Most students get penalized when they miss class. Aleks Pevec, on the other hand, got a highly sought-after role in the musical “Wicked.”
Pevec, a fourth-year theater student with the UCLA Ray Bolger Musical Theater program, explained that he had nothing to do after a class of his was cancelled, so he opted to audition for “Wicked” in Los Angeles.
He found out there were open casting calls and went in for fun, without any expectations.
Pevec ended up beating out hundreds of other hopefuls and landed a role as an ensemble member in the musical. He also secured a role as the understudy for Chistery the monkey, one of Elphaba the Wicked Witch’s prized flying monkeys.
“At 5 p.m., after numerous callbacks, there were only 20 of us left. I sang for the director, and a week later they called me and told me they wanted to use me,” Pevec said. “It seemed unbelievable that I made it that far.”
It is well known in the musical world that “Wicked” is no small production.
Although it opened on Broadway to tepid reviews, “Wicked” has exploded through word-of-mouth advertising into a U.S. tour and a conglomerate of separate showings worldwide.
It can be seen on Broadway, in London, in Chicago and now in Los Angeles.
The musical, based on Gregory Maguire’s novel of the same name, is an unofficial prequel to “The Wizard of Oz.” It will open Feb. 21 at the Pantages Theatre for an open-ended run.
“Wicked” chronicles the rise and fall of the Wicked Witch of the West, Elphaba, and her relationship to Glinda before she became the Good Witch of the North.
The Pantages production stars Broadway alumni Eden Espinosa as Elphaba, Megan Hilty as Glinda, and John Rubinstein, a UCLA alumnus and the original Pippin, as the Wizard.
With so much talent working alongside him, Pevec has had to make like Isaac Newton and stand on the shoulders of giants.
“This is a big deal for me, … but I’m trying not to feel intimidated,” Pevec said. “They’re all really nice and have been doing the same thing I’ve been doing these past few weeks.
“They are people I look up to and aspire to be,” he added. “I want to learn from them and use that to my advantage in the future.”
Pevec has gradually assimilated into the cast’s dynamic. These past few weeks, he has been busy getting ready for the show’s L.A. premiere by enduring long, daily rehearsals in New York from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Spending so much time with the cast and crew has helped him get over his initial jitters.
“It’s like when you go to camp,” Pevec said. “You bond with people right away, and you learn everything about them in three weeks. We (the cast) went to get dinner and went to see shows when we weren’t rehearsing.”
Luckily for Pevec, he wasn’t completely surrounded by unfamiliarity during his three weeks in New York.
Professor Linda Kerns of UCLA’s musical theater program was also there with him during rehearsals, getting ready for her own role in “Wicked.”
Kerns will be playing Elphaba’s midwife and is the honorable understudy for Madame Morrible, one of the main characters in the show.
“Having Linda there during the first week of rehearsals in New York was wonderful because she was a familiar face when I didn’t really know anybody,” Pevec said. “In this profession, working with a former teacher is an experience that is going to happen every once in a while.”
Even with Kerns’ humbling guidance, Pevec still admits that “Wicked” will be an experience like no other.
“This is what I’ve been working up to my whole life,” he said. “It makes my four years of studies completely worth it.”
“Wicked” is the most recent production in Pevec’s repertoire. “The Hot Mikado,” “Urine Town” and “West Side Story” are just a few of the performances he has participated in at UCLA.
Pevec also did community theater in Hawaii, where he grew up.
Jeremy Mann, associate director of singing for the Ray Bolger Musical Theater program, directed Pevec in “The Hot Mikado.”
Mann said Pevec and other soon-to-be graduates like him are continuing the trend of young people taking center stage in musicals and, likewise, young people demanding to see such musicals.
“I think producers are learning that there’s a market that they didn’t know about before. These shows have energized a younger, theater-going audience,” Mann said.
But getting a role in a musical is quite a bit harder now than it would have been 10 years ago, as musicals require their actors to be what Mann deems a “triple threat.”
Mann has risen to the demand and trains his students to be tough competitors, but knows he can’t teach everything.
“Largely in musicals there was a dancing chorus and a singing chorus, but now you have to be able to act, sing and dance. With “˜Grease’ and “˜Mamma Mia!’ coming back, the demand for triple-threat skill has increased,” Mann said.
For his part, Mann is excited about Pevec’s opportunity to perform in “Wicked.”
“Your students (are) like your kids, and you want your kids to do well,” he said. “You’re always hoping that casting directors will see Aleks’ talent, and I’m thrilled that he got hired for something this big.”
With a week left to go before the big premiere, Pevec is pumped and ready to show audiences in Los Angeles, which include the preteen girls who idolize the Broadway hit’s two heroines, that he is an actor in his own right.
“As an understudy, I have to be able to cover any male part in the show, so I’ve been studying all the parts two at a time,” Pevec said. “I’ve observed that Chistery does a lot of flying and climbing down ropes. If I ever have to go on last minute for his character, you can bet I’ll be ready.”