In a two-day masterclass series, current Broadway professional Quentin Earl Darrington worked with Elon Music Theatre students in mastering the art of truth, spontaneity and individuality in acting through a song.
Lakeland, Florida, native Quentin Darrington has been seen on Broadway in “Once on This Island” (Agwe), “Cats”(Old Deuteronomy) and “Ragtime” (Coalhouse). He joined the national tour casts of “Memphis,” “The Color Purple,” “Lion King” (Mufasa) and “Ragtime” (Coalhouse). Darrington has also been featured off-Broadway in “A New Brain” and in several New York City Center productions including “Lost in the Stars” and “The Roar of Greasepaint.”
At the start of a recent masterclass at Elon, Darrington spontaneously broke into a heartfelt rendition of “Smile” by Nat King Cole, motioned for all students to gather in a circle on stage, and greeted each student with a warm handshake. This is the environment of safety, openness and warmth that he cultivated during the next eight hours he spent with students.
In working with 20 students individually on various songs, Darrington focused heavily on individuality. In a conversation regarding tactics in pursuit of an objective, he simply stated, “If everyone else does it that way, why should you?” Darrington shared countless valuable lessons that he himself has learned in pursuit of his artistic career. He spoke of theatre as ‘art for the people.’ “The people behind the audition table are human,” Darrington remarked, “there will be someone in that room who needs help – someone who needed to hear you sing that day.”
In a career that lends itself to competition and a pressure to be perfect, Darrington’s words were well received and much needed. On the second day of the masterclass, Darrington opened the floor to comments and questions after commanding the room with a rousing acapella rendition of “The Impossible Dream” from “The Man of La Mancha.” Students eagerly raised their hands stating that they “truly gave their attention to others” that day and some even remarked that they skipped out on purchasing an Oak House coffee to align with Darrington’s motto of “If you get paid a paycheck of $100 a week, live on $20 a week!”
Following the short talk-back, Darrington shared the story of his acting career, spanning from the seventh grade to the present. He invited every attendee of the masterclass to recite two names: “Rosemary Miseiri” and “Paul Hues,” the names of his first drama teachers. Darrington said that “every student who has taken a class from me knows those two names. I owe everything to them.”
The eight hours spent learning from Darrington were not only informative, but precious; a lesson to all to sing because there are people who need to hear you. To express your love for those near to you, because, in Darrington’s words, “you never know when your last day will be.”