Take the stage is our regular feature where we meet Performers College graduates and find out what they’re up to now. Today we meet 2014 Trinity Diploma graduate Tommy Wade Smith, to find out about his role as Dance Captain, Swing & Cover “Damien” in Mean Girls on the West End, and his advice for upcoming performers.
What is an average day like on Mean Girls?
As Dance Captain my job starts around 4 hours before the show when we get told who is off the show that day. At that point it’s my responsibility along with the other creatives to decide who is going to be doing what & to create a cut version of the show if necessary. I then take warm up for the whole cast around 1.5 hours before the show & give any notes or run anything that needs looking at before the show. I’m also a swing myself & cover the role of Damien so I then turn my focus to ensuring I know what I’m doing before curtain up.
What would your advice be to a training professional who would like to become a Dance Captain?
I think if you want to go down the Dance Captain/Resident/Associate Choreographer route it’s important that you know it requires a LOT of extra work outside of the theatre & that unfortunately you sometimes have to sacrifice a bit of the fun part for the more serious part. It can be a tricky position to navigate because whilst you’re fully part of the cast you’re also part of management. However, even with the challenges it’s an incredibly rewarding role to perform!
What was your personal highlight from working on this role/production?
Besides getting the call to say I’d booked the job as Dance Captain, Swing & Cover Damien, which was a wild moment, I would say my other highlight was being trusted to lead one of the tech days. If you’d have told me 10 years ago that I’d be leading a tech session for the Original London Cast of Mean Girls I wouldn’t have believed it. It was a very proud moment for me being trusted by Casey Nicholaw to just get on with it & give my creative input.
What was your biggest take away from your time at performers college?
I think with regards to myself as a performer I really took away the importance of being versatile. If you can build a solid foundation, whether that be with dance, singing or acting, all you have to do is add a layer of style on the top to match what a choreographer/director wants to make it look/feel/sound right for the work you’re doing. And as a person I definitely learned the importance of listening & observing. You can learn so much from listening to & watching others, whether that be fellow students or teachers.
What advice would you give to someone thinking of applying to Performers College?
I would say that you ultimately get out what you put in & to try not to stress so much about which college to go. If you apply yourself fully & give 100% of what you’ve got on any given day then you’ll be just fine.
What else have you been up to?
So lucky to have been working consistently since leaving Performers in 2014. Teaching at a few colleges here and there, and really hoping to branch out into more Assistant Choreography work & ultimately become Resident or Associate Choreographer (wherever in the world that may take me!).
