Cornwall’s youth aren’t the only ones taking the stage this summer. David Ransbottom, a 2011 Cornwall High School graduate, has been performing with Just off Broadway, Inc. Last month he appeared in “Fiddler on the Roof,” as Motel the tailor, and this month he’s playing Willard Hewitt in “Footloose.” This is the third year Ransbottom has spent his summer with the theater group.
“I heard three years ago that Just off Broadway was coming back to the Newburgh area and they were going to do “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,”Ransbottom said. “I had done that show in middle school, so I knew something about it. It sounded like fun, so I auditioned for them. This was back before they secured the Theatre at West Shore Station. It was really fun, a great group of people, so I stuck with it and came back to do their shows.”
Ransbottom is currently attending the University of New Haven, in Connecticut. He was originally accepted to the school as a biology/pre-med major, but quickly learned he had other interests.
“I got a course catalogue from the school. I went through it and highlighted all the courses that seemed interesting to me. I highlighted almost every music and theater course and only a couple biology courses. I figured maybe my interests weren’t what I thought they were and set myself on that path.”
Ransbottom is now majoring in both theater and sound recording. He’s also working to obtain his master’s degree in education and could wind up being a music teacher like his parents.
“I like acting and performing, but I also like being on the other side of the curtain.”
Ransbottom’s interest in the theater began at a young age.
“My mother and my sister, they were both into doing community theater when I was little. I would go and see their shows. By the time I got into middle school I started signing up for the school shows and shortly thereafter I started getting into community theater with them. Then it all evolved and culminated.”
In seventh grade, Ransbottom was part of the ensemble and it wasn’t until the following year that he auditioned for his first role in “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.”
Ransbottom’s interest in theater continued in high school as a part of the drama club all four years.
Once he reached college, Ransbottom began auditioning for as many shows as possible.
Learning his lines comes easy for the thespian.
“I tend to not spend as much time sitting at home reading them as I hear other people do. When I’m at rehearsal, I’ll find a lot more frequently I’ll go up to someone else that I have a scene with and I’ll say to them, do you mind if we run our lines real quick. I find when you say them face to face to each other, it helps it stick for me a lot better than just reading them alone.”
The quick turnaround for the summer productions doesn’t even phase Ransbottom. Just off Broadway puts on a show in just under three weeks, holding rehearsals four nights a week for up to four hours.
Ransbottom’s biggest challenge this summer has been his role in “Footloose.”
“I move fine, but I don’t like dancing all that much. The character, Willard, has a whole number where he progressively learns to dance. At the end of the number I have to be a good dancer. That’s been tough, but really fun to learn.”
Ransbottom said the choreographer took him aside, showed him the steps and wrote them down. He even recorded someone dancing the steps so he could watch them and practice from that.
The summer production is coming to a close, but there are still tickets available for the Thursday and Friday night shows at 7:30 p.m. at the Theatre at West Shore Station on River Road in Newburgh. When Ransbottom returns to college, he’ll be auditioning for the fall production of “The Secret in the Wings.” In the winter he’ll be auditioning for “Spring Awakening.” In between, he said there’s a murder mystery event of which he’d like to be a part.
