Speaker 1:	The Missouri State Journal, a weekly program keeping you in touch with Missouri State University. 
Nicki Donnelson:	Growing up and figuring out what you want to be is challenging enough. There are so many options. Add to that the insecurities of adolescence, then compound that with an introverted nature. How does an introvert land on stage with a successful career in the spotlight? I'm Nicki Donnelson. My guest today is Lisa Brescia, assistant professor of theater and dance at Missouri State University. She's here to tell us about her journey to Missouri State.
Lisa Brescia:	When I was a young girl I think I had a longing for connection and community with my peers, and it was elusive to me. I wasn't necessarily the best at making friends. When I hit high school I noticed that there was a group of people that my sister hung out with, my older sister who seemed really connected and fun and caring with each other. It went beyond popularity, it was just about connecting, and she was meeting them through the theater department. I could have lines to say, someone would write me a script or I could be lost in the chorus and I wouldn't have to think about what to say. I believe that's why. I wanted to connect with people, and I was having a hard time as an extreme introvert, as someone who didn't really feel comfortable in her own skin at that time in my life, which I think is so common for young women and young people in general. 
	I was always a bit of a singer and I got positive reassurances from my family members, "Oh yeah, you can sing." A natural extension of that was to get involved in the school musicals, and that introduced me to theater and that community. Not only did I get positive reinforcement that I had talent and something to contribute, but then I got this community of people and it was just so much fun. As nerve wracking as it was to be in front of people and to risk being vulnerable like that, which was by no means comfortable for me, it's something I wanted. I wanted to be seen and heard and have something to contribute. 
Nicki Donnelson:	Her expertise is in musical theater acting Brescia says, including smoothing the moments between script and lyrics, and finding appropriate movements to act out the songs. However, that is not what she is teaching currently.
Lisa Brescia:	What's really rewarding for me is that I'm trained classically, I'm trained in classical acting technique. Classical acting technique is movement, voice, speech, Shakespeare, really strong ensemble collaboration. The kind of training that they're doing at Julliard and in grad schools all over the country, having this marriage between British technique and then the emotional accessibility of the Americans, trying to bring these techniques together. I'm getting to teach movement. The young people in my classes are often connected with their bodies in a beautiful way because they've been in athletics or they've been in theater or they've been dancers, but also there's this divide between, "I'm doing my dance and I feel comfortable with it," and then all of a sudden they're given a piece of text and they're disconnected from their body. The techniques that I teach them in class is to help them get so grounded in their breath and in their movement that they become less inhibited, more connected, more calm on the inside, even when their body is working vigorously.
	Then I'm teaching voice, so obviously young people have only so much development in their voice. The other day I said to them, "I want you to be able to play queens as well as princesses, and I want you to be able to play kings as well as princes." These young childlike voices are slowly developing into voices that they can use to play any character. Now, they may go through their careers having sort of a high pitched voice, which is completely fine, but I want them to have the versatility that if they choose to do a part played by say, Cate Blanchett and Cate's not available, that they would call this young woman. These young people need voices that are rich and deep and full.
Nicki Donnelson:	Brescia only recently moved to Missouri after a rewarding career on Broadway playing iconic roles like Elphaba in Wicked, a lead in Elton John and Tim Rice's musical Aida, and Donna in Mama Mia. She tells us a bit about her experience as another well known mama. 
Lisa Brescia:	From the age of 23 to 28 I toured as a mama with the Mamas and the Papas, the '60s group. We toured internationally, and the papas were in their 60s and I was in my 20s, so we would joke that it was the mamas and the grand-papas. I was able to travel the world and sing great music for thousands and thousands of people, and it was quite thrilling. I'm so grateful to those papas for mentoring me, a young woman, who had no idea how to tour with a band.
Nicki Donnelson:	That was Lisa Brescia, assistant professor of theater and dance at Missouri State University. I'm Nicki Donnelson for the Missouri State Journal.
Speaker 1:	For more information contact the office of university communications at 417-836-6397.