At one point, like a lot of young actors, Nathan Rousseau had Broadway aspirations.
Turns out, Rousseau is perfectly content where he’s at right now.
The 21-year-old from Jaffrey, who graduated from Conant in 2015, is currently in the midst of rehearsals with Sight & Sound Theatres in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, playing the role of The Prodigal Son in the theater’s return run of “Jesus.” Sight & Sound describes itself as the place “where the Bible comes to life on stage.”
After playing the role of Lazarus last season, Rousseau was looking for a new challenge within the show. Like most auditioning males, Rousseau read for the part of Jesus, but he was eventually cast as The Prodigal Son.
“It’s nice to change things up a bit,” Rousseau said.
He’s also filling a swing role in the upcoming season, which opens March 9 and runs thorugh Oct. 5, and has so far has portrayed two of Jesus’s disciples, the guards that arrest him, the roman soldiers who nail him to the cross and even stood in as the body double for Jesus himself during the first three-plus weeks of rehearsals.
”It’s a good feeling sitting there watching 60 people running around in choreographed chaos and knowing that I know what every single one of the does… or at least most of them,” Rousseau said.
Rousseau did a little bit of everything as a part of the local theater scene. He was a member of the Conant Drama Club, acted in Project Shakespeare and spent a few summers at Andy’s SummerPlayhouse in Wilton.
“It was always just the thing I was going to do and now I do it,” he said of acting.
Rousseau applied for an intensive conservatory program at Sight & Sound right out of high school. His letter of recommendation came from Deborah Thurber from Project Shakespeare. The one-year program opened Rousseau’s eyes to not only the world of acting beyond this little corner of the world, but brought into focus how he wanted his career to develop.
“You’re doing all these intensive classes,” Rousseau said. “You gain a lot of experience.”
He auditioned for parts in Sight & Sound’s main stage production after graduating from the conservatory program, but wasn’t selected that first year. Instead, he spent time as part of the deck crew.
It was a good experience for Rousseau, who said he enjoyed the back stage work – just not quite as much as being in the show.
Rousseau loved every minute of his role as Lazarus, but admits that The Prodigal Son has more meat to it, with more dialogue to test his abilities. From March through October, Rousseau will be busy. “Jesus” is performed twice a day, Tuesdays through Fridays, with three more shows each Saturday.
“It’s incredible how you forget the fact that there are 2,000 people watching you,” Rousseau said.
But when he sits back and thinks about the number of people that come through the Sight & Sounds doors on an annual basis, it’s inspiring that many people want to see the shows. “Jesus” was such a tremendous success last year that it’s being brought back for a second run.
“It’s a blast every day,” he said. “There are moments you stop and you’re like, ‘this is what I get paid to do.’”
And it’s quite the production. There are live animals, a wrap-around stage and one of the biggest LED screens in the world, Rousseau said.
“I wanted to be back in the show. It’s a wonderful place to work,” he said. “It’s just such a blessing of a job. The level of talent I see around me is so incredible.”
While it’s a demanding schedule, Rousseau wouldn’t trade it for anything – not even Broadway.
“For me, I’d be content being at Sight & Sound for as long as I can,” Rousseau said. “As an actor, I’ll appreciate any role I get and if that leads to Broadway so be it. But my end goal is definitely not Broadway, and that may surprise people.”
Rousseau grew up in a religious family, and Sight & Sound blends his two passions – faith and acting – into one career.
“It’s rewarding, but it’s not for the faint of heart,” he said.
Rousseau has no idea what the future holds when it comes to his acting career. For right now, he loves what he does and where he does it. And that’s all that matters to him.