(Photo cred: MinhTu Van photography)
This April, I was asked to review the Hudson Theatre Ensemble’s performance of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic, “The Great Gatsby,” for an h-MAG piece. As an avid Great Gatsby fan, I was incredibly excited to see the performance, and how the theatre ensemble would present their version. While I found the early parts of the Ensemble’s performance to be a bit dull, the stage was lit up as Jessica Sherr took her place as Jordan Baker.
From the moment she took the stage, it was obvious to the entire audience that Jessica had studied Jordan Baker very closely, and was quite an impressive character actress. After reading the review, Jessica reached out to me and we got to talkin!
While catching up with Jessica, she explained that she credits some of her inspiring ability to morph herself into the character she is playing to the English major she pursued in college. As we bonded over our commonality (I just graduated with a degree in English as well), Jessica gave me a brief walk-through of her acting journey: from a dancer in Frosty the Snowman at age 3 through present day: writer and one-woman performer of her own show entitled “Bette Davis Ain’t for Sissies.”
As Jessica began to detail her journey back in time for me, she started at the very beginning. “I was really a dancer,” she said. “When I was three I was taking a bunch of dance classes and was chosen to be a snow man in the ‘Frosty the Snowman’ routine at the recital.”
“I still remember it perfectly…oh..my…god we have pictures,” she laughed. “We had these little white leotards with green buttons and green cuffs. It was the first time I remember realizing I had a voice and I wanted to be heard” she said.
Now, while this may seem like the average dance recital thus far, Jessica’s second part of the story proved to be the kicker.
“I sneezed right before I was about to go on stage, and my mom, who is definitely not a stage mom let me go on stage with the remnants of the sneeze all over my face. I remember just standing up there crying in agony, but feeling this overwhelming happiness to be on stage and dancing at the same time,” she giggled.
“My face definitely screamed happiness mixed with sneezing child,” Jessica continued to laugh. “But honestly, it’s a day I will never forget and the day I truly believe it all began for me.”
It seems Jessica’s inclination was right. After her on stage debut as a crying/sneezing/smiling snowman she continued to pursue her passion and was cast as the narrator in a school play in 5th grade.
“I was thrilled. It was my first speaking role and I always wanted to have a voice. The narrator gets to tell the story and I always loved the idea of being a storyteller,” Jessica explained. “My grandmother Alice was a phenomenal storyteller and I always really admired that about her,” she continued. In addition to her first speaking role in the 5th grade theatre production, Jessica also went on tour with the Disney Spectacular in the 3rd grade, where she had a singing solo.
While attending a fine arts high school, Jessica pursued community theatre and kept up with dance. At age 18, Jessica hurt her ankle and was unable to dance for two years. It appears this may have been a blessing in disguise.
“While unable to dance, the only way I was able to express myself artistically was to talk,” she said. “During this time, I learned I had more of an interest in the acting side, as opposed to the dancing side.”
“I loved to dance, but I couldn’t express myself as well as I could with words,” she said.
With the dream of making it as an actress in her pocket, Jessica moved to New York post-college with the intention of only staying in the big city for three months. With a chuckle, Jessica admitted, “Welp. That plan most definitely changed,” she said. I’ve been here like…ten years now,” she said.
As Jessica began to detail her transition to – and life—in NYC she explained her quirky habit to me…one that I fell in love with. “I tend to label my years in terms of what they consisted of,” she giggled. “So, I had a year of acting classes, a year of training, a year of getting used to the city, and a year of bettering Jessica,” she explained.
Following the transition years, Jessica landed her first paid gig: a 34th street dinner theatre murder mystery where she would play the role of Shelia Shickmyer.
“Oh my gosh! I was in my glory,” she said excitedly. “I got to wear this sexy dress and kiss the lead! It was the first time I had even been that much of a story. I was thrilled,” she said. “I got paid $30 a show and I thought that was sooooooo cool,” she laughed. “It was a blast.”
While I’m sure there was a bunch of steps that came between Jessica’s sexy little dinner theatre performance and where she is now, our conversation shifted focus to her latest project, a one-woman performance of “Bette Davis Ain’t for Sisses,” which Jessica presented on two dates in May at the WestBank Café’s Laurie Beechman Theatre.
Because of the h-MAG review of Jessica’s performance of Jordan Baker, Jessica invited me to see her show, and I couldn’t be gladder that she did! Over a glass of Prosecco,
I was transported back to the night of the 1939 Oscar’s through Bette Davis’ eyes. Again, I was floored by Jessica’s performance and her ability to captivate and transport her audience….this time, completely alone.
How does she do this? I couldn’t wait to find out. As she explained it to me, to prepare for a role, Jessica asks lots of questions about the person/character she is playing. “I have to think about where that person began, what made them who they were, and how they got to the place they were in,” she said. Then, “I read the play 30-40 times over and try to get a sense of what other people think about the person. What does this person think about himself or herself,” she continued. Next- “Hair, costume, and shoes. I try not to think about learning the text until I understand what’s underneath the character.”
“I think that’s where some actresses/actors can go wrong. They go to the text first, instead of storytelling. Creating characters and making them different is way more important than perfecting the exact line,” she continued.
In continuing the conversation about what makes a successful one-woman performer, Jessica explains that the biggest challenge –and asset- is “only being able to rely on yourself.”
“You have to let your imagination take over, otherwise you don’t give the person/character you’re playing a full life. You must, must, MUST let yourself go,” she said. “Let yourself go and let yourself go with it. You have to.”
“Impulse helps a lot as well,” she said. “I actually started taking improv classes in order to be able to fill the space between the words. You have to have your own language. I think being on stage alone brought back the dancer inside of me. I learned to be open with my body, look at everything and develop my body language,” she said.
In addition to all Jessica has mentioned, she also stressed the importance of getting “historically accurately details.” But- with that said, in her version of “Bette Davis Ain’t for Sissies,” she admits that she had re-written some of the play in order to be able to connect with her audience. “I wanted my audience to really be able to understand me, as well as Bette,” she said. “Being in front of an audience and learning how to connect with them is one of the most helpful things that has happened throughout my career,” she continued.
“I wanted the people who watched the show to feel inspired to go look her up after seeing the performance. Many people don’t know the real Bette Davis and I wanted to expose that to my audience. I wanted people to walk out with a real idea of Bette Davis. I wanted people to think ‘wow…I didn’t know that about her.”
While Jessica admits that Ms. Davis has been her favorite role to play, she explained that she “really loved Jordan [Baker] too.”
“But, Bette is the only character I’ve worked on so long. She was a real person so I really get to have fun with her. In studying her, she’s taught me a lot,” Jessica said. “She’s taught me to think about how to conduct myself and to fight for what I believe with an intelligent opinion. I love Bette, but I’m very excited to work on new projects as well. My passion is to work on and create new characters,” she said.
AND…. Just before this blog post was ready to be posted, Jessica received some wonderful news that I am thrilled to share with my readers: BETTE DAVIS IS GOING TO SCOTLAND to preform for 22 days at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival! Please help Jesscia’s awesome dream come true by visiting http://igg.me/at/bettedavisaintforsissies/x/6433 to check out her Indiegogo Fundraising Campaign! She is wonderful and any contribution would mean so very much to both of us!
As a seasoned actress, Jessica’s advice to up and coming actors/actresses is to “brand [themselves] accurately. Delve deep into [themselves], and remember, NO MATTER HOW MUCH MAKE UP YOU PUT ON, IN THE END THEY HIRE YOU FOR YOU. THEY SEE YOU. AND THEY WANT TO!,” she emphasized.
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