{"id":14108,"date":"2012-06-21T16:09:13","date_gmt":"2012-06-21T20:09:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/?p=14108"},"modified":"2022-09-29T12:54:59","modified_gmt":"2022-09-29T16:54:59","slug":"theatre-alumnus-dancing-through-life-on-wicked-national-tour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2012\/06\/21\/theatre-alumnus-dancing-through-life-on-wicked-national-tour\/","title":{"rendered":"Theatre alumnus \u201cDancing through Life\u201d on \u201cWicked\u201d national tour"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo<\/a>

Wright State theatre graduate K. J. Hippensteel is in Dayton with the national tour of the hit musical “Wicked.”<\/p><\/div>\n

K. J. Hippensteel didn\u2019t always dream of being an actor. The Wright State theatre graduate originally focused his natural musical talent on playing the cello. But fate stepped in on a high school music trip to New York City.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey took us to Les Miserables<\/em> on Broadway to see the orchestra perform in the pit,\u201d said Hippensteel. Mesmerized by the show, Hippensteel fell in love with the magic of live theatre. He decided to dump the cello for a life on the stage. \u201cFrom that moment on, I was hooked,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Hippensteel graduated with a musical theatre B.F.A. in 2006 and has been acting ever since. He\u2019s currently visiting Dayton with the national tour of Wicked<\/em>, the Tony Award-winning musical about the two witches from The Wizard of Oz<\/em>. The show also won a Grammy for its hit Stephen Schwartz songs like \u201cDancing through Life,\u201d \u201cPopular,\u201d and \u201cDefying Gravity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hippensteel joined the traveling production six months ago as a member of the ensemble and the understudy to Fiyero, the male romantic lead.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a>

Hippensteel said that the Wright State theatre program helped him grow into a confident performer and propelled him to success.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a comedy,\u201d he said, \u201cso people laugh all the way through the show. But there\u2019s a lot of depth to the show and it makes you think long after you leave the theatre. That\u2019s what\u2019s so beautiful about the show\u2014it really catches you by surprise.\u201d<\/p>\n

He was attracted to the show for its strong characters, witty dialogue and intricate plot. His favorite scene in the show comes just after Dorothy\u2019s house has killed the Wicked Witch of the East. Hippensteel\u2019s character makes a grand entrance swinging to the stage on a rope.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a lot of fun,\u201d he said of his Tarzan moment. \u201cIt takes me back to being a kid.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hippensteel said that he gravitates to shows, like Wicked<\/em>, that are actor-driven. He attributes that to his training in college. \u201cThe Wright State program is acting-based, where it\u2019s great if you can sing and dance, but only if you can approach your role as an actor first,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He said that the program helped him grow into a confident performer and propelled him to success. He fondly remembers his musical theatre classes, where he was able to practice with peers in a comfortable, supportive environment.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a>

While in Dayton, Hippensteel is working with high school students who aspire to be actors.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThe professors at Wright State are really on top of their game,\u201d said Hippensteel. \u201cAnd the great thing is that each one has their own point of view.\u201d He points to several professors who he saw as directors and others who have more of an actor\u2019s perspective. Some come from a performance art background and some do lots of musicals, while others tend to do mostly plays.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo you get a lot of different insights because they have a diverse range of experiences,\u201d he said<\/p>\n

In the fall of 2004, Hippensteel had high hopes of being cast in Wright State\u2019s production of Stephen Sondheim\u2019s fairy tale musical Into the Woods<\/em>. He was instead cast in that quarter\u2019s production Uncle Vanya<\/em>, a somber play by Anton Chekov.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was very disappointed and I thought that I wasn\u2019t right for it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Yet through rehearsals Hippensteel began to embrace the character and recognize the quiet beauty of the play. He now cites Uncle Vanya<\/em> as his favorite show from his college days.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt stretched me in ways that I needed to be stretched,\u201d he said. \u201cIt taught me that a play can be totally different on the stage than it reads on paper.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a>

He was attracted to “Wicked” for its strong characters, witty dialogue and intricate plot.<\/p><\/div>\n

After graduation, Hippensteel did a short stint at a New Jersey dinner theatre and performed on a cruise ship. He earned his Actors\u2019 Equity card starring in a Florida production of Altar Boyz<\/em> before moving to New York City.<\/p>\n

Sure, he\u2019s had his \u201csurvival jobs\u201d\u2014working as a waiter, a doorman or a handyman between shows\u2014but Hippensteel says he\u2019s been very fortunate as a working actor. In addition to Wicked<\/em>, he\u2019s had traveled the country with the first national tours of both The Wedding Singer<\/em> and 9 to 5: The Musical<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Hippensteel loves life on the road, living out of suitcase, but getting to see \u201cevery nook and cranny of the country.\u201d While he enjoys visiting new cities, he said it\u2019s also nice to play in familiar places like Dayton.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a little strange to be back in a town I lived in,\u201d said Hippensteel. \u201cIt takes me back to my college days and all those great memories.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

K. J. Hippensteel didn\u2019t always dream of being an actor . . . Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":14109,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[722,733,4299,4859,725,747,715,717,719],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-alumni","category-alumni-profile","category-fine-and-performing-arts","category-home-news-sidebar","category-liberal-arts","category-news","category-photos","category-special-categories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14108"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14108\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45061,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14108\/revisions\/45061"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}