The Man of Many Characters: Eddie Simon

Growing up in a musical family, senior Eddie Simon was destined to be in the spotlight. He has now been a part of 10 plays, six of which were WJ productions. Out of those 10 plays, he has been the lead in five.

“It started out with choir [and] then I had the choice of acting in a show at Summer Camp,” said Simon. “I gave it try and realized there is a lot more you can do with singing rather than just choir.”

Simon finds that he never had to put in a lot of work to be a good actor, but putting on a good show was the more difficult task. According to Simon, this would be the case even for an extremely experienced actor.

“It is easy to memorize the lines…but to share a story is hard,” said Simon.

Simon is motivated as he goes forth in theatre. He is fully supported by his family and is inspired by his favorite actor, Heath Ledger.

When the spotlights are on him during a performance, the adrenaline keeps Simon going.

Although he deals with a vast amount of work, he likes to keep his energy positive and the experience exciting by joking around with his fellow castmates. According to Simon, if everyone has the same goal, to entertain the audience, all of the problems and drama start to fade away.

“You become so close and you form this amazing family,” he said.

The applause and the audience’s presence are enough to keep him motivated to continue.

“No matter what I am not giving up on theater,” said Simon. “There are other things that make me happy, but theater is [my] number one happiness.”

A Real World Look at Art: Sofia Silva

Since August, senior Sofia Silva has been interning at the Alex Gallery. Located in Washington D.C. on 2106 R Street Northwest, the Alex Galleries are two separate art galleries, the “Alex” Gallery and the “A” Gallery. Opened in the mid-1980s by Victor Gaetan, this combined gallery is one of the leading commercial galleries in the area.

Silva has learned how much behind-the-scenes work is put into the making of a gallery.

“I have more respect for how much work goes into creating [the gallery],” said Silva. “There are so many little things to decide on.”

Silva has come to realize that working in an art gallery is not only about loving to create art.

“[It] takes 50 percent retail and 50 percent passion,” she said.

Although Silva is making her mark in the art world, she still gets stuck for ideas.

“When you’re stuck it helps to reference other artists,” said Silva. “I’ve gotten a lot of help from others.”

She learns from many artists, but her favorites include Pablo Picasso, Edvard Munch, and Gustav Klimt.

Silva has no intention of letting her passion go. She plans to continue with art and there is a possibility of a future of working in art galleries.

“The thing about art is it doesn’t have to mean anything,” said Silva. “You can express yourself in your art but other people can interpret it completely differently. I really like that art is very liberating.”

As an intern, Silva’s say and decisions do matter and she gets to experience of what it is like working in an art gallery.

“I see how art applies to the real world, not just the classroom, but that applies to everything,” said Silva.

Silva has benefited from the experience of working in the gallery.

“I recommend people to try it out,” said Silva. “High school is when you get ready for college and this really helps.”