Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Michael Lepore. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Michael, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

In Janurary of 2020, I dropped out of college to make my broadway debut in the original cast of a new musical called Sing Street. I auditioned on the weekend before my final semester of college, and a week later I got the call that I’d be in the show. I dropped everything immediately, found an apartment, and moved into New York City to live my wildest dreams for just 3 weeks- Broadway and the entire world shut down on our first day rehearsing in the theatre. I went from the highest high of my life to the lowest low in about 24 hours. One day ready to open on Broadway, the next day all of Broadway completely gone. Those three weeks with Sing Street fundamentally changed my life, they’ve set me up to continue a career in both acting and music where I feel I am prepared for *anything* to happen. I know if I made it there once, I can make it there again, and I know that if I made it through that, I can make it through anything.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’ve loved music my whole life, and I’ve been playing music as long as I can remember. I got into theatre and acting in High School, went to college for it, I got to do some really meaningful and beautiful work both at school, during the summers and professionally in New York City while I was still pursuing my degree. Since Sing Street I’ve been traveling to different regional theatres around the country, working in places like Boston, Cincinnati, Aspen, I’ve gotten to know so many new places and meet so many amazing people. On the music end of things, I have some songs streaming on Spotify right now, and I’m gearing up to release my debut EP next year. I’m lucky to have a very large and talented community of musicians in my life, and I play often in their bands and help them record/produce their music, either as an instrumentalist or an audio engineer.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Catharsis. I think its the reason I perform, instead of doing other kinds of art. I like writing, but its secondary to the gift of being able to turn your brain off and fully surrender to a song, a scene or a character. Having permission and an occasion to feel deeply and unleash yourself is so beautiful because you get to give that catharsis to the audience too. It’s shared. I feel the same way when I watch a really good acting performance or band, you can’t help but catch whatever they’re feeling. Its the reason I love theatre and music so much as both an audience member and a participant. I love feeling absolutely empty after a show. Its like an exorcism, its very therapeutic, I think it helps me be a calmer person in life, I have a perfect outlet.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I initially went to school for a major in Computer Science, which I do really like. Mostly, I did it because I knew it would give me a stable life while still being a thing I legitimately enjoy. I was taking some theatre classes in my spare course space and I had an acting professor say something about how theatre is like a disease. That it’s a fire that burns in you all the time, and when you’re not actively feeding it, it hurts. He said that if you’re going to pursue a career in the arts, you have to feel this way, otherwise it’s just too hard and there’s no way you’d keep at it. He told us if we feel that way, he hopes one day we can be “cured”- satisfied that we’ve tried as hard as we can to achieve a career in the arts, finally content to move onto something more stable and easier.

I realized, obviously, that I felt that way. I knew I’d regret it all the time if I didn’t go full force, while I was young, trying to make my dreams come true. I switched majors that day. (I’m lying- I declared a double major and I busted my ass for the rest of my education. Turns out, if you don’t sleep, you can get a lot done in 4 years!)

Contact Info:

• Website: www.michaelleporeactor.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itsmichael.lepore/

Image Credits
Ali Sousa – First Photo Temple Gill – Sing Street rehearsal photo, and opening night bow photo Evan Zimmerman – Sing Street Production Photo