Meet the Company: Emily Rupp

Name:

Emily Rupp

Age:

20

Hometown:

Lake Orion, MI

What made you interested in being part of the Project Girl Performance Collective?

Having a story and wanting to share it. The idea of helping to encourage others to express themselves artistically is very exciting to me. We all need to listen to each other to better understand how the world works and understand what we all desire. Too many people walk around in silence, PGPC is going to break that silence.

What have you learned/gained from being part of PGPC?

I've learned how important it is to share with others and to absorb what they have to share. It's important to be open, to stay available to others. I've learned a lot for the other girls in PGPC and I know we've each contributed so much to each others growth. Most importantly I've learned so much more about myself by being a part of PGPC, I feel it's helped me overcome a lot of my obstacles in life. Having a strong support group of young women is very powerful.

What has been your favorite part of working on "GirlPower: Survival of the Fittest? Can I say everything?

Okay, my favorite this is creating the experience for the audience. (That kind of sums up everything into a few words) What we talk about is extremely vulnerable. I haven't even shared everything I've written with all of my friends. The things we write and talk about will make you laugh, cry, make your heartache, smile, question yourself, sadden you, it will make you EXPERIENCE. That's the point! Not to persuade you to think a certain way to the look at us a certain way, we want you to experience what we've experienced, what we've seen others experience. We want you to hear our story, hear our voice, we want you to pay attention and feel what we have to say; rather than hear a middle aged person on the news read some sugar coated version of the story from a telepromter, or read the equivilant in some newspaper. We want you to experience the world from our perspective.

Is there anything that has been a challenge for you in working on "GirlPower: Survival of the Fittest"?

Writing. Writing was a big struggle for me before PGPC. GirlPower: Survival of the Fittest definatley helped me open up and share my writing, my thoughts, and ideas. However sometimes it is still difficult. For me, writing makes your stories, your thoughts so permenant, it makes it reality. Sometimes you don't want to admit that you feel a certain way about yourself or about others and you aren't ready to face the reality of it all. Even though the writing is a huge challenge, I still do it and I have yet to be disappointed with the outcome of sharing my words.

When/Why did you first become involved in theatre?

I had sang here and there with my parents and for little church things, nothing huge. Then when I was a sophomore I did this Musical Theatre workshop. I was tricked into auditioning (they had us all just singing in a room with each other, but they were actually auditioning you without you knowing it) and happened to land the biggest solo of the show - a medley of The Beatles "Eleanor Rigby" and "Hey Jude". After that performance, I knew I was going to be a performer forever. After moving to New York, I discovered there is so much involved in theatre, film, anything in the performing arts...and I want to do it all! Perform, produce, write, direct, all of it.

What do you want to be when you "grow up"?

A leader. Doesn't matter in how big or how small of a venue. I want to lead, inspire, create and live a healthy, happy life.

What is your favorite subject in school?

I'm Alumni of The New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts, School for Film and Television. I completed the 2 year professional TV and Film Training Program.