{"id":57331,"date":"2019-04-09T10:48:30","date_gmt":"2019-04-09T14:48:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=57331"},"modified":"2019-04-09T10:48:30","modified_gmt":"2019-04-09T14:48:30","slug":"brock-grad-lands-leading-role-in-off-broadway-big-bang-theory-parody","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2019\/04\/brock-grad-lands-leading-role-in-off-broadway-big-bang-theory-parody\/","title":{"rendered":"Brock grad lands leading role in off-Broadway Big Bang Theory parody"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cStick with it, don\u2019t be afraid and take chances.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s the advice Brock Dramatic Arts alumnus John McGowan (BA \u201914) has for those looking to make it big in New York City.<\/span><\/p>\n

McGowan was recently cast for the starring role of Dr. Sheldon Cooper in the off-Broadway production<\/span> The Big Bang Theory: A Pop-Rock Musical Parody<\/span><\/a><\/em>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

While this isn\u2019t his first off-Broadway gig \u2014 he recently played Gabe Goodman in the Pulitzer Prize winner, <\/span>Next to Normal<\/span><\/em> \u2014 the buzz from this production is what McGowan describes as a \u201cbreakout role.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

Brock dramatic arts alumni John McGowan (BA \u201914) is playing the role of Dr. Sheldon Cooper in the off-Broadway production of The Big Bang Theory: A Pop-Rock Musical Parody. He is pictured with castmate Teresa Hui (right), who plays the role of Amy Farrah-Fowler. (Photo courtesy of Jeremy Daniel)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI have fan groups following me on Instagram and other social media \u2014 yes, there are fan groups for this show \u2014 and I\u2019ve been getting a lot of international attention, doing a lot of interviews and people are sending me a lot more job offers because word is starting to travel,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Although he has been cast as \u201cextreme\u201d characters in the past, McGowan said playing a beloved pop culture character in a long-running comedy has been a new and exciting challenge.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe thing about comedies is that some audiences are absolutely with you, and it\u2019s easy to feed off of their energies, and then some are dead silent and you have to overcome that,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s been a bit of a learning curve, but it\u2019s been going quite well.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Shelley Huxley, Brock\u2019s Director of Alumni Relations, offered her congratulations to the actor.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s wonderful to see Brock grads finding their way in such a competitive industry after leaving Brock,\u201d she said. \u201cThe University\u2019s fine and performing arts programs were designed to enrich the lives of students pursuing careers in arts and culture, and it\u2019s exciting to see this vision come to life through success stories like John\u2019s.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

McGowan was bitten by the theatre bug at the age of nine, when he began auditioning for a wide range of productions on stage and screen.<\/span><\/p>\n

He then enrolled to study at Brock, where he majored in Dramatic Arts with a Concentration in Production and Design.<\/span><\/p>\n

Although he had talent both on the stage and behind the scenes, acting eventually became his sole focus.<\/span><\/p>\n

He was also an active member of Brock Musical Theatre, playing the part of Nicky in\u00a0<\/span>Avenue Q<\/span><\/a><\/em> and Angel Dumott Schunard in <\/span>Rent<\/span><\/em>, and would later land other roles in the Niagara region and Greater Toronto area, including Link in <\/span>Hairspray<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

After graduation, McGowan set his sights on New York City and was accepted into the American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA) with three scholarships. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was everything you\u2019d think a performing arts school in New York would be, it was like a boot camp,\u201d he recalled. \u201cI was glad that I went to Brock before going to AMDA because it instilled a maturity in me. Because AMDA is very challenging, the skills I developed at Brock really powered me through and helped me out a lot.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t get any less challenging after graduating, either, he added.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you want to be a performer, everyone tells you it\u2019s hard, and that kind of goes without saying because it is hard, and you always want to retreat to that more stable job because you get rejected, and rejected, and rejected,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even the process of becoming eligible to work in another country can be what McGowan describes as \u201csomewhat traumatizing,\u201d because \u201cyour career, your life\u2019s work and your validity to stay in their economy and industry\u201d is being judged.<\/span><\/p>\n

How did he overcome those hurdles?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEndurance is key if this is what you really want to do,\u201d McGowan said. \u201cYou just have to keep going and things will eventually start to fall into place. If you keep showing up, they are going to see you have the drive and eventually pick you up.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to his most recent role, McGowan has also appeared in several theatrical productions and in venues such as Feinstein’s\/54 Below, The West End and The Green Room 42 while working in New York.<\/span><\/p>\n

With a mounting body of work under his belt, McGowan is now looking toward the future and taking on his next challenge.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d like to branch into film and television more, that\u2019s the next thing I have my eye on,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

And while he wants to give it a few more years in New York, he plans to return to Canada someday.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cJust not quite yet; I\u2019m not quite done with New York,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Big Bang Theory: A Pop-Rock Musical Parody<\/span><\/a><\/em> is scheduled for an open-ended run and is currently playing at the <\/span>Anne Bernstein Theatre (The Theater Center) in New York City. Tickets are available<\/span> online<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cStick with it, don\u2019t be afraid and take chances.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":57332,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[119,3319,37,1,4],"tags":[283,656,7778,7777,46,2518,7779,6740],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57331"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/55"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57331"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57331\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57334,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57331\/revisions\/57334"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57332"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}