By Sarah Tinoco

March 19, 2014

On the last night before spring break, senior Jacob Storck presented his production, “Being Alive: A Musical Cabaret Show.” Storck, a theater major and elementary education minor, produced and performed his own show that culminated his time at Dominican, all while bringing together his talents of singing and acting to create a lively showcase.

The Dominican Star recently sat down with Storck to ask about where he drew his influence from for the show as well as learn about his goals for the future.

Q: In producing “Being Alive,” what responsibilities did you have in putting on the show?

A: It was my senior project for theater, so I had to decide on all the songs, the theme, cast, find an accompanist, do publicity, produce it, everything. I performed in the show and sang 11 songs from various musicals across the last century.

Q: As your senior capstone project, why did you choose to produce a whole show?

A: I chose to do this because it’s something that I probably won’t get the chance to do again. It’s basically like a concert and I doubt that I will have that type of opportunity again so I thought, “Seize the moment!”

Q: What is “Being Alive” about?

A: “Being Alive” was the final song in the show, but I used [the title] as my theme. I used all of the songs to connect my experiences at Dominican together and the lessons I’ve learned here and the people that I’ve met. In between each song, I would have a monologue about something I have experienced at Dominican on my journey here.

Q: What was your favorite part of putting together the show?

A: I loved being able to sing a variety of songs and to be able to sing some songs that I would have never been able to sing in the actual show [of the musical the song came from.]

Q: How did you feel leading up to the night of the performance?

A: The weeks before were crazy because so much work was getting done with rehearsing and trying to organize everything. The last couple of days were like a blur, leading up to the very last minute because it almost felt like it wasn’t happening but it really was. It was a mix of excitement and fear, but it was a wonderful feeling.

Q: Throughout your time at Dominican, who has supported or inspired you the most?

A: So many people! Krista Hansen, my academic advisor for theater, has taught me in multiple classes for theater and directed me in multiple theater productions. She has been a huge influence on me and she is a wonderful, supportive person that I know is always there. Also, all of the different faculty and staff that I have worked with and all the sisters [have been supportive.] I feel that I have been very lucky to have gotten close to all the faculty and staff.

Q: As graduation nears, what are your plans for your career after Dominican?

A: This summer I am working in New York at a camp for children with special needs. [In the fall] I will be doing student teaching. After that semester is over, I am hopefully going to do a year of service and then I would like to get my master’s degree.

Q: You have been involved in completing service work both locally and internationally. How does theater and volunteering correlate?

A: Theater has this power that a lot of people don’t realize and it’s by bringing all of these different stories and ideas to the eyes of so many different people we have the capacity to do a show like “Rent,” which brings light to issues like AIDS and LGBT issues and a show like “Extremities” which deals with rape and violence against women. Also, working with the diversity of people; I have worked with so many different types of people and I have played so many different types of characters. It has inspired me to pursue social justice as a career path because of the things I have learned and because of the people I have worked with. I think they are really related in that it can bring light to so many different social issues and it has brought light to a lot of them for me.