by Jenny Ravitz ’11, Jonathan Strauss Casting
“No.” I say it a million times a day. “No, it won’t be going her way,” or “No, we need someone taller for this role.” When I entered the world of casting, I naively thought I’d be making dreams come true – that I’d call an agent on the phone and gleefully announce that their client would be starring in a brand new Andrew Lloyd Webber musical or Dick Wolf TV show. While those moments of my job are joyous, and they do happen, I say “no” much more often than I say “yes.”
Ira Lindberg Harris ’10, was a shining star at Shenandoah Conservatory in Winchester, Virginia. When I moved cross-country from Oklahoma to attend the conservatory at Shenandoah University, my entire life packed in a Honda and stuffed to the windows, Ira was one the first people I met. He was one of the resident advisors in my dorm, and he took his job very seriously… sometimes. His bouncy personality matched his bouncy hair. He was loud, almost always, but in a way that was delightfully entertaining and fun rather than brash or annoying. Ira had a smile that would light up a room and every stage. He had a kindness and an openness that is rare. He listened to you and made you feel special with warm, direct eye contact and that megawatt smile. He was positively ferocious and never stood for being wronged. He lived by a mantra of sorts, “Claim yo space!” and he’d always encourage his peers to do the same and go after what they wanted. Ira would eventually become my friend, playing tricks on me and my roommate Sarah by taping his headshots on the inside of our kitchen cabinets and on the sides of our cereal boxes. I had the pleasure of seeing him perform onstage many times, most memorably as Coalhouse Walker in “Ragtime.” Many of my colleagues in casting use a word to describe any actor we’ve met who possesses that certain spark; “He’s special,” we’ll say. Ira was special.
Ira passed away unexpectedly on February 27, 2012. Our small but very tight Shenandoah community was heartbroken, but we bonded together stronger than ever to heal. All around the world, from New York to Virginia to Thailand, friends and classmates of Ira got together to share their most beloved stories and remember the man that he was. He was an artist, a friend, a student, a son, a brother, and a beacon of positivity in a world full of “no.” A scholarship was created in his memory. Two years later, on February 27th 2014, the first annual Shenandoah Alumni Cabaret for the Ira Lindberg Harris Scholarship Fund was held at 54 Below in New York City, with portions of the proceeds going directly to the scholarship that supports a musical theatre major at Shenandoah Conservatory with financial assistance towards his or her tuition. This year, we will celebrate our third annual cabaret on March 11, 2016.
My favorite part about the scholarship and the cabaret? I get to say “yes.” I get to support someone’s dream. Just by buying a ticket and drinking a glass of Malbec, I am supporting the dream of some 16-year-old kid somewhere, one who is just like the kid I once was, pirouetting to “Defying Gravity” and belting out every lyric to the “Hamilton” cast album in his bedroom…. Okay, I’m still that kid. But most importantly, I can help assure that Ira’s memory lives on. He’ll be the reason that future Broadway babies claim their space for years to come.
Interested in saying “Yes!” and sharing the story of Ira? There are many ways you can help.
1.) ATTEND the Shenandoah Conservatory Alumni Concert on March 11th! Click here for tickets!
2.) DONATE! Any amount helps! Click here to give.
3.) SHARE this link on your Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram! Use hashtags #OurIra and #OurWishForTheatre and share with us your positive wish for the future of the entertainment industry. Wishing and hoping for a gender-reversed revival of “Gypsy”? Crossing your fingers for a more diverse awards season? We want to hear about it!