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Photograph courtesy of Carla Befera and Company
James Seifert (left) is a rising young actor in the Saratoga community. The 12-year-old plays two roles in American Musical Theater of San Jose's current production of 'Gypsy.' His first role is a 'toe-tapping tux boy,' which he plays alongside Jake Williams (right) in the opening scene. He is also featured as a newsboy in a song-and-dance number later in the show.
Tap lessons pay off for young Saratoga actor
James Seifert lands two roles in AMTSJ's 'Gypsy'
By Jennifer McBride
James Seifert has great expectations for his future career--and at the age of 12, they're already starting to come true.
James plays two featured roles in the American Musical Theater of San Jose's current production of Gypsy. Considering it's a nationally known theater company that regularly features famous actors in its productions and packs in more than 2,000 audience members for each performance, that's no small feat.
James lives in Saratoga with his family and is a seventh-grader at the Harker School, a private, K-12 institution on Saratoga Avenue in San Jose. His favorite classes are math and science, and he loves to read books such as the Pendragon series and play his Playstation 2.
However, nothing gets him going like the thrill of being on stage.
"Theater takes me places. It's like reading a book for me," James explains.
James has been taking piano lessons since the age of 4, and is now quite the accomplished player. In fact, he says the love of music he found in those lessons is what first got him interested in musical theater--that, and hearing stories about how his mother starred in theater productions when she was young.
"At first, when I would talk about it, my mom asked, 'Do you want to do an audition?' I thought it sounded interesting," James says.
So, at 8 years old, he tried out for a child's role in an AMTSJ production.
"Unfortunately, I didn't make it," James recalls.
However, James wasn't willing to give up so easily. He went on more auditions and landed a string of roles in various productions with the Sunnyvale Community Players. He enjoyed all of his roles, particularly a spot in the chorus of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat--but through it all, he never lost sight of his dream to be onstage in a production at AMTSJ.
"AMTSJ is one of the biggest theater companies in the Bay Area," he says excitedly. "There are a lot of performances for kids there, so I felt it would be a real step up for me, for singing and acting."
Finally, he heard about auditions for AMTSJ's production of Gypsy, which is known for having many roles for children. It sounded like a dream come true.
He decided it was time to give it another try and this time around, he was victorious.
James' parents couldn't be more proud of him.
"I'm thrilled," says his mother, Alicia Moore Seifert. "He's loving it, and he's very good at it."
Seifert says all the arts classes at Harker really helped prepare him for an opportunity like this.
"Especially Gail Palmer, one of the teachers," she says. "She's been really instrumental in getting a lot of the students involved in the performing arts."
At Harker, James has been taking dance classes such as tap since the second grade--which helped him land one of his two roles in Gypsy.
In the opening scene of Act I, James plays a "magical, tap-dancing tux boy with a magical hat," he says. The scene takes place backstage before a talent show, and James' character is seen practicing his act, which involves him tap dancing and pulling flowers out of his top hat.
Later in the show, James has a pretty impressive scene indeed--he is one of six newsboys that get their own, full-blown song and dance number.
Up until last week's opening, James was rehearsing an average of five nights a week, from 6 to 10 p.m. Although the schedule could be grueling, James says he is having the time of his life.
"There's a lot of downtime, so I get to do my homework," he says.
James hopes his roles in Gypsy will lead to other performances with AMTSJ, and his parents are very supportive of the idea.
"What a great company AMTSJ is," says his mother. "They're so well run and well organized, and they're really great with kids. From a parent's perspective, it's been a great experience."
James already has his sights set on another production later this year.
"The lead role in Christmas Dreamland is a 10-year-old boy," James says, describing a holiday musical AMTSJ will be putting on at the Heritage Theater in Campbell toward the end of the year.
American Musical Theater of San Jose's production of 'Gypsy' runs through April 9 at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts, 255 Almaden Blvd. Showtimes are Tuesday through Friday at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 2 and 8 p.m. and Sundays at 1 and 6:30 p.m. Tickets range from $46 to $73 and are available at www.amtsj.org or by calling 1.888.455.SHOW. Savings are available for youth, seniors and students. For group discounts, call Laverne Washington at 408.453.1523.
