Sophie Schachter ’27 has long been interested in the stage—be it the world stage, or the more local stage of Pingry’s Macrae Theatre. During her freshman year, after missing the audition for the musical Into the Woods, she sent an email to her advisor, Alan Van Antwerp, asking could she please still audition? “I emailed him and said, ‘I will literally take any role.’” He asked her to submit an audition video of her singing, which she did—recording her audition from the bathroom of a Model Congress trip she was on. She promptly sent it in to Jay Winston and was given a role in the ensemble (shortly thereafter, she was moved from the ensemble to the role of the cow, Milky White). Most recently, she held the lead role of Tom Joad in the Fall Play, The Grapes of Wrath. And now, for this season’s Winter Musical, Cabaret, she is trying on a new role entirely: student director.
How did she come to take on this behind-the-scenes part? “She was voluntold,” explains Mr. Van Antwerp, with a smile. Whether volunteered or voluntold, Sophie embraced the opportunity to experience the play from a completely different vantage point. “It was a very natural segue,” she said simply.
During rehearsals, Sophie took meticulous notes on each actor’s blocking, adding the notes to a large binder dubbed the Bible. She works closely with student stage manager Nora Souayah ’27, with the two of them trading off while one watches the show and the other follows the script once the actors are off book. Sophie also translates Mr. Van Antwerp’s mercurial feedback into copious acting notes, often anticipating what he will say before he even says it. “I’m a mini-Van is what I like to say,” she says. “His directing style is super fast.” When he says something is not working, or if a more emotional moment is needed onstage, or an added beat here or there, she writes that down and shares her own feedback as well. “You kind of get used to Van’s mannerisms and what he means when he says something. I learned to anticipate it. We’re kind of mind-melded now,” she says. “Both of us just know when something is not working. We think the same things.”
To go from being the lead role onstage to the more obscure role of student director offstage could have been challenging for some, but Sophie has soaked up the contrast. “To go from that high [of a lead] to this behind-the-scenes supporter, this cheerleader advocate, it’s a wild ride I can imagine for somebody’s ego,” marvels Mr. Van Antwerp, “but it is essentially what we ask of all of our drama students: to be empathetic.” And not only is she anticipating his direction, she is giving her own feedback, which is imbued with her own unique understanding of the actors’ experience onstage. “She knows what the leads are going through, as far as memorizing lines, and the expectations on them,” says Mr. Van Antwerp, “and she has a really good sense of where they are at in their head and what they need. She rides that line wonderfully.”
When it comes to giving feedback to her peers, Sophie is thoughtful. “I really think it’s that nothing ever comes from a place of like, ‘this is bad.’ It’s really, ‘I know you can make this better.’” The perspective she has gained from directing has been refreshing. “I really like seeing how the actors interpret what you say. I love seeing the choices they make and being able to refine it. It’s a weird feeling of pride when they do it and you’re like, that was so good. It’s being able to see them shine.”
Sophie, who is interested in politics and has subscribed to The New York Times since she was eight years old, considers herself ambitious. “I have very big dreams for what I want to do in the world.” Dreams of the world stage, and being Secretary of State. It’s a much larger stage, certainly, but it’s one she feels the drama program has prepared her well for. “Performing is great for your public speaking skills, first of all, but also for your confidence because you just kind of have to go out there and own it. You cannot give a show feeling embarrassed about something. Even if you’re holding a cow,” she says with a smile, no doubt recalling her previous role. “Just having to own who you are onstage makes you much more confident owning who you are and what you want and being very clear about who you are. It forces you to know who you are and embrace it and to not hide yourself.”
Sophie, who sits on the Honor Board and participates in the foreign policy Humanities Independent Research Team, considers herself a theatre kid—something she firmly believes will come in handy when it comes to the international theatre of politics. “Theatre kids are very unapologetic and authentic, so if anyone doesn’t have a mask, it would be them.” It’s a quality she deeply appreciates, and one she hopes to carry forward. “I think you do see a deeper side of people, a part that’s more genuine.”
Perhaps a theatre kid on the world stage is exactly what the world needs right now. A perspective that is smart, ambitious, and determined to see people shine.
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To contact the author: Sara Courtney
Photo by: Chris Birrittella '28