A 10-year-old boy who attends Hillbrook School in Los Gatos is preparing for his first professional role, as part of the upcoming TheatreWorks Silicon Valley production of “Ragtime.”
Jackson Janssen says he’s a little bit nervous, but also thrilled to be preparing to play The Little Boy in the Tony Award-winning musical, alongside Broadway actors such as Leo Ash Evens (“School of Rock,” “Jesus Christ Superstar”) and Christine Dwyer (“Wicked”).
“It’s cool,” he said of working with such heavy-hitters. “My mind is more on memorizing everything, and then I can be wowed.”
His debut in the show, which will run at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, runs from June 1-26 as part of TheatreWorks’ 51st season.
It continues his rapid rise in the dramatic arts world. His first performance ever happened just last summer. After his third grade year he was in Children’s Musical Theater of San Jose’s production of “Snoopy the Musical” as an ensemble cast member.
He had no lines, just songs to sing and choreography to perform—as a classmate, a cloud and a ghost. Because of Covid-19 restrictions the show was mounted outside.
“It was different,” he said. “It was my first time doing that kind of stuff so it was sort of hard.”
Last fall, Janssen was selected to play Olaf in CMT’s rendition of megahit “Frozen” by Disney.
‘We’re super proud of him. And we’re excited for him.’
—Whitney Janssen, Jackson’s mom.
“I had a lot of lines in that show,” he said, thinking back to how he got the quirky snowman’s signature phrases to stick in his head. “I went over them, and I kind of replayed them in my mind.”
This time, they were in an actual purpose-built venue.
“Being up on a real stage—the more complex costumes, the lighting, the backdrops, the sets—I mean, it’s all very cool,” he said. “I made a lot more friends. It was just really fun.”
Janssen fully immersed himself in the role.
“For some reason everything seemed super cold when I did that show,” he said. “It was freezing, even though my costume was super warm. I think I got into being a snowman and my body was like, ‘OK you’re really cold now.’”
Next up, for CMT’s “Les Misérables,” he sunk his teeth into playing the character Gavroche, whose name is synonymous with “street urchin” in French.
“He’s a kid,” Janssen said. “He’s the youngest revolutionary, and he’s pretty tough.”
This time he was acting alongside a group made up mainly of teenagers.
“It felt really professional,” he said. “The sets were bigger. They didn’t use a (backing) track. We had an actual orchestra.”
He was responsible for a few lines of his own along with a lot of singing. He was starting to get the hang of it.
Janssen did such a good job, the folks over at TheaterWorks asked him to audition for “Ragtime.”
His mom helped him prepare. He was called back for the second round.
“A few weeks later we got news that I got the part,” he said. “It was exciting.”
He headed up to Redwood City for the read-through.
“I heard there were people from New York doing the show,” he said. “I was just excited to meet everybody. I was kind of nervous to meet them all.”
The days that followed were a frenzy of dialect lessons (he’s been working on his “slight” New York accent), running lines with his mom (a local choreographer), private tutoring on set (in accordance with child labor laws), and history lessons (the show is set in America at the turn of the century).
“It’s taught me more about history of all races: white, black—and immigrants,” he said. “So, that was cool to learn about.”
His mom, Whitney Janssen, says the musical has allowed her son to study about how World War I began, anarchist Emma Goldman and the history of the labor movement, and Booker T. Washington (who was born into slavery but rose to become an advisor to multiple presidents).
“It’s cool that it provides a platform to spring off of,” she said of the unique education facilitated by the production. “We’re super proud of him, and we’re excited for him.”
She met her husband, Janssen’s dad, in New York, where they were both acting at the time.
“My sister’s been on Broadway,” she said. “It’s just part of the family.”
It feels a bit different when you watch your child performing, she notes.
“It’s like watching your heart perform,” she said, adding she’s blown away by her son’s natural confidence. “I don’t think it’s something you teach. That’s something in him. And I think he’s been around some good people.”
The “Ragtime” cast is now in the process of weaning themselves off their scripts, and breathing life into the show.
Janssen says he’s been fine tuning part of a scene, with the actor who plays The Little Girl, where she pushes him in a chair that’s on wheels.
“We’ve been brainstorming ideas of what we can do when we’re on it,” he said. “We’re supposed to be having fun and playing.”
But the show isn’t all laughter, he notes.
“It’s my second sad show, so I’m sort of used to it—the sad parts,” he said. “But it’s a lot different from ‘Les Mis’ sad.”
Janssen’s been particularly struck by the performance range of the veterans in the cast, which includes Nkrumah Gatling—who was in Broadway productions of “Hair” and “Miss Saigon,” and was on CW’s “Gossip Girl”—and Iris Beaumier, who was on NBC’s “Blindspot” and in “Modern Love” from Amazon Studios.
“They have more complex emotions,” he said. “Like, you can hear it in their voices when they have to act out those emotions.”
Janssen hopes an effort at Hillbrook will get off the ground to expand the theater program from eighth grade down to fifth grade, and he says he’d love to participate in that next year.
He’s also considering attending a magnet school for the performing arts in San Francisco, which he’s heard good things about from the actor who plays The Little Girl.
Now, Broadway seems like a real long-term possibility.
“That’s kind of what I’m working up to,” he said, adding for now he’s been focusing on the task at hand, instead of fawning over his new peers.
Janssen says other kids who think theater could be a fun option, to give it a go.
“See if you like it,” he said. “Just try your best, and try again. And try again. Practice.”
TheatreWorks Silicon Valley’s Ragtime performs June 1-26 at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts. Tickets and information available at theatreworks.org
