All displayed photos are provided by Elias Gitterman

Theater is much more than just memorizing a script. For Elias Gitterman ’21, it’s a transformative experience, starting with the nerve-wracking auditions all the way to production day. After participating in musicals throughout middle school, Gitterman continued his acting journey in PHS by starring in drama department productions including “Theory of Relativity” and “Clue.” This year, he is excited to play Gomez Addams in PHS’ very own production of “The Addams Family.” Gitterman demonstrates his versatility as a student actor by taking on roles of all types of genres including comedy, mystery, and romance. When embodying a character, he emphasizes the importance of being original on stage. With his distinctive understanding of theater and his love for all roles, Gitterman looks forward to many more amazing on-stage experiences in the future, as he plans to attend New York University this fall. 

What influenced your interest in acting?

The first show I ever did was in fourth grade, and it was a Shakespeare play called “A Midsummer Night's Dream.” That sort of instilled in me a love of being on stage and having the attention of the audience. Then when I got to middle school, I just started auditioning for plays and taking drama classes; I auditioned for the musical when I was in eighth grade. I would also see plays and musicals, specifically on Broadway. By the time I got to high school, I very much considered myself an actor.

Is this your first time starring in a PHS musical production? If not, can you give an overview of past experiences? 

Yes, this is my first time having a leading role in the musical at PHS. I was in a musical last year called “Theory of Relativity.” That was an ensemble show that was just a series of individual musical numbers: some pieces were solos, some were duos, and others were large ensemble pieces. That was a big moment for me, getting to be in that show. There was a lot of emotion, and overall it was very deep and touching to a lot of people. My favorite role I’ve ever played was probably Mr. Green in “Clue,” because it was so much fun to play. I got to live out a lot of my theater dreams by playing a secret FBI agent; getting to play that character was such an over the top, ridiculous situation. And being able to play those characters in those types of scenes is fun. After this tremendous experience, I auditioned for Addams Family this year and got the role of Gomez. I’m just so happy to have the role. 

Can you guide us through the overall process of a production, starting with auditions?

The first thing you do is go to the informational meeting, where you learn what the show is about and you get your audition materials. Once you have your audition materials, you have to practice memorizing your lines and start thinking about which characters you might want to be cast as. Then you go to the audition, which can be nerve-wracking because there’s lots of new people.

You start to gauge what the production, in a broader sense, is going to look like. Every actor will also tell you that the audition goes by very quickly, you’re walking out of the audition room, and you’re thinking “wait, did that just happen?” But if you’ve practiced enough, it becomes second nature, and then you don't need to focus too much. So that’s the audition, but callbacks can be equally nerve wracking. Sometimes, directors and auditors will put you in a scene where they know that you’re going to flub your lines just to see how you roll with it. Actually, that is a great way for the people in the audition room to get to know you as a person and an actor. It does require a lot of devotion, but once you’re in production, you’re performing, and you never get tired of it. It’s always fun and so exciting to walk out on stage and be in a scene.

Auditions for musicals can get competitive. How do you feel about the environment of the musical industry? 

Whenever there’s some sort of aspect of performance, whether it’s instrumental or athletic, there’s always a lot of pressure following it, which can lead to a high pressure environment. There can be competitiveness when you're involved in a theatrical production. Though, in every show that I’ve been in, the environment has been very welcoming and positive. There’s always an understanding that there’s a level of pressure and weight that come with that. You’re doing something that’s important and you want to do it well. The theater community almost always is super supportive, which helps take some of the weight off of your shoulders when putting together such a large production.

Do you ever feel yourself getting personally attached to your role, or even becoming somewhat like the role you play?

I definitely bring a lot of myself in my roles, and I’m never the same person coming out of a show as I am going into it. It’s always a transformative experience, but outside of rehearsal I don’t really become my character. Like I said before, it’s fun to watch your characters come to life and bring them to the stage in a way that’s original and effective. You come to love your role, and you make the most of it no matter how many scenes you’re in or how big of a role it is. This is something that you'll definitely hear a lot as an actor, but bigger roles do not always mean better roles. It’s natural for different roles to have varying amounts of stage time and types of preparation. For the supporting and leading roles, your character is already written out. The type of character that you’re supposed to play already exists. However, as an ensemble member, you often get to create your own character, but at the same time, I always say that aspect of inventing is very important, no matter what role you get. You always have to bring something original to your role. To circle back around to your question, I’ve never gotten attached to my roles, but very often I find the characters that I’m playing are somewhat similar to me.

Gomez Addams is known for his extraordinary love for Morticia. When acting, is it ever difficult to portray feelings like love?

With something as complex as showing love, regret, or contempt, abstract emotions are obviously more difficult to convey because they have to come from an authentic place. A very common technique that's used by actors is emotional recall, and it’s pretty much exactly what it sounds like. If you’re trying to convey an emotion, just think of a time in your life when you experienced that emotion, try to reflect on that in your brain, and recreate it through acting. Portraying an emotion like love can be difficult because people interpret love in lots of different ways, and there are many different types of love. It’s not always easy to be an effective actor. Something that I live by is that good acting is when the audience feels whatever the actor is trying to portray. That may seem obvious, but if there's a disconnect between what you’re trying to create and how the audience is perceiving it that means you are doing something wrong. I know I’ve stressed this so many times, but it’s something that I live by, and that’s being original with your role. You have to create something that’s never been seen before. So once again, to revisit your original question, portraying love can be challenging, but if you do it right, it can be very compelling and very moving. 

Any advice for students beginning in theater?

My advice would be that you have to form a community by getting to know the other people in your class because you are going to stick with them, and they're going to be people who sustain you. Once you do a show with them, you get to know them really well. You form this really strong bond that is so important to being not only a high schooler but also an actor. Shows should be fun, and they shouldn’t be too much work. You definitely have to work hard as an actor and have to put in those hours. You have to really be able to invent in a way that's honest, effective, and self sustaining. You need to be the type of actor who enjoys the work.