Glass grad goes on tour
By Casey Gillis on Jul. 26, 2007
One of Milan Conner’s first experiences with E.C. Glass theater came when he was cast in a production of “The King and I” as a middle schooler.
“I remember him announcing to me that he was going to be one of my stars,” says Jim Ackley, director of theater at Glass. “And he certainly didn’t let me down.”
Now 22 and about to graduate from Howard University with a musical theater degree, Conner was recently chosen by the John F. Kennedy Center to be a part of the Kennedy Center Theater for Young Audiences on Tour, which kicks off with a stop in Arizona in October and will be at the Paramount Theater in Charlottesville sometime in March.
Conner says he got the role by chance. He’d gone in to audition for something else, but wound up being cast in the touring show instead. He hasn’t seen a script yet, but knows he’s playing a character named Peter, a sidekick to the show’s bully.
“He has really honed his craft and worked really, really hard,” says his dad, Carl. “We’re just really proud he stuck with it.”
For Conner, having a career in theater is a lifelong dream. He first began acting in plays at Bedford Hills Elementary School, then R.S. Payne Middle School.
“It was just something in me,” he says. “My dad had it, and I guess it got passed down to me. He was like a soccer mom, always backstage and in the audience.”
During his tenure at Glass, Conner was a big part of the theater program, playing roles like Judas in “Godspell” and Jean Val Jean in “Les Miserables.”
“Everything he did, he was always really good,” Ackley says. “(In ‘Les Miserables’ ), he was really, really good in a role that was really demanding. That was (an) exciting production for us and one that a lot of people remember.”
Not only was Conner gifted on stage, he was also a leader behind the scenes, Ackley says.
“He was everything you expect from a leader: he was on time, always prepared, always positive and helpful to everyone else. … I think he set a tone for that production.”
Conner says going to Glass was an enlightening experience for him and gives a lot of credit to Ackley.
“His passion in theater came out in all of us,” Conner says. “That’s why you see so many of us who were heavily involved in it then still heavily involved in it now.”
Conner graduated from high school in 2003, and when it came time to choose a college, he wanted to attend a historically black college, eventually settling on Howard.
He says his time there has been one of personal growth.
“I definitely feel I’ve improved (as an actor),” he says. “I feel like I’ve gotten more comfortable with me. Coming to Howard and being around a (historically) black university, I feel like I’ve gotten more comfortable with myself and that was really important to me.”
Howard’s theater program does about seven plays a year, but because of schoolwork, Conner says he doesn’t have time to be in all of them. During his career there, he has performed in “Ragtime” at the Lincoln Center and in “Angels in America” as Pryor, one of his favorite roles.
Carl Conner says seeing his son on stage is a hard thing to describe.
“It tears at your heart,” he says. “You’re so proud that at times, you want to burst. It’s really good to see him on stage and to know that he’s fully in control of his character.”
He says he worries all the time about his son navigating the waters of the often-cutthroat acting business, but “we just have to support him and pray he’ll be OK.”
And while it’s easy to get discouraged when you don’t get a part you’ve auditioned for, Conner tries to take it all in stride.
“You can get discouraged, but you can’t,” he says. “You shouldn’t because it’s a business. It’s nothing personal. … I don’t look at it as rejection. It just wasn’t meant for you.”
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