In Part 3 of a series of interviews of the cast of West Potomac High School’s School of Rock, meet Luke Simonsen.
Please introduce yourself to our audience.
I am Luke Simonsen and a junior at West Potomac High School. I love to perform theater and love to cook. These past three years have been pretty crazy, and they are years where I’ve learned some of the most lessons. I cherished the memories I have made here, and can’t wait to create more. One of my performing highlights was performing in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival where I appeared in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. The trip was such an amazing experience to learn more about performing and just to have an awesome time!
Who is your character in School of Rock?
I play Billy Sanford, a young, flamboyant, outgoing stylist. He’s a kid who has a difficult home life, and wants his family to accept the person he is. He feels most at home in Mr. Schneebly’s classroom styling clothes for the band. He wishes that his dad could accept the person he is so that he can feel more comfortable in his own skin and in his family support.
Why did you choose to be a part of this show?
I chose this show because I haven’t done one in awhile. It was so amazing to see School of Rock in New York with my theater company so I had to do it. After seeing the show I could not get the songs out of my head and listened to them on repeat for days. I also auditioned for this show because the role I got and auditioned for is such a fun and exciting role that I couldn’t miss it!
What’s something you want the audience to know about the production?
I want the audience to know that everyone in this show has worked extremely hard and it wouldn’t be anywhere near where it is now if we didn’t have every single helping hand put their all into this show. I also want the audience to know that we hope that they enjoy the show and that anyone can be in the band!
How is this cast different from casts that you’ve worked with before?
This cast has been so supportive and treated everyone with such respect and love that it has really brought us all together. I have had casts that have been very hardworking or very friendly but somehow this is the first cast I have stumbled upon that happens to be both hardworking and friendly.
School of Rock performs weekends from November 4th to November 19th, 2016 at Beyond the Page Theatre Company at West Potomac High School – 6500 Quander Road, in Alexandria, VA. Tickets can be purchased online
The School of Rock interviews were conducted by Adrianna DeLorenzo, Emily Lyon, Frankie Mananzan, Jonathan Barger, and Lily Vita.
LINKS:
Meet the Cast of ‘School of Rock’ at West Potomac High School: Part 1: Josh Turner.
Meet the Cast of ‘School of Rock’ at West Potomac High School: Part 2: Tony Lemus.
Meet the Cast of ‘School of Rock’ at West Potomac High School: Part 3: Luke Simonsen.
