Starting college under normal circumstances can be scary, much more so when a global pandemic factors into the equation. How- ever, freshman musical theater major Danielle Banks has been making the most of it.
“It’s really good,” she says of her experience so far. “Everyone’s so nice, and the atmosphere is just so welcoming. My favorite part of my day is just the walk to my classes because I wake up and I’m like ‘I can’t believe I’m here.’ The community here is so comforting because, being a Black and Hispanic actress, it’s comforting to know that there’s other people here who look like me that are trying to do the same that everyone is so passionate about. There’s so much diversity and so much
love.”
Banks starred in last semester’s musical production, Rossum’s Universal Robots or RUR. “[The play] was about robot’s revolution from the early 1900s. It was where the word ‘robot’ was originated,” she said. “I played a technical director.”
Of course, due to COVID-19, the showing of the play was a lot different than previous productions. They couldn’t have the typical in-person audience that actors are used to having.
“Our director, Chris Brown, was very smart about how we would put the play on, he made it COVID-friendly but also still made it feel like a live performance,” she said. “We had two rows of computers and green screens and we all had our own little station where we could have our masks off and act towards the cameras essentially…The process of doing it was just like a real show. We had our own area to be safe around each other.”
Banks is also looking forward to a production she is in this April to be performed at Winthrop’s Amphitheater.
She said, “I just got cast in ‘The Courage to Right a Women’s Wrongs, ‘which is a classical Spanish play. And I get to play a character named Lisarda.”
Banks has been pursuing acting since her freshman year of high school. She had heard of a theater club at her middle school that piqued her interest.
“One of my favorite memories is the first time I was on stage,” she recalled. “I was in a musical called ‘Bye Bye Birdy’. I was feature ensemble and I was nervous because I’d never acted on stage before. I was backstage and I hear my cue and the lights go on and I run out there and I feel this wave of all the anxiety I had built up just leave my body. I felt probably the most endorphins I had felt in a long time.”
Banks’s passion for acting is what she has set her mind to do for the rest of her life.
“I don’t think I’ll ever stop acting,” she said. “I do have an interest in directing as well, it’s also why I consider being a theater teacher. I’ve had great experiences with my past theater teacher, and she taught me a lot of lessons that I don’t think anyone else could’ve ever taught me. I do, after college, want to try going to New York and getting into some productions and certain theaters and then one day teach.”
Banks has learned a lot from acting including the importance of making art and showcasing our creative sides.
“It’s shown me how much people need art,” she explained. “How many people out there, mostly older folks, who are like, ‘oh you need to go to school and get a stable job in accounting.’ However, everyone needs art, everyone needs an escape from their everyday lives, especially now. Everyone is consuming art from everywhere. And I want to provide that. I’m also well-versed in music. I play the violin, ukulele and piano. So, I’m doing everything I can music-wise and theater-wise to do as much art as I can to provide for people and create good art.”
For Banks, her drive for acting is about bringing a character to life.
“I’ve always been fascinated by the idea that someone could live through you,” she said. “Acting for me is bringing someone to life. Letting them breathe air and make decisions and walk on this earth for 90= minutes or however long a show is. It’s important to me to get that vision right to be able to portray that character correctly because in my brain, whether the character is fictional or not, They’re real in some way.”
Banks also talked about how heartbreaking it was to lose a character she was so passionate about portraying on stage.
“Bringing a character to life is one of the most emotional processes [an actor] could go through in my opinion,” she said. “I was in a show and we were producing it for months and months, and then a week before we opened one of the characters
had to drop out and we had to shift the play…It was sort of like losing a loved one. It was very emotional to me.”
Banks has her mindset on quite a few potential characters she’d like to embody sometime in her career. One character Danielle would love to play is Mimi from Rent.
“The songs on the soundtrack are wonderful. ‘Out Tonight’ is one of my favorite songs in the world,” she said.
What really drew Banks to wanting to play Mimi is her character development.
“Her character development is so interesting, and I want to do it justice. Where she comes from is completely mysterious, she never explains it. She’s this presumably mixed woman with a known Latina side. She’s 19 in New York working as a stripper. She’s making it out in this world and she’s the symbol of independence, but she’s able to be independent and knows when to ask for help. She’s really inspiring to me.”
Bank’s next play at Winthrop, “The Courage to Right a Woman’s Wrongs,” should be showcased from April 7 to April 11 this year with tickets available closer to that time.
Photo courtesy to Danielle Banks
