Since his days as a stage-hopeful budding Bruin theater student, Taylor Sternberg has had a spark about him.
“Taylor has the biggest heart I know. He’s very goofy, giving and smart. He could do anything he wanted to do,” said Chris Fore, Sternberg’s former classmate at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television.
Sternberg is now an understudy for four roles in the Broadway musical “Jersey Boys,” based on the rise and fall of the ’60s rock ‘n’ roll band The Four Seasons.
Sternberg is responsible for filling the potential absences of four different characters, including the leading role as Frankie Valli. Not only does he have to remember the lines for each of the separate roles, he must also sing and dance accordingly ““ the lead role of Frankie alone requires 27 songs in two hours.
“My dream was to be on Broadway, and I now have my dream. I used to joke around saying, ‘Well, I guess I can die now,’” Sternberg said.
Sternberg has performed on Broadway since 2008. Prior to “Jersey Boys,” Sternberg worked extensively with the Los Angeles improv group ComedySportz, but his first love is musical theater.
“He joined the theater department on the first day of high school. That became his family for the next four years. At that point, we knew that was something he was passionate about. Not long after, he got a part in the first play, which only cast two freshmen,” said his father, Scott Sternberg.
Sternberg grew up in a consistently positive support system, raised by parents who have extensive experience in the world of performing arts.
Sternberg’s parents have always noticed their son’s theatrical personality, even before he was old enough to know what theater was.
“His mother and I always said that he was an ‘old soul’ even when he was little,” Scott Sternberg said. “Always comfortable being around older people and conversing with them, he would be singing in a group of adults when he was 3 or 4 years old. It was this special unique quality that helped him move onto his career.”
On stage, Sternberg becomes entranced by the conversation he feels is only possible through live performance.
Sternberg said he believes he has the “need-attention disease,” which he referred to as the actor’s curse.
“I think I have that. From a young age I’ve had that disease,” he added.
Harnessing that attention craving energy, Sternberg tries to captivate his audience by song, dance and drama.
“Taylor has this uncanny ability to be funny and can make you laugh even when he’s not trying,’ Fore said. “The interesting thing about ‘Jersey Boys’ is that it’s a very serious show. … There is corruption, death, drugs, sex, cheating and relationships breaking apart. Taylor can add some humor to that. This is something you can’t even teach ““ it’s innate in you. That makes Taylor the ideal candidate.”
From improvisation to acting, the variety of fields Sternberg has performed in reveals his fast-paced life as a performer and New Yorker.
“When you’re an actor, there is no constant. Everything is changing,” Sternberg said.
After devoting his days and nights at UCLA to learning the beauty of theatrical performance, Sternberg gratefully salutes the faculty in the UCLA Theater department.
“I was offered agents through school and casting opportunities outside of school. The UCLA experience forced students to experience the entire canon of what theater is,” Sternberg said.
Though Sternberg is in New York City at the moment, he still reminisces about his days of exploring Los Angeles.
“In Los Angeles we have a whole community of artists that we can tap into and build relationships that way. I think that a theater school somewhere else wouldn’t have the variety of people,” Sternberg said. “I thank UCLA … for helping my high school brain evolve into a critical, mature and artistic palette.”