Asking Questions

At the November 18th NextGen meeting, students began preparation for their upcoming interviews with members of the cast and production team for The Tempest, the upcoming show with The Young Company at CSC. This meeting focused on allowing NextGen members to practice different interview tactics and learn basic interview skills. The students read different examples of interviews, and then practiced by interviewing each other.

Although at first students like Dyandra and Shivani were nervous about the potential formality of an interview, they were surprised when the interviews felt extremely natural and conversational as opposed to strict and structured. Loylia was surprised at how much the research she did on her partner helped to guide the interview, and all three were surprised at how much they learned about their partner, and in some cases how much they discovered they had in common with each other.

NextGen members Quiana and Victor were partnered for the exercise. Quiana used information she learned about Victor at the beginning of the meeting as a jumping off point. All she knew was that Victor had an interest in fashion, but she worked from that knowledge to think of many different questions. Victor commented that she asked him questions that he was interested in answering, and because of that, the interview was extremely relaxed and fun. Here is an excerpt from their interview:

Quiana: “So you love to go shopping in your spare time- What type of shopping do you prefer? Shoes, Jackets etc.”
Victor: “I love shopping for everything! I’m a shopping addict- especially online because you don’t need physical money. You go crazy and think you could buy everything, but if I had to pick one thing it would be shoes- I love shoes! Ohh and watches are amazing too.”
Quiana: “What is your favorite name brand/ designer?”
Victor: “I don’t have a favorite designer or brand; well I like English brands. I’m very British orientated when it comes to fashion- literally everything is from over there.”
Quiana: “Do you try to imitate a famous entertainer-like Lady Gaga or do you have a fashion icon that you look too?”
Victor: “No because I’m always very indecisive. This year I wore a lot if black and last year I had this very preppy style. My style constantly changes and I don’t have time to pay attention to what stars are doing or wearing.”
Quiana: “Would you say that your fashion describes your personality?”
Victor: “No! A lot of people think I am standoffish because of the way I dress and carry myself but I’m not! I love meeting new people and it doesn’t matter what they look like. People always say I’m moody and I’m not!”

All in all the mock interview session proved to be a great opportunity for the NextGen students to become more comfortable with the idea of an interview, as well as more comfortable with each other as a group. They learned about the importance of prepping for an interview, as well as letting interviews be conversational, and asking follow-up questions to provide flow instead of insisting the interview follow a structure.

Do you have questions for the people on stage and behind the scenes? Join NextGen members for CSC's very first TEEN TAKEOVER performance, featuring $10 tickets and a talkback with the artists! See A MAN'S A MAN on Sunday, January 19 at 3pm here at CSC.