Leaving Broadway for NYU

After graduating high school, GSP freshman Gideon Glick wasn't getting ready for college. Instead, at the ripe age of 17, he was cast as the innocent young boy, Ernst, in the hit Broadway musical "Spring Awakening."

But a year later, Glick, who was originally accepted into NYU's class of 2010, decided to quit the show and go back to school. He is the first member of the original cast to leave the show.

"Even though I was ready to leave, it was hard because we all became a family," he said. "My last show was beautiful because it made me realize how connected we were on stage. We were all crying - it was a really overwhelming and bizarre experience."

"Spring Awakening," a pop-rock musical about teenagers coming of age, is an eight-time Tony Award-winner based on an 1891 German expressionist play by Frank Wedekind. Glick performed for four months with the show off-Broadway and for 10 months after "Spring Awakening" moved to Broadway. He played the part of Ernst, an innocent young boy who gets seduced by a male classmate.

"What I thought was interesting about my character was that it wasn't about him being gay, it was about him falling in love," Glick said. "It just happened to be a man."

He added: "I thought that it was cool that it [a gay character] was included in the 1800s when that was a whole lot more taboo."

Glick found out about the role in "Spring Awakening" through his local newspaper and through people in the theater community, he said. Glick said he called his manager for months trying to get an audition because he thought the show seemed like an interesting and different project.

But Broadway, Glick said, did not turn out to be as leisurely as he thought it would be.

"I always thought theater was a nighttime job, but really, the whole day is dedicated to it," he said. "You wake up and immediately think about theater. My whole day was preparation for the show."

Raised in Philadelphia, he said he always had a passion for theater. When he was a child, he always wrote and acted in plays with his brother, then began performing in regional theater. Glick started professionally acting when he was 11 and made his debut in a production of "The Three Musketeers."

When he was 14, he began acting in off-Broadway plays including "Democracy: Issues Project," as well as doing many readings at the Ensemble Studio Theater. In 2006, he appeared in the film "One Last Thing" alongside "Sex in the City" actress Cynthia Nixon, playing the part of Slap, one of the main character's best friends.

Gallatin sophomore Emily Rosenberg, Glick's classmate at Lower Merion High School, said she is proud of his accomplishments.

"I don't think anyone was really surprised when he made it to Broadway," Rosenberg said. "We all knew he was very talented. He was voted as 'best actor' and 'most likely to be famous' in our high school yearbook."

Although he is planning on possibly majoring in history or literature, he still plans to continue with his acting career, whether it's with Broadway, a small theater or in film, he said.

Currently, Glick is working in an off-Broadway show called "Speech and Debate." It is a four-person play about three misfits who form a speech and debate team after uniting over a school sex scandal. "Speech and Debate" will officially open Oct. 29 at the Underground Roundabout Theater.

"I'm excited," he said. "I think it's a very important play and I'm excited to see what impact it has on the theatergoers. Like 'Spring Awakening,' it appeals to all ages."

Glick, who already has five Facebook groups dedicated to him, said aspiring actors should continue acting all the time in order to continue developing because the greatest actors do not know everything and are constantly learning.

Christine Giardina is a staff writer. E-mail her at features@nyunews.com.