Listen to six youth from the City of Eugene’s Youth Empowerment Program ask Eugene local, Simon Longnight, about his experience on tour with the Broadway production of Hamilton, what he misses most about Oregon, his favorite musicals, and much more!
Learn more about the City of Eugene’s Youth Empowerment Program
Avonlea (she/her) is a 12-year-old sixth grader with a passion for adventure, music, and creativity. She loves listening to Fall Out Boy and OneRepublic while drawing, baking, or playing with her three cats. A devoted reader, she’s re-reading the Harry Potter series and enjoying every twist and turn all over again. She stays active with karate, stand-up paddleboarding in the summer, and skiing at Willamette Pass in the winter. Family road trips are never complete without the Hamilton soundtrack, embracing the music, the moment, and the movement.
Annabelle (she/her) is a 13-year-old girl who lives in Eugene, Oregon. She loves play music, drawing, reading, and visiting her friends. She hopes to become a scientist. Her favorite animals are her cats and dogs.
Felix is a 7th grader at Spencer Butte Middle School. When he isn’t volunteering his time with Resolve you can find him at Vault Dance studio working on his ballroom dance moves or at home building Legos and playing video games. Avonlea Callahan (she/her) is a 12-year-old sixth grader with a passion for adventure, music, and creativity. She loves listening to Fall Out Boy and OneRepublic while drawing, baking, or playing with her three cats. A devoted reader, she’s re-reading the Harry Potter series and enjoying every twist and turn all over again. She stays active with karate, stand-up paddleboarding in the summer, and skiing at Willamette Pass in the winter. Family road trips are never complete without the Hamilton soundtrack, embracing the music, the moment, and the movement.
Gwynn is an 8th grader at Roosevelt Middle School. She is in the French Immersion program, and will continue through high school in the International High School program. In her free time, she enjoys playing viola/ukulele, singing, reading, cooking,
Hope (she/her) is a 12-year-old 7th grader at Meadowview. She loves her school. Her favorite class is history because of the interesting events she gets to learn about. She wants to become an Ecologist when she grows up. She would love to travel around the world exploring different ecosystems. Her wildest dream is to travel the world and discover something new. She enjoys participating in Resolve Youth Volunteer program because it provides her amazing opportunities to give back to the community and have fun while doing it.
Sophie is a 6th grader at Teach Northwest. Some of her hobbies include: theater, art, bracelet making, building Lego sets and reading.
Cara: Hello, my name is Cara Bryton, I am the Community and Creative Learning Coordinator and host of the Community Conversation Podcast here at the Hult Center. We are please to have a group from Youth Empowerment here today to interview a 2014 South Eugene High School graduate, Simon Longnight. Simon plays Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson in the Broadway production of Hamilton.
Okay, now I am going to turn it over to the youth…
Youth: Hi, I am Felix. For my first question Marvel or DC?
Simon: Marvel.
Youth: Pancakes or waffles?
Simon: Pancakes with banana in them.
Youth: Hi, I’m Annabelle and what is your favorite character that you don’t play and why?
Simon: My gosh, favorite character, I like Hamilton because of the emotional journey he goes on through the whole thing. He goes on quite the roller coaster.
Youth: What does a day in your life look like?
Simon: Um, on the, we do eight shows a week. We do eight shows a week, which is a lot of fun and also very tiring. So on the weekends, if it’s like a Saturday, I wake up, I eat breakfast, I hang out for just a little bit, then I go to work at the theater. I get ready to do the show, then I perform for an audience. We do the whole show, which is like two hours and 45 minutes. And then we have a break in between, which sometimes I go grab dinner, sometimes I come home and make dinner, and then I go back to the theater and get ready again and then do the show all over again.
Youth: Busy.
Simon: It can be very busy, yeah.
Youth: I’m Hope Smith.
Simon: Hi Hope Smith, nice to meet you. So I met Felix and was it Annabelle? Nice to meet y’all.
Youth: Hi, I’m Gwen and my question is what did you do to prep for your roles? Like is there anything specific or? Yeah
Simon: It’s a good question. I did… I was a really big fan of Hamilton when it first came out. I thought it was pretty awesome. And I kind of just chose to care about it a lot. I chose to care about it. I chose to listen to it a lot. I chose to learn a lot of the lyrics. I chose to study the characters. Study who Lafayette was, who Thomas Jefferson was, and I really cared about it, and that care, became this job, which I feel very grateful for.
Youth: Thank you.
Simon: Thank you for the question.
Youth: Hi, my name is Avonlea and I was wondering how many cups of coffee do you drink on a rehearsal day?
Simon: Okay, on a rehearsal day, cups of coffee. I actually don’t drink any coffee, but green tea and chai. Chai tea and green tea, I love it. And it gets me through the day. So I would say, if I could have as much chai as I wanted, I’d have like two or three cups, but it’s usually about one.
Youth: I was also wondering what do you do in your free time when you’re on tour?
Simon: When I’m on tour, what do I do with my free time? I just bought a paint by numbers. So I’ve been painting by numbers, which is really relaxing. I go see movies with my friends. Sometimes we go to museums. I go to museums. Sometimes I invite some of my friends to go to museums with me. I try and explore the city I’m in and see what interesting features it has.
Youth: Hi, I am Sophie and my question is what do you miss most about being an Oregon?
Simon: Hmm, what do I miss most about being in Oregon? One is my family. My family also lives in Oregon, so my grandparents, my parents, my siblings. That’s the big thing I miss most in Oregon. And then I also miss the, this is a little cheesy, but I miss the magic of living in Oregon. I feel like it’s a very beautiful and magical place. Growing up, I felt like I was living in a storybook, and I do miss that.
Thank you for the question.
Youth: I have another one I forgot to ask but what do you eat in a day?
Simon: Do I eat in a day? Oh my gosh. Food? That’s what I eat in a day. I try and eat three meals a day. Most often I would say I eat two meals a day, so a light breakfast and then a large lunch and then maybe a snack after the show. Sometimes I forget to eat and I need to work on that. Eating is important, drinking water is important, and taking care of yourself is very important.
Youth: Yeah.
Youth: Okay, I got like two more.
Simon: Okay, I can’t wait.
Youth: So how comfortable are the costumes?
Simon: The costume, so Paul Tazwell is the costume designer and they are honestly very comfortable. Like, they are tailored to our body and by tailored I mean they are made custom to each of our bodies. So, they’re very comfortable. I can’t always, like in my Jefferson costume, I can’t like bend down to pick something up, but it’s still very comfortable.
Youth: Okay, and my second question, are all the layers warm?
Simon: Good question. I do sweat quite a bit on the stage, but I wouldn’t say it’s because of the costumes. I feel like the costumes, they’re designed to breathe a little bit, and they’re pretty, it’s pretty amazing. They transport me into my character, and they also feel very comfortable, and they’re not too hot.
I have one question for you guys, what is your favorite part about living in Oregon and Eugene very specifically?
Youth: The weather. Yeah, the weather. The movie theaters. Movie theaters are amazing. The trees. Yeah, the nature.
Simon: Yeah? All the movie theaters.The nature.
Youth: My house. My family.
Simon: Yes! Same. Nice, nice!
Youth: Who’s your favorite musician?
Simon: My favorite musician. That is a great question.
Oh man, you stumped me! You did it! Oh man! Okay, my favorite musician. There’s so many different types of musicians. would say one I find myself listening to often is Nat King Cole. think his voice is incredible. Somebody current that I think is a very unique artist that I enjoy watching and listening to their work is Doechii. Yeah, those are some.
Youth: What’s your favorite movie?
Simon:
My favorite movie, growing up, it was Singing in the Rain, which is a movie musical, and then Men in Black, which is a sci-fi with Will Smith running around chasing aliens.
Youth: What is your favorite song in the play?
Simon: My favorite song to perform in the play, I would say, is the cabinet battles. So in the second act, Jefferson and Hamilton have these rap battles against each other. And it is really fun, because it’s really fun to engage with the other actor and kind of have this competition with them. And then in the first act, I love Guns N’ Ships, because it’s just such a cool song.
Okay, I have another question for you guys. Okay, what is your favorite part about this youth program you are a part of?
Youth: The food. I like seeing my friends. I made a lot of friends here. Yes, I like that.
Simon: Okay, the food! Okay, so we got food, friends.
Youth: More Food.
Simon: More foods, so the three Fs, food, friends, and food. I love it.
Youth: The places we volunteer at. That’s true. Yeah, we volunteer at some cool places.
Simon: Yeah? Really cool. Well thank you guys for sharing.
Youth: I have one more question.
Simon: Okay, I’m ready.
Youth: You went to South, right?
Simon: I did go to South.
Youth: Who is your favorite teacher?
Simon: Pat Avery, the drama teacher. He was my favorite teacher. I also had a lot of other really great teachers. I really enjoyed my time at South. I enjoyed the community that I made. I will say that Pat Avery helped shape me into, how do I say this? Pat Avery, my drama teacher, encouraged my creativity. Which I feel really grateful for.
Youth: Do you like cats or dogs?
Simon: I like cats.
Youth: Yes!
Youth: Do you play an instrument?
Simon: I used to play clarinet when I was in middle school and I would actually play bass clarinet, which is the big one I would love to do that again so maybe someday maybe someday I’ll find a clarinet and pick it up again and magically be amazing because of my middle school band teacher.
Youth: What middle school did you go to?
Simon: I went to couple different. I went to Kennedy Middle School. And I also went to ATA. I don’t know if… Are those still around?
Yeah. ATA got rebuilt or something.
Youth: Yeah, did Roosevelt and Camas.
Simon: Yes, I saw the new Roosevelt. It looks very pretty.
Youth: Yeah, that’s where I go.
Simon: Nice! Because now there’s the why right where Roosevelt used to be, right?
Youth: Yeah, it’s so big. It’s like across the parking lot.
Simon: Yeah, I’ve been to that YMCA and it is very nice.
Youth: I have one more question. What was your favorite subject in school?
Simon: Okay. My favorite subject in school? I was in IHS and that was in high school. I was in IHS. I enjoyed learning about different communities all over the world. I enjoyed learning about different spiritualities and different cultures. I feel like that was my favorite.
Youth: Also, did you like IHS in high school?
Simon: I did like IHS. I feel like I made some really great friends and learned how to have strong opinions while also having an open mind.
Youth: What language did you take?
Simon: I took French.
Youth: Twin!
Simon: But je parle un peu français.
Youth: That’s okay.
Youth: Are you Coke or Pepsi type of guy? Or Dr. Pepper?
Simon: I’ll say Coke. I’ll say Coke. I remember when I was in elementary school, I would play like T-ball and we would always get like Dr. Pepper after. Dr. Pepper can be underrated. Although I don’t drink a lot of soda, every once in a while it can be pretty good.
Youth: What’s your favorite animal and why?
Simon: For some reason, a platypus comes right to my mind. I don’t know why, but I think it might be because of Phineas and Ferb, in all honesty. Because Perry the Platypus is an incredible character. He’s the best. I hope to be like him when I grow up.
Youth: On that note, what’s your favorite animated TV show?
Simon: Animated TV show, I really, I grew up watching like Rugrats. Today I would say it’s Bob’s Burgers. I really like Bob’s Burgers.
Youth: Okay, whose side were you on during the Drake and Kendrick beef?
Simon: This is, the world wants to know, the world wants to know. I think that it was a very, it’s kind of like the cabinet battles in the second act. It’s giving these two people who are at very high levels in their industry having a very public dispute.
And it happens in politics in our country. It happens in pop culture in our country. And I will say, I think Kendrick is a world-renowned writer and poet. And I’ll leave it there.
Youth: Oh yeah. For the thing, who’s your favorite character?
Simon: Please say it one more time.
Youth: For the Bob’s burger, like when you mentioned it, who’s your favorite character?
Simon: Oof. I think that sometimes I relate to Bob a little bit. think that Tina is hilarious. Louise is, it might be my true favorite character. And then I love Gene’s one-liners that he says every once in a while.
Youth: What’s your favorite musical?
Simon: My favorite musical. I grew up watching Into the Woods. There was a filmed version of the Broadway production and I loved it. It was amazing. That was actually my second show I did at South was Into the Woods. And I actually didn’t, I wasn’t cast in it. The director didn’t cast me and I was very, very sad. And I cared a lot about being a part of the drama department and being a part of that show, so I asked if I could play the cow. And I begged to play the cow. And he was like, yeah, we were gonna just use a plastic cow. But if you’re willing to make the costume, and I said, absolutely. So me and my mom made the cow costume, and I had arm stilts and walked around on all fours through the whole show. And I’ll say to this day, it’s my favorite role that I’ve ever played.
So Into the Woods is up there with my favorite musicals.
Youth: Do you know any other languages besides French or English? Do you know how to speak them?
Simon:
I’m not fluent in any other languages other than English. I learned a little bit of Japanese growing up. So I say I know a very little bit of Japanese and French and tiny, tiny bit of Spanish.
Youth: Bye!
Cara: All right, you all, that’s our time. And I just want to thank you all for coming on, yeah, taking the time out of your day to make this special moment happen.
Thank you again Simon for taking the time to create this special opportunity for Eugene youth. And thank you to each of the amazing youth interviewers today and for your great questions.
Hult Presents Hamilton March 25th through April 6th
To learn more visit hultcenter.org
I want to take a moment to highlight the City of Eugene Recreation Youth Empowerment Program which works with community partners to empower teens by building life and job skills, offering access to caring youth and adult mentors and increasing access to other vital community resources. Programs are designed to be low-barrier and inclusive so that every young person is provided the opportunity to grow up safely and access their best possible future.
We are pleased to share that Youth Empowerment will be coming to the Hult Center next week through the Bridge to Broadway program to see Hamilton in person!
