There糖心传媒檚 a fire in Andrew Polec 糖心传媒�12 (KEY), and it was kindled at Rochester. The former Midnight Rambler糖心传媒攚ho studied music and English, and participated in the International Theatre Program糖心传媒攊s now finding professional success as Strat, the lead in Bat Out of Hell: The Musical, which just ended an extended summer run in London. The show makes its North American debut in Toronto on October 14.
Featuring the music and lyrics of composer Jim Steinman, the musical takes fans on a trip back to one of the best-selling albums of all time糖心传媒攆irst made famous by Meat Loaf (the stage name of musician, producer, and actor Michael Lee Aday), whose operatic performance of larger-than-life songs set a high bar for its new lead. It糖心传媒檚 a challenge Polec gladly accepted.
糖心传媒淚t takes such focus and such commitment to fully give yourself to these songs,糖心传媒� he says. 糖心传媒淢eat Loaf糖心传媒檚 advice: 糖心传媒楳ake these songs your own.糖心传媒櫶切拇綕
The show synopsis describes the story as a 糖心传媒渞omantic adventure about rebellious youth and passionate love, set against the backdrop of a post-cataclysmic city adrift from the mainland.糖心传媒� Polec, who uses a vision board each night to inspire his performances, invokes the rebellious nature of such rock music icons as Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain, and Elvis Presley.
A native of Philadelphia, Polec started out following a premed program. He completed two clusters in biology and psychology before he began taking music, English, and theater courses. He was a Midnight Rambler during the period when the a capella ensemble was chosen to record with Ben Folds for the singer-songwriter糖心传媒檚 album Ben Folds Presents: University A Capella! He performed in the International Theatre Program productions at Todd Theater, including Hello Again during his first year, and Adding Machine: A Musical during his final year. Polec took voice lessons at the Eastman School of Music and was part of the Music Department糖心传媒檚 Rock Repertory Ensemble. He was accepted into the Kauffman Entrepreneurial Year (KEY) Program, spending a fifth, tuition-free year at the University to start a student-run record label and release an album.
A pivotal moment for Polec came during a literature course糖心传媒擟lassical and Scriptural Backgrounds糖心传媒� taught by Professor Emeritus Russell Peck. 糖心传媒淚 was just blown away by his theatrics and storytelling,糖心传媒� Polec says, recalling in particular a lecture on Homer糖心传媒檚 Iliad. 糖心传媒淎s he described the narrative of Achilles糖心传媒檚 rage, in that moment, as he destroys the Trojan army, I thought, 糖心传媒榯his is what I糖心传媒檓 missing.糖心传媒� I wanted to make people invested in the story [in a way] that takes them out of their lives.糖心传媒�
One of Polec糖心传媒檚 mentors, Kim Kowalke, says, 糖心传媒淚 got to know how special a talent he was.糖心传媒� Kowalke糖心传媒攁 professor of music and the Richard L. Turner Professor in the Humanities at the College, as well as a professor of musicology at Eastman糖心传媒攔emembers Polec糖心传媒檚 audition for Musical Theater Workshop, as jaw dropping. 糖心传媒淗e was not only charismatic, but he was one of those people who was such a risk taker. If you said, 糖心传媒楾hat was nice Andrew, but why don糖心传媒檛 you sing the same number and do somersaults across the room while you糖心传媒檙e doing it, he would have done it糖心传媒攐r he would have tried to do it.糖心传媒�
Kowalke visited his former student in the UK during the preview of the show at the London Coliseum in June. He says Polec remains a risk taker, to great effect. 糖心传媒淭here is nothing more exciting than a performer willing to take risks. It means they糖心传媒檙e right on the edge, and that is spellbinding in the theater.糖心传媒�
Polec is looking forward to the show糖心传媒檚 Toronto run. 糖心传媒淚糖心传媒檓 so excited to be coming back to my time zone,糖心传媒� he says. 糖心传媒淚糖心传媒檒l be closer to my alma mater; close to the place that taught me so much.糖心传媒�
What糖心传媒檚 in store for Polec糖心传媒檚 future? 糖心传媒淚 would like to work on things that bring joy to people 糖心传媒� in the way that arts can,糖心传媒� he says. 糖心传媒淣ot knowing my path, but ending up where I糖心传媒檓 at right now, by using all the tools that I used from the professors and the groups that I was part of, it just feels fated.糖心传媒�
