGE: How did the tour opportunity come to be?
JE: I auditioned a year ago for the part and came very close. I was in school at the time, flew down to New York and didn’t end up getting the part and kind of forgot about it. A year later, when Kyle [Riabko] left the tour, they were looking for replacement, a long-term one, and they couldn’t find the right person. Someone in the cast who I’d been spending some time with mentioned me and they brought me in again. I guess I was what they wanted!
EDGE: Were you nervous walking into the role?
JE: I was terrified, absolutely terrified! It’s a huge responsibility being in the show. It’s such an amazing play with such great music that I still feel that pressure to live up to the potential that the show has. It’s definitely scary to be performing with people who have been doing it for over a year, being the new guy, but I live for this. I love that it’s so scary. It really puts you on edge being in the show and I think I’ve thrived on how scary that process is.
EDGE: What has been the biggest challenge for you?
JE: The music [by Duncan Sheik] is very challenging. I come from a real theater background and sang in lots of rock bands all my life. I grew up in a very musical family and have taken some singing lessons, but the amount of singing has been a huge challenge for me. Also, some of the content of the play, including the brief nudity can certainly be really scary to do in front of a large group of people.
