Senior Spotlight: Jordan McGinnis


12/08/2015

Major: Theatre
Minor: Music

Favorite role: Well, this depends on whether or not we mean St. Ambrose role, or just in general! If we are going for the favorite role I've done it would have to be Jim Conley from the musical Parade. However, if we are speaking in generalities it would be Leo Frank from the same musical.

Dream role: I actually have a couple of roles that I would absolutely love to portray, the first being Iago from William Shakespeare's Othello, the second being Otto Frank from The Diary of Anne Frank.

What drew you to SAU: Helen Duranleau-Brennan my high school theatre teacher. Without the guidance of Ms. Brennan, I don't think I would be where I'm at today. Her constant support, and sometimes harsh realities, really kept me on track and eventually put me in contact with Dr. Corinne Johnson, who was at that point in time the chair of the Theatre Department at St. Ambrose.

Favorite memory: I have a few, I hope you don't mind!! The first being my first encounter with Daniel Rairdin-Hale when I asked him to be my academic advisor. The second would have to be a monologue that I've seen at St. Ambrose during our production of The Laramie Project. Simply put, senior Conor Strandquist's portrayal of Mathew Sheppard's father and the monologue where he confronted one of Matthew's killers will forever be a memory that I hold. If you get a chance, ask him to do it for you I'm sure he could pick it up again!

The third would have to be a monologue I did from the musical Working, where I played a person by the name of Charlie Blossom, a 20-year-old who has a weird sense of... something... Next, it would have to be when I was cast as John Worthing in The Importance of Being Earnest. It was my first classical piece and I didn't think I really had the chops to pull that off... I still have my doubts... but nonetheless, I think the show was a success.

Finally, being invited to perform a scene from Glengarry Glenn Ross at KCACTF alongside my good friend Chris Galvan '15, it was such an honor to even be asked, and if all goes well we will be able to perform for A LOT of theatre enthusiasts!

Advice: Don't get bogged down by the little things, if you don't get cast in a show, 9 times out of 10 it's nothing personal, don't take it to heart!

Also, be prepared to fail... a lot. Sometimes you'll work on something and just not get anywhere with it; that's when you take a step back and ask yourself "What am I doing that I don't like?" and "How can I try and fix it?"

Also, become aware of yourself, find out the weird little habits you do and either find a better way to use them, or don't use them! Like me, I use my hands A LOT when I talk and sometimes it gets very distracting. A friend by the name of Robert Poston '15 once told me "You like to pick up an imaginary box, and then set that box down... stop that." It's very important to know how to use each part of your body to get the desired effect you want. After all, as an actor you don't get to hide behind a music stand or an instrument; YOU are the instrument and you need to know how to best utilize yourself!

Future Plans: The plan is to go to grad school and eventually become a college professor!

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At SAU, hard work = recognition. Here is a list of full-time students who were named to the St. Ambrose University Dean's List for the Fall 2023 term. These students earned a GPA of 3.5 or higher (on a 4.0 scale).

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