Jenna Kubly, Ph.D. is a fan of musical theatre and opera. She enjoys researching World War I culture/history (and Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie von Hohenberg), music hall and vaudeville, and Victorian era culture.
TFLL: Tell us how did you get into theater.
JENNA KUBLY: I would say first off because my mother really wanted me to experience culture growing up, and she was very deliberate in ensuring I had cultural opportunities. I remember we would go to the local museums [and] she would take me to the Children’s Theatre or the Guthrie.
I [also] had a lot of creative teachers when I was going to school. For instance, my third-grade teacher had [us] research someone and then dress up [as them] and write a short one-page biography of that person. [O]f course, I wanted to be George Washington. [In these situations], people [often] pick famous people like George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, [or] Mother Teresa. Now, if I would do it, I’d probably pick someone way more obscure.
Thirdly, I went to a church that did theatrical productions. [T]his was in the early 90s and late 80s. The church I attended did really big theatrical productions. I’m talking really big, like 500 people in the cast. [There was a] huge set and we even had flying angels, Jesus ascending after the resurrection, and things like camels and horses. [There were] chickens in the marketplace and [we] had to chase them around.
The first Broadway touring production I went to see was Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat which happened to be in Minnesota. [I think it was in] 1993 or 1994. It was the Canadian production with Donny Osmond and that kind of started off my love of musical theatre.
TFLL: I remember we had to do a dance to the Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat soundtrack in my dance class. A dance based on the Donny Osmond.
TFLL: What inspired you to take theatre improvisation?
JENNA KUBLY: In the middle of a pandemic, it brought something social and something creative to do. I enjoy the class and enjoy other people in the class. I hadn’t really done anything with improv in quite a few years.
TFLL: Tell us your thoughts about collaborating with older adults to create theater.
JENNA KUBLY: I think it’s a lot of fun. I wasn’t completely sure what to expect in the beginning, but I’ve really enjoyed it. I feel like the class just confirms that everyone is creative. You don’t necessarily have to have experience or have some kind of professional training background to be good at improv. A lot of us have skills that can be developed through classes like this.
TFLL: What have you gotten out of taking theater courses with older adults?
JENNA KUBLY: I’ve really enjoyed getting to know people. I’ve enjoyed [being] social. I think it certainly breaks down any biases or preconceptions anyone might have about age or ability to act.
TFLL: What are you challenged by in this class and what new skills have you developed?
JENNA KUBLY: I would say I am challenged by [physical activities]. In general, I’ve never liked some of the physical activities we’ve had with improv. In some ways Zoom is probably easier because we [can move off] camera and [no one can] see you, whereas in an actual in-person improv theatre classes, like in A Chorus Line where you have to “BE an ice cream cone,” and you know the singer is like, “How [I] hate having to try to be an ice cream cone and a table and a sports car.” I have tried to be more open [to physical activities] and to enter into the spirit of that.
TFLL: What is the most memorable moment you’ve had in your theater class with older adults?
JENNA KUBLY: Maybe the first or second class [when I was working with] Lynn. We seem to really hit it off. We were doing this thing where she was playing a woman who’d come to her pastor for counseling. We just seemed to really be in sync that day. It was a complex scene and went really well.
TFLL: What is the best piece of advice you have ever received or given about theatre?
JENNA KUBLY: I would say what I really liked about this class, in particular, is how you help students add their own conclusions about how some of the activities we do relate to theatre. Sometimes when you’re taking acting classes or improv classes, activities [may seem] like –I don’t want to use the word juvenile, but I can understand where people might be [frustrated]– “When are we finally going to get to the fun stuff like the scenes? When are we going to do Chekhov and Shakespeare?”
We need those building blocks and I really like how you help students see why these building blocks are important, like the multitasking [which is important] when you have to respond to other actors, remember your lines, and remember your blocking. I didn’t really see it [in my other] (intro to acting/improv) classes. Instead, (in this class) we are like “this is life,” and then you do that on stage. [For example,] you know you’re doing one thing that’s very much ordinary and mundane and quickly turns into this huge dramatic moment. I think some of those improv skills and exercises you’ve been doing in class have demonstrated that those are building blocks to those more complex moments in theater.
Photo Credit: Postcard of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and Sophie von Hohenberg from the Collection of Jenna Kubly