Next Generation: Casey Schultz
What are the odds you’d find the ideal fit for the roles of Aunt Sponge in James and the Giant Peach, Nicely-Nicely Johnson in Guys & Dolls AND Uncle Fester in The Addams Family in one performer? Probably relatively remote. How about this renaissance person coming in the form of a college student? Slim to none. (Enter recent Augustana University grad Casey Schultz.)
Though she entered the world of theatrical performance somewhat on a whim, Schultz took to the stage like a seasoned pro, with every intention of kicking off her collegiate performing career with a bit role.
“I was a freshman. I’m sitting there hoping and praying for an ensemble part,” Schultz said. “I thought nothing about my audition went well. And then (Augustana theatre professor) Dan Workman cast me as Uncle Fester. I called my dad immediately, and he was so giddy that I was getting the chance to perform.”
Casey Schultz (right) performs as Aunt Sponge in Augustana University’s 2020 production of James and the Giant Peach.
One bald cap and an ill-timed broken knee later, and her debut on the Edith Mortensen Center stage was officially in the books—but Schultz had no intention of stopping her collegiate theatre journey there.
“It was a very scary experience as a freshman, but it was what kept me in theatre,” she said. “I wanted to return.”
The bug to play pretend for an audience came by Schultz honestly well before her arrival at Augustana, though. The Mankato, Minn. native started in children’s theatre at a young age at the urging of her parents.
“They would say, ‘She sings too much in the house! She pretends she’s a singer, a teacher, an astronaut—we need to get her out there!’” Schultz recalled. “I just really fell in love with the stage. Throughout middle and high school I performed as much as possible. It gave me an opportunity to be funny, goofy and not be myself for a little while.”
And variety of roles weren’t the only thing Schultz was afforded in her time on the university campus—her sophomore year she had the opportunity to help stage an original musical production with a student director, as well as encounter her first straight play, without the familiarity of singing.
“She Kills Monsters’ Agnes was my first lead role. And it was my first experience that was just acting—no singing,” she said. “That put a lot of pressure on me. It was a rocky confidence, but I got a lot of emotional support from the faculty.”
It’s a guiding hand she hopes to carry into her upcoming role as an educator, as she prepares to start as a kindergarten teacher in the Sioux Falls School District in the fall.
“There are opportunities everywhere in elementary education to incorporate the arts,” Schultz said. “Even for those who aren’t movers or visual learners, hearing a song can be so connective. Theatre makes you care less about what people think.”
And storytelling befitting a younger audience is something Schultz had the opportunity to dabble in more than once during her collegiate tenure. An award-winning production of James and the Giant Peach rounded out her junior year, in addition to Stage-Award-nominated turns in The Thanksgiving Play and Guys & Dolls before she walked across the graduation stage.
“Theatre gives me an outlet,” she said. “Getting out of myself—not being Casey Schultz 24/7—even if it’s just for that allotted two-hour time, it helps. I can be Agnes, Uncle Fester or Aunt Sponge—and every single performance I take away something that makes me a better person, helps me grow.”
Imparting that same appreciation for every experience is something Schultz urges performers young and old to stop and bask in now and again. “The arts are there to support you. They don’t think you suck. They want you to grow. It’s a great way to build confidence. To say, ‘I can do this. I’m meant to do this. I’m meant to succeed.’”