Write Teacher(s) Readers, meet the latest interviewee in our Actors & Actresses Q&A Series, Sarah Naughton!
Sarah is an actress, a singer, a dancer, and a comedian. She is a member of toUch performance art, a resident artistic company of the American Repertory Theater in Boston. She is an audiobook narrator (check her out on audible.com!). She’s also a teaching artist at The Children’s Museum of Art in SoHo, and a licensed New York City tour guide.
MM: When did you first realize you wanted to be an actor? 
SN: I was always a ham. And I loved to sing. My mom played the piano, so we would make music together and that was always really nice. But I did my first show at age 10 with the Syracuse Children’s Theater. It was the Wizard of Oz and I was desperate to play Dorothy. When I was cast as the Wicked Witch of The West I was pretty crushed. But I learned to embrace it and then love it. After scaring children night after night I was basically drunk with power. And I was hooked!
MM: Of all the roles you’ve played in your career thus far, which ones are the closest to your heart?
SN: I played Luisa in the Fantasticks when I was 18. The show itself is still one of my favorites. It’s so theatrical and sweet. But I found a kindred spirit in Luisa. Her journey in the show is coming into her own womanhood. I just completely related to her feelings and experiences. And getting to express what I was feeling through her beautiful story was an experience I’ll never forget.
MM: When one walks into your home, what books are permanently on your bookshelf?
SN: The entire Harry Potter Series. Pride and Prejudice. The Goldfinch and The Secret History (Donna Tart). The Bone Clocks. Franny and Zooey, Catcher In The Rye, Nine Stories, Raise High The Roofbeam and Seymour. (Obviously a big Salinger fan). Complete works of Shakespeare. Lots of Tennesse Williams and Arthur Miller plays.
MM: If you were stranded on a desert island, what television shows and/or movies would you want available to you, (assuming of course you have a television and Internet connection?)
SN: I’m more of a TV person than a movie person. And I watch the same TV shows over and over for comfort. I rotate through 30 Rock, Parks and Recreations, and The Office. They put me to sleep, help me get ready, are my treat when I need to take a break. I love those TV worlds. I’d like to have the show Friends available on this island as well. And Game of Thrones and Westworld for something more thrilling.
MM: What’s the best piece of advice you’d want to offer aspiring actors and writers?
SN: This is probably more for the actors out there. But create your own work. Nothing has been more thrilling to me than to be able to take my career and artistry in my own hands, find the stories I want to tell and then tell them. As an actor it can feel like you have to wait for other people to green light you to get to do what you love. But it doesn’t have to be that way. And the more you’re out there getting your hands dirty and making things, the more you have to offer to the industry anyway. Oh and take improv! That one’s for everyone.
MM: What sound do you love? What sound do you hate?
SN: I love the sound of the turn signal in a car. My mom or dad would always signal as we turned into our driveway, which was definitely not necessary because we lived in the woods, but the sound always comforts me and makes me think I’m almost home.
I hate the sound of construction! Recording audiobooks requires total silence. So if there’s construction near me I can’t record that day. And when deadlines loom that’s the ultimate stress. I hear jack hammers in my nightmares.
MM: What literary or musical theatre character is most like your personality? Least like your personality?
SN: I think I’m like Elizabeth Bennet (braaaag! and so original!) she’s fun and funny and smart but can also be such a dummy sometimes. And I can be a real dummy.
I think I’m least like Beowulf probably. Grendel would’ve totally kicked my ass.
MM: In today’s economic state, arts education programs are being cut. What reasons would you give to a school board or politician for preserving arts education programming in schools?
SN: Ugh this is the worst. And I see a lot of arguments that defend arts education because art is good for brain functioning in general, which is true and amazing. But I would say that the arts and arts education is vital for society in and of itself. Because what kind of world do we want to live in? One where there’s production and bottom line and that’s it? Or one that is filled with beauty and where ideas can be explored and expressed? I think there has to be room for that. Otherwise we’re all just toiling our lives away to make as much money as we possibly can and then die. And that’s pretty bleak.
MM: Who is/was your greatest teacher?
SN: I’ve had so many incredible teachers along the way that believed in and supported and challenged me. This list could be 30 names long. But I think the man who’s had the most influence on me and the way I work is a coach of mine named Alex Gemignani. He is like old school amazing and brilliant. He inspired me to do really close reading of the lyrics and music in a song. Everything is intentional. And the composers and lyricists give you so much so you have to start there. But he also really believed in me, saw that I had something, at a time where I couldn’t see it. Working with him reinvigorated me to continue my career as an artist. So cheers Alex!
Thank you, Sarah!
Write Teacher(s) Readers – be sure to catch Sarah on the stage at Feinstein’s/54 Below on April 21st. Tickets and additional information are available here.
Live, Love, Learn,