By Khalida Sarwari
A few things have changed in the last two years for former South Bay Teen Idol star Samantha Gorjanc.
After finishing in the top 10 of the inaugural American Idol-style competition, Samantha went on to finish middle school and is now in her third year of high school. One thing, however, remains the same: Samantha’s dream to perform on Broadway.
A few months ago, the Saratoga resident took one step closer to that revered stage.
Samantha, 16, was chosen as one of 10 students from across the country to participate in a reading for a Broadway revival titled The Me Nobody Knows, a 1970s musical about a day in the life of a multi-racial group of young people living in the slums of New York City.
Samantha and her fellow cast members spent three weeks rehearsing at Ripley-Grier Studios in New York City before putting on two shows with minimal staging at the Davenport Studio for four to five dozen Broadway producers. The reading was directed by Stafford Arima.
“The message of 10 kids living in New York City and feeling isolation is truly timeless, and I think that’s why a lot of people wanted to bring it back on Broadway,” she said.
The show was received well by the producers, Samantha said. And some of them–namely the musical’s original composer, Gary William Friedman, as well as his wife–were even in tears by the final curtain.
“You know you’ve done something right when both the composer and his wife are crying at the end of the show,” Samantha said.
During her visit from April 26 to May 16, Samantha had an opportunity, along with the rest of the cast, to see shows on Broadway. But she said she spent most of her free time doing homework so that she wouldn’t fall behind in school.
The entire experience was not only fun but educational, Samantha said.
“I think I grew not only as a performer but also in myself,” she said. “Our director really stressed the importance of acting from yourself and finding the character within yourself and just being genuine in your performing.”
What’s more, by the end of the three weeks the cast members grew so close they were like a family, she said.
“I remember walking into my first rehearsal and we were all singing and I remember just thinking, ‘Oh my God, these kids are good,’ and thinking, ‘How am I going to compare to them?’ ” Samantha said. “But they were all so nice, so supportive. They’re really amazing kids.”
Samantha just finished her sophomore year at Archbishop Mitty High School and plans to spend this summer attending workshops in Omaha, Neb., and Los Angeles. The workshops are organized by the Broadway Dreams Foundation, a national nonprofit performing arts training program through which Samantha learned about the opportunity to participate in the reading for The Me Nobody Knows. Samantha was one of more than 100 students who auditioned for a part.
“It was a video audition, so I got this email and I decided to throw in my hat,” she said. “And then my mom emailed me at school saying I got a callback, and I was in such disbelief. I just never expected in a million years it would happen.”
Two years ago while preparing for South Bay Teen Idol, Samantha had talked about her dream to perform on Broadway one day. It was a dream that was spurred when she was only in kindergarten after seeing her very first musical, a high school production her sister was in.
“It was a production of 42nd Street and I remember just looking at my mom and saying, ‘That’s what I want to do with my life,’ ” Samantha said. “It’s such a thrill and so exhilarating. I really want to touch someone’s life the way I was affected.”
That dream is still very much alive a decade later.
“That will always be my dream,” Samantha said.
