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Acting is something not everyone can do, but if you’re James Pennington, that’s all you want to do.
Pennington, 21, will portray one of the lead roles in the production of “God’s Ear” at The University of Scranton, where he is a junior.
Although his role in “God’s Ear” is a major one for Pennington, he is not new to the acting scene. The theatre major said he has been acting all his life, dating back to much younger days.
“I’ve loved acting since I was a little, little kid,” said Pennington. “Even in second grade I’d perform Spongebob episodes in front of my class, and I started doing shows in eighth grade. High school is seventh through 12th grade. I wanted to get acclimated to the new (school), so I started acting in eighth grade.”
Pennington said he was involved in plays every year since eighth grade in high school. He was the voice of a plant in “Little Shop of Horrors,” Ralph from the “Sound of Music,” Rooster in “Annie” and Emmett in “Legally Blonde: The Musical.”
Pennington said he fell in love with the script for “God’s Ear” when he read it a few months ago, knowing he was in for a treat.
“I got the opportunity to read the play over the winter and thought the script was brilliant,” said the 2012 Wyoming Area graduate. “It was one of the few I thought was a good read and not something that was sort of a skeleton of a show. It also intrigued me because it was the first show I read that I had no idea how it would be told visually. I wouldn’t even know how to stage it and that intrigued me; going in blind to how the show would be done.”
“God’s Ear” was written in 2007 by Jenny Shwartz and follows its two main characters, Mel and Ted, who lose their son in a drowning accident and cope with his loss speaking through cliches. Pennington will portray the part of Ted.
Pennington said another reason he wanted to do the show was to work with its director Jose Zayas, whom Pennington said is a guest director every year at The University of Scranton.
When it comes to the different roles he’s played over the years, Pennington said he has no favorite.
“I’ve been all over the map,” said Pennington. “I’ve been some unnamed extras, which are still important; if the ensemble isn’t there, the show falls apart. I eventually sort of worked my way up to supporting characters such as those who don’t get too much stage time. The two biggest parts I had were Emmett in ‘Legally Blonde’ and now Ted in ‘God’s Ear.’”
While in high school Pennington was accustomed to doing one show per year, being a theatre major he participates in four or five shows per year. “God’s Ear” will be his ninth show in his three years at The University of Scranton.
“Each show is produced in about four weeks,” said Pennington. “There’s four weeks of rehearsal and one week to get the technical aspects down. Scranton is good in bringing in professionals who are good at working like that. There’s never a dull moment.
“Having a tighter schedule helps teach you to get things done and not have too much time on your hands. In theatre classes, you study the plays that are being done at that time and it’s much easier to analyze a play during the day and then rehearse it at night.”
When the curtain falls for Pennington’s career at The University of Scranton, you can expect to hopefully one day catch him on the big screen as he says he will be looking to further his education and acting career in film.
“I love theater, but I want to go into the film industry,” said Pennington. “Acting, writing, directing, really anything to that nature.”