Correale Not Your Average Thespian

Author: Lucie Greene

Ben Correale '04 is one of those frustratingly talented people, who doesn't even have a tinge of arrogance to make you feel just a little bit better.
A lead in several faculty shows and student productions since coming to Middlebury College, as well as being a member of the Dissipated 8 (D8), he is a visible figure within the student art scene at the College.
It's also clear when you see his performances that this is something that he could quite easily take to a professional level. In the wake of his latest show "The Memorandum" by Vaclav Havel, The Middlebury Campus anticipated a late and temperamental thespian, complete with anall-black outfit and a series of clichÈd statements of self-seriousness and adoration. So much so, in fact, that it was almost disappointing to meet in person the modest, punctual, friendly and articulate Correale.
The Campus: So Ben, where are you from?
Ben Correale: I was born in New York City but moved away when I was two. I love the city. I think I'm ready to move back.
The Campus: How did you first get into acting?
B.C.: My earliest theater memory is from pre-school. All I can remember is crawling around on the ground, imitating animals - I think I was a wolf. So maybe it started then. No, I first got involved in middle school, actually. In high school we would do a few plays a year, usually a musical, a Shakespeare and something else, maybe Chekhov. I realize now a lot of the plays, especially Chekhov, were pretty ambitious for high-school actors.
The Campus: Wow, Chekhov in high school - very highbrow!
B.C.: Yes I know...
The Campus: [Suddenly feeling very inadequate - memories of playing Shepard No.2 in the Nativity play paling somewhat by comparison] Sorry ... continue.
B.C.: During the summers off in high school, until last year, some friends and I sort of took over this not-for-profit theater company in our town. We used this half-used museum gallery for a space and had to load the set in and out every night from a Ryder truck in the parking lot so the gallery could be open the next day. I got a chance to direct for the first time. It was so great being part of that process.
During my Feb semester I also interned with an off-Broadway theater company in New York called Drama Dept.
I met a lot of great people, got to be around the rehearsals a lot, and work on a show through an entire run.
It was inspiring but also sobering to find out how much administrational busywork is involved in something like that!
The Campus: Gosh, so from that how did you become involved when you first came to Middlebury?
B.C.: I knew I wanted to be involved in theater when I came. I did a lot of student work during my first two years here, which I'm grateful for. As I said, there is something really great about doing new work.
I worked on two original plays by Andy Mitton '01, and also did a number of shows with the Redux Theater Company (started by Alex Poe '03 and Joe Varca '02) which did a lot of adapted work, most recently "The Stranger" by Albert Camus. The plays were very non-traditional and gave me a lot of freedom as an actor.
The Campus: And how does this translate to what you do now? (i.e. You're in everything!)
B.C.: Well, not really. (smiles in embarrassment) I was in "Every Good Boy Deserves Favor" last fall and "Anna Karenina" this fall. Right now I'm in "Memorandum" by Vaclav Havel.
I'm playing the character of Gross. He's a guy who wishes he were a dissident, but finds himself lost and is too afraid fight. I'm making him sound like a jerk. In his defense - he's one of the few human elements of the play.
The Campus: Recently you were in a play ("Anna Karenina") that reached the finals at the National Student Drama festival? How did you feel about your part and the production?
B.C.: I'm not the Vronsky type really (note: passionate attractive soldier who has torrid affair with Anna, and older married women, for those of you who don't know the story), so it was fun and difficult trying to create that character.
We were also taking an epic novel and condensing it into an evening of theater, which isn't easy.
It was very ambitious and deserved the recognition. It was valuable to perform the show outside our Middlebury theater bubble as well to get some other opinions.
The show changed a lot, physically and from the point of view of the performances. You look at the script again after a month and say, "Oh, maybe I'll try this."
The Campus: So what is it exactly about acting that you find so engaging?
B.C.: It's probably the most elusive thing you can study, very frustrating at times. I question it a lot, but I know that it has been valuable for me, no matter what I do. We live by acting roles.
Acting is a reflex for all of us. There are a lot of technical things we can do as actors - a lot of stylized developments, but on a basic level acting is the study of the self. I think that's what excites me about it the most.
The Campus: You also sing with the D8. Do you ever combine this skill with your acting and perform in musicals here?
B.C.: I tend to think of acting and singing separately. That's how I've studied them.
The Campus: Obviously you are a very visible student on campus. Where do you see yourself taking all of this?
Do you want to pursue acting or singing as a career or simply have it as a hobby?
B.C.: I would definitely like to continue acting. I have no idea what I'll be doing. The prospect of going out and auditioning, selling yourself, isn't the most appealing. I would like to work with people that I know, doing work that I'm personally invested in.
The Campus: Well good luck with it anyway. Thanks very much.
B.C.: It's been a pleasure.
Ben will be appearing in the upcoming production of "Memorandum" at Wright Theatre May 1-3.