Art in the Age of Corona: Acting School on Zoom
How two students have experienced a year of new and unexpected challenges
—By Alyssa Maria Melani
“Acting should be bigger than life. Scripts should be bigger than life. It should all be bigger than life.” —Bette Davis
As I sat down to speak with Edie Crowley, a freshman acting major, and Charlotte Um, a sophomore acting major and business minor, there was a moment of reflection over the realities of the past year. As of April 12th, Michigan Medicine has reported a total of 8,162 reported positive patient tests and 1,751 positive employee tests since the pandemic began. As the community fights to get a hold on the virus, students have been left to face a school year different from what they had imagined.
The Arts Industry continues to take a hit with limits on film and television production as well as the continued Broadway shutdown. These challenges have translated to students at the university level, who have been left to grapple with a year of training far from the norm. I spoke with both Edie and Charlotte to look at the experience from two different perspectives; that of an on-campus student as well as a remote-learner.
The Daily Routine
The average day for an acting student involves a bi-weekly 9 am class followed by six hours of acting training and an evening of various rehearsals, most of which currently take place within Zoom squares. For Edie, her first semester of college included a combination of hybrid and remote classes, while Charlotte experienced most of Sophomore year from the comfort of her mint green Boston bedroom. Now, following dorm closures and vaccination availability, both students plan to spend their second semester in off campus housing.
“I think the university as a whole kind of f-ed up pandemic wise,” Edie responds when asked if students have been sufficiently accommodated. “I don’t think they took it serious enough.”
For Charlotte this lack of effective safety measures kept her from returning to campus, exposing a shortcoming of the University of Michigan’s ability to accommodate high-risk students (Charlotte has suffered from severe asthma since she was a child). The inconsistencies in safety protocols, implementation, and monitoring have affected student’s ability, especially those who are at high-risk, to take hybrid or in person classes. This inequity in opportunity has left individuals like Charlotte at a disadvantage.
“Acting is meant to be in person,” she interjects without hesitation. “I don’t believe that we are getting the same amount of training as we should be getting…and I think it becomes difficult to connect.”
The Importance of Connectivity
For Edie, as a freshman new to Michigan, the hardest part has been the lack of connection between students. “I wish I knew upperclassmen more,” she says. Currently working on Romeo and Juliet, a spring main stage production, Edie explains, “I’m supposed to be like [Juliet’s] mom and I don’t even know her.”
The ability to meet new people and network was one of the key reasons why Edie chose to attend Michigan. After being let off of the waitlist two weeks after college decision day, Edie switched her focus to the University of Michigan because “the program was filled with supportive people.” Even with the challenges of this year, she doesn’t second guess her choice. “I had a pretty good time…met some cool people,” she laughs.
In the past year, the Journal of Medical Internet Research found a 71% increase of stress and anxiety amongst college students. The natural stressors of abrupt social change and an unknown pandemic-inducing virus are only exacerbated by a lack of preparation and adaptation by universities. When talking with Edie, she suggested that “some teachers clearly struggle more with the online curriculum than others and that affects the learning.” For example, her movement class was extremely effective, because it was taught in a hybrid form and therefore able to maintain much of the original curriculum. In contrast, her fully remote acting classes often consisted of technological difficulties and verbal misunderstandings, all a result of the new Zoom format.
This lack of classroom stability has caused many students, especially those in performance-based majors, to feel as if they’ve lost out on a year of training. To some, it feels as if the university didn’t put time or consideration into how the performance programs, such as Acting, would be affected by a conversion to online schooling.
“Michigan didn’t understand that we would be in an online format for this long,” Charlotte sighed as she took a quick glimpse at her window, “I feel as though they didn’t equip, especially the acting teachers, with the correct knowledge of how to do Zoom classes.”
A Series of Silver Linings
Even with the challenges that this year has brought, there were positive moments. For Charlotte, this time has allowed her to focus on her interests in Business. Just within the past few months she has already created a thriving dance business and was recently accepted into the Ross School of Business. Charlotte described this ability to explore other passions as “more practical in the online format than trying to pursue acting opportunities online.” Similarly, Edie is pivoting her plans for the summer, choosing to go on a month-long, technology-free backpacking trip, rather than auditioning for summer-stock shows. “It’s going to be really fun.”
Continuing to look towards the future, both actors are excited about what their time at Michigan may hold. While both Charlotte and Edie hope to find a place in Musket, one of the University’s leading student-produced performance organizations, Charlotte would especially “love to choreograph a musical here.” For Edie, it’s “any gender-bent male characters” that would excite her most.
Most importantly, both Charlotte and Edie are looking forward to the day when we can gather together again, to create art and truly experience the University of Michigan. Although Covid has affected many things, it hasn’t taken away their desires to be artists. “I’m still going to try to do the same thing which is being an actor,” says Edie, “You’ve gotta find things to make the worst times good.”
Feature photo: Edie Crowley, right, and the University of Michigan Acting Class of 2024