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Issue Date: March 23, 2008
Just like in the movie: Actors are often athletes, too
Many now are trying both.
By Brian Truitt
In the movie that launched the "High School Musical" phenomenon, Zac Efron's character excelled as both varsity jock and actor.
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When Zac Efron's character in "High School Musical" darts between basketball practice and play rehearsals, the jocks and drama nerds go ballistic. After all, being a star on both court and stage just isn't cool.
Believe it or not, real life at a real high school isn't much different from the Disney movie. Cole Kouvaris, 17, is captain of his high school soccer and volleyball teams, not to mention a straight-A student. But when he accidentally showed up at soccer practice one day with heavy makeup and enough hair gel to make Little Richard's coif look tame, no one cut him any breaks. He heard his teammates' catcalls even before he arrived on the field.
"The whole team was like, 'Oh, tap dancing, are you?' " says Kouvaris, a senior at The Bolles School in Jacksonville. "And I'd be like, 'Sorry, guys, just doing my best here.' "
Tap dancing, he was. Kouvaris had been cast in the starring role of his school's high-steppin' fall musical, "42nd Street."
As it turns out, there's some truth to the hit teen movie. Like Efron's character, a growing number of teen athletes are removing their uniforms to shine in costume on the stage. The smash franchise "High School Musical" and popular TV shows like "Dancing with the Stars" and "American Idol" are inspiring kids to break down stereotypes and test their talents on both field and stage, experts say. Notes teen expert Susan Smith Kuczmarski: "You're finding more of it now because it's very acceptable and cool."
Well, not completely. Student-athlete Kouvaris told his college adviser about his big role in "42nd Street" before he told his parents: "She kept being like, 'It's not like you have to tell them, 'Mom and Dad, I'm going to jail.' "
Erin Moffitt, 16, who is a junior at St. Francis High School in Wheaton, Ill., will star this spring both at third base for her softball team and as Sally Slaton in "Parade." Moffitt says having both musical and softball practice on the same day can be tiring. "But it is really fun," she says. "A lot of my friends are involved in both, and it's justa good experience to get the most out of high school that you can."
Sophomore T.J. Manzo, 16, of Shore Regional High School in West Long Branch, N.J., enjoys participating in a musical so much that he regrets he didn't do it sooner. Although he has heard the ribbing from his football teammates and has had to deal with the challenge of juggling off-season weight-lifting sessions along with rehearsals for "Beauty and the Beast," Manzo is excited about showing the school a whole new side of himself.
"I have football friends, theater friends and a lot of female friends as well," says the gridiron defensive tackle and center turned actor. "All of them are telling me, 'I'm gonna be in the front row cheering for you,' and I have to tell them, 'You can't cheer in the theater like that. It's not like football.' "
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Yes! I starred in "Annie Get Your Gun."
By Al Harrington
NBA star of California's Golden State Warriors.
You know what was more nerve-racking for me than any basketball game I've ever played in? Performing in my high school's production of "Annie Get Your Gun" -- the first time I had ever performed in a musicalin my life. It was a greatexperience, though, and my English teacher at St. Patrick's High in New Jersey thought my personality could carry the lead, so as a senior, I got the part of cowboy Frank Butler.
It showed a different part of me, that I wasn't just this star basketball player. I shocked my mom and my dad with how well I did. They didn't know what to expect when they came to the show. My mom was like, "Make sure you don't embarrass me." But believe it or not, I nailed it, and everybody thought it was a good thing.
The end of that school year, in 1998, I went on Rosie O'Donnell's show to get a ball signed for anauction. She made me sing "Anything You Can Do" with her on the air. It's my favorite song from the show because it's the easiest one to remember. And I want to also go on record that I am not a good singer at all. I was terrible. This is not a singing voice.
I didn't get much needling from my high school teammates for being in the musical because a lot of them were in it as extras. But when I was drafted by the Indiana Pacers out of high school, a lot of veteran guys busted my chops and would say, "How can the star player be in a musical and be singing?" And when I got to the Warriors last season, guys like Matt Barnes found out, and they were like, "Dude, what were you doing in a musical?" That's not "gangsta."
If you're a high school athlete who wants to try out for a musical, go for it. Obviously, people are going to tease you, but my whole thing is, broaden your horizons. You never know; that musical could have made me also want to be an actor, and maybe my whole life would be different. All kids should try different things because you never know what is your true love.
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