By Rafal Rogoza—
If you ever find yourself walking into the Margaret Williams Theater for the latest theatrical undertaking from the NJCU Department of Music, Dance, and Theatre, you should know that behind the curtains the latest rising star among the university’s student actors is gathering his thoughts prior to taking the brightly lit stage of the proscenium theater that seats over a thousand audience members.
Jamal Price, who is entering his second year performing at NJCU, likes to have a moment alone before the big show.
The 19 year old Psychology major from Jersey City said he would sit on the side.
“I try to meditate a bit to try an focus on the task at hand,” he said.
As everyone from the stage crew to the follow spot operator goes through that all too common feeling of anxiety before the opening act, Price instead feels the rush that comes with a live performance.
“It’s something I find enjoyable,” he said as he reflects on why he puts himself through hours of rehearsal. “It enables me to bring out my creativity…and channel my emotions.”
The first time Price got a taste of acting was during an English class in Dickinson High School in Jersey City. He was among a group of students performing Shakespeare’s “The Twelfth Night,” a comedic play about a love triangle. It was an experience that erupted the talents that were latent within him and set a course of events that led up to those meditative moments backstage.
“I enjoyed it and my teacher said I did well and told me to pursue it in college,” he said. “Here I am.”
During his freshman year, Price played the role of Reverend John Purdy in the production of “Status Quo Vadis,” a comedy authored by playwright Donald Driver whose goal with the play was “to muse on how immobile our mobile society actually is,” according to a Washington Post review of a 1972 rendition of the play.
Price later landed a minor role as the “Monster” in the mystery-comedy “Done to Death,” authored by Fred Carmichael.
Now he is preparing himself for his next endeavor as Smiley, “the sad faced thug,” in the production of the mystery-comedy “Strange Boarders,” authored by Jack Kirkland and George Batson.
Directed by NJCU Theatre Professor Anderson Johnson, “Strange Boarders” is a play set in Boston about the shenanigans of banker robbing gangsters who try to elude the police after stealing $10,000 in cash.
“My character has a reputation for getting rid of people,” said Price. “It appeals to me, because they are the ones making all the trouble.”
The play will debut at the Margaret Williams Theater, located in the west wing of Hepburn Hall, in late October and will run into November.
“After all the work we put ourselves through, we finally get to opening night,” he said.
