The Hilltop Monitor sat down with Terrace Wyatt Jr., junior theater major, as he spoke about his passion for theater, his dedication to the Jewell Theatre Company productions and his future.

Wyatt has had a passion for theater since a young age. He mentioned that he has always enjoyed singing and dancing and he figured he should also add acting to the list.

“When I was in kindergarten my parents took me to see ‘Beauty and the Beast’ and that blew my mind. It had me sitting on the edge of my seat and I was really engaged in the performance,” Wyatt said. “[In middle school] I decided to pursue theatre because I liked the idea that I could be a storyteller.”

Wyatt also shared why he’s so passionate about acting. He said that he feels like theater is a very important thing in our current society and is motivated that he has the capability of telling stories and having his voice heard.

Being a theater major, Terrace is required to work in every Jewell Theatre Company production. He chooses to perform in all of them because of his love for acting.

“Now that I’m in college, I’ve been learning more and more things. Especially with my professor Dr. Chris McCoy, he has worked on Broadway, so he’s helping me to continue my legacy of becoming a professional performer,” Wyatt commented.

Wyatt’s recently worked in a production of “West Side Story” at Leawood Stage Company, and has also worked in the past with Barn Players, Starlight, KC Rep., The Coterie Theatre and Music Theatre Kansas City.

Regarding his career at William Jewell College, his favorite performance so far was his latest part in “Much  Ado About Nothing,” where he played to role of Benedick.

“That was the biggest role I’ve ever accomplished in my theatre life. This is like a role that you’re learning how Shakespeare works – because this was my first Shakespeare play and I didn’t know much about it,” Wyatt shared. “With this production, it helped me understand the rhymes, the concept and the interpretation of what Shakespeare was trying to explain to the theater world.”

Wyatt also talked about the process to get ready for a role, the study and research needed for a production. He talked about preparation he did for the production of “In the Time of the Butterflies,” where the actors had a dramaturgy expert come and talk to them about who the characters on the play were in real life – since the play was based on a real story.

“Any show that I’m in – you gotta do some research, like ‘what is this show? what’s the concept based on?’ before you go out and start rehearsing,” said Wyatt.

Just like every other Jewell student, Wyatt has a busy schedule and he says that one of the main things that helps him out is Starbucks. But a lot of it comes from prioritization.

After college, Wyatt plans on continue his acting career in the Kansas City area and also outside Missouri. He hopes to work in the future with Netflix, Disney, Broadway and others similar jobs. Wyatt would also like to pursue a career in writing and directing, noting that his family is supportive of his career choices.

Photos courtesy of Mykala Crews

The Jewell Theatre Company staged their production of William Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing” Nov. 1-3, putting a William Jewell College spin on a classic comedy.

“Much Ado About Nothing” follows several characters through a series of miscommunications and shenanigans, with two love stories at the forefront: that of Beatrice and Benedick and that of Hero and Claudio. While Hero is sweet-tempered, soft-spoken and eager to be married, her cousin Beatrice is quite the opposite, making generous use of her sharp wit and sharper tongue.

After the prince and both men’s friend Don Pedro helps Claudio secure the promise of Hero’s hand in marriage, he enlists Hero’s father, Leonato – in Jewell’s production changed to a female role, Leonata –Claudio, Hero and her waiting-women to help set up a romance between Beatrice and Benedick, who gleefully fling barbed comments back and forth at every opportunity under the pretense of mutual dislike. Before Hero and Claudio can be married, however, Don Pedro’s villainous brother Don John and his cronies set out to tarnish Hero’s reputation and convince Claudio to leave her at the altar.

When he does, Hero faints at the accusations of promiscuity, and it is publicized that she has died. Claudio and Don Pedro are remorseful upon learning that their actions have resulted in Hero’s death, and due to the comically bumbling-yet-successful night watchmen having overheard Don Pedro’s cronies talking about their involvement in his scheme, the two learn that Hero was innocent after all.

Leonato offers Claudio the hand of a never-before-seen girl who is conveniently similar to Hero, and he accepts. At the wedding she is revealed to be the very much alive Hero, to Claudio’s joy. Beatrice and Benedick, each having learned the things they overheard about the other being in love with them to have been fabricated, declare the lack of love between them, only to have love poetry each has written about the other snatched from their respective possessions and traded; they come together again, confessing they must be in love after all.

The highlight of Jewell’s production is by far Caroline Seitz and Terrace Wyatt, Jr., in the leading roles of Beatrice and Benedick. Their natural delivery of the lines and lively, expressive acting are a delight to watch, and when they interact their combined energy is electric, Wyatt’s lighthearted and hilarious Benedick playing off of Seitz’s cynical and sardonic Beatrice splendidly. Their performances were complemented by the more subdued Leonata, played by Kyra Little, and chuckling Don Pedro, played by Samuel Person. As the other prominent love story, Emma Mayfield’s Hero is delightfully sweet and believable next to Jaimeson Satterfield’s earnest and heartfelt Claudio.

The production features a versatile set, the location only being significantly shifted for a scene set in Hero’s bedroom, and the cast and crew execute the transitions between scenes seamlessly. The transposition of Shakespeare’s text into the 1940s is supported by the mood-setting music choices and costumes, which are well-chosen to emphasize each character’s individual personality.

Overall, Jewell’s “Much Ado” is entertaining and great fun to watch. The Bard would be proud!

Photo courtesy of Jewell Theater’s Facebook page