Patron Spotlight: Spencer Morgan!

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When Spencer joined the Patron Discord, he and I first bonded over a love of the musical The Last Five Years, so when I asked what he wanted to talk about for his Patron spotlight, he suggested that we geek out over musicals. While I’m definitely a fan of musicals, Spencer Morgan is a hundred times the theater kid that I am — he’s a senior Theatre Performance major at Kent State University in Ohio. “I've been acting for about eight years now, and I hope to do it for the rest of my life,” he tells me.

But Spencer hasn’t always been in love with the stage. When he was younger, he says “you couldn’t have dragged me to a theater to save your life!” He decided to participate in the school musical in eighth grade just to see how it would go. “I thought, ‘that was sort of neat,’” he recalls. But he didn’t really fall in love with theater until the following year, when he played Linus in You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. After opening night, a little girl wearing a shirt with Linus on it came up to him to ask for a photo. “I obviously said yes,” Spencer says. Then, he went backstage and cried. “That was the moment that made we want to be an actor for the rest of my life.”

When I asked him what his favorite musical was, Spencer had trouble making a choice. Kinky Boots has a special place in his heart because it was the first show he ever saw on Broadway. “It’s an amazing musical that tells such a sweet story,” he says. But when pressed to choose the best musical he’s ever seen, he says “it’s definitely Hadestown.” Even though he knows it’s reaching Hamilton levels of unobtainable ticket prices, he recommends that anybody who gets a chance sees it.

He also has some suggestions for a few unknown musicals that he thinks more people should know about. He recommends Dogfight, a musical adaptation of the 1991 film starring River Phoenix. “It has music from Benj Pasek and Jason Paul, who wrote the music for Dear Evan Hansen, La La Land, and The Greatest Showman!” he says. He also recommends The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals, a musical from Starkid Productions, the team behind the geeky cult classic A Very Potter Musical.

When I ask him if there are any musicals that he thinks are overrated, he has a spicy take for us: “Hands down Wicked,” he says. “I think the music is great, but I find that it’s way overhyped.” (Whatever, Spencer. You’re entitled to your wrong opinion!)

While he hasn’t performed in as many musicals as he’d like to, he’s still had some memorable experiences. “My favorite roles are a tie between being Linus in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown and the Earthworm in James and the Giant Peach,” he says. “Both roles taught me so much about being an actor, and only fueled the fire of wanting to do this for the rest of my life.” If he could play any role… well, he has a lot of ideas. “Elder Price in The Book of Mormon, Eddie Birdlace in Dogfight, Charlie Price in Kinky Boots, Paul in The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals, and Beetlejuice in Beetlejuice,” he suggests.

One thing I really wanted to ask Spencer was why, exactly, he finds musicals so lovable. Everyone knows someone who hates musicals — in fact, there are probably people who hate musicals reading this right now (if they’ve gotten this far!) “That’s a fantastic question,” Spencer says. He tells me that what he loves most about musicals is the way they give you an escape from the real world. “While the concept of musicals in and of itself is ridiculous, the stories they are able to tell are just so true and carry so many messages that we need today,” he says. “A fun escape with a powerful message is exactly what people need.”

To close it out, I ask him about his favorite “belt it in the shower” showtune. (My recent favorite has been “When He Sees Me” from Waitress, personally.) Spencer cites either "Santa Fe" from Newsies or "The Schmuel Song" from The Last Five Years. “But knowing how many musicals I listen to, I'm sure those will change very soon!” he admits.

If you want to keep up with Spencer, you can follow him on Instagram at @spencetheoldtaco. And if you like to geek out about musicals, too, make sure to join us on Discord!