By Calla Smith-Triglia

Photo by Calla Smith-Triglia

Sophomore Jake Dunsmore has been singing for as long as he can remember, but he still gets anxious before his musical performances.

He has no reason to be—by the time he was a freshman, he had already scored the lead role in the Marquis Players’ musical My Favorite Year. “I didn’t expect it at all,” he says of the experience. “The show basically revolved around this one character, so I was in literally every scene.”

It’s a potentially intimidating situation for the former athlete who has only been involved in musicals since the beginning of high school, but Jake says that he actually prefers musicals to acting, despite the increased pressure. Lafayette’s latest production Dog Eat Dog, in which Jake was again a lead, was his first non-musical role.

Besides a chance to perform, Jake says the theater community also provides a sense of support—especially before his opening night ofMy Favorite Year. “Hearing them and knowing that they’re confident in me made me feel more confident in myself. I was still really nervous, but it helped.”

There are still a few roles Jake would like a chance to play onstage, like Link from Hairspray –“I like that at the beginning, he’s obsessed with himself, but he learns to care about everyone else; it’s a nice story”— but ultimately Jake plans to develop his role behind the scenes. As a film major he says that “at first I assumed [I would do] directing, but now that I’ve taken screenwriting, I really love doing that too…I have these ideas I’ve always had, and whenever I think of something I’ll write it down in my phone…It’s easier to write from personal experience.”

Jake seems to be the kind of arts major whose creativity doesn’t have an off-switch and is not confined to one genre. He can be found carrying a camera around with him—not for any class, but simply for the joy of taking pictures. He draws his inspiration from everyday life. “I’ve been writing more personal stuff,” he says, “stuff that I’m used to. Like, if my family is crazy, a lot of times if I’m writing I’ll make characters out of them, or out of my friends.”

Jake has an appreciation for the art that lies in everyday life, and so he is realistic in his ambition. “I’m not good enough to be on stage, I don’t think,” he says modestly but with conviction, “I’d love to work on a movie set, I think that would be so fun. That’s my dream.” And with a film degree and intense involvement already in three college productions, this sophomore is well on his way to achieving it.