Adams to share behind-the-scenes stories
How do you build a scene from a single idea? Clarkies will get the answer to that question and more from actor, director, and improviser Lauren Adams, best known for playing Gretchen Chalker on the Netflix hit “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” during her visit to campus on Thursday, Sept. 10.
A screening and talkback of Adams’ new short film, “In the Middle of Something,” which premiered recently at the LA Shorts International Film Festival, is from 3 to 5:30 p.m. at Razzo Hall in the Traina Center for the Arts and is free and open to the public.
“It’s always a treat for students to have Lauren visit Clark,” says Soren Sorensen, associate professor of practice and program director of screen studies in the Department of Visual and Performing Arts. “Clarkies always learn a lot from her vast acting, improv, and directing experience. I have several ‘Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’ fans in my classes, and I know they’re looking forward to her visit.”
“In the Middle of Something,” starring Julian Velard and Paul Scheer, follows a piano player wrestling with failure, fatherhood, and marriage and who, during the worst gig of his life, has a surreal encounter that suggests he’s been playing the wrong song all along.
Adams will also share behind-the-scenes stories about some of her other credits, including “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt!”
Adams’ additional credits include “Greener Grass,” “Modern Family,” “The Sex Lives of College Girls,” and “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.” She will be seen in the upcoming season of “The Paper” on Peacock. A longtime improviser with a BFA from Elon University, Adams has performed with Baby Wants Candy, the original completely improvised musical, and trained and performed at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre for nearly two decades.
“The learning opportunities available from being able to take a workshop with a professional actor like Lauren are something that make Clark’s small size an asset,” says Jessie Darrell-Jarbadan, associate professor of practice and director of theatre arts in the Department of Visual and Performing Arts. “The professional working relationships that all of the Visual and Performing Arts professors cultivate in our respective disciplines carry over into our department work, and this visit from Lauren is yet another example of how these relationships allow us to bring in successful arts practitioners who share multiple disciplines and collaborate on exciting daylong events that give our students real-world examples of how their current coursework and networking with peers can be useful after graduation.”
