Orzalli answered a few questions about his choice of major and the impact it has had on his life. His two-man show will be performed at the Mandel Center for Humanities. JustArts: How did you decide what show you wanted to do for your senior thesis?

Robert Orzalli: The idea to do this show came to me first when I saw the show during its brief stint on Broadway 2 years ago. The show really spoke to me because of the theme of the deep connections that people form and profound impact they can have on their later lives. After seeing the show, I wanted to contact people from my past that I have lost touch with, but were formative in who I am as a person.

JA: What is The Story of my Life about?

RO: The Story of My Life explores the friendship between two men, Thomas Weaver and Alvin Kelby, as Thomas writes Alvin's eulogy. After meeting in first grade, the two boys became fast friends and remained as such until Thomas went off to college and Alvin stays behind. Thomas becomes a successful short story author, but most of his stories are based on his childhood with Alvin. Without Alvin being a presence in his life, Thomas struggles with writing. Through re-experiencing his relationship with Alvin, Thomas is able to finally move on and write once more-both stories and his best friend's eulogy. While dealing with death, the play is mostly one of life.

JA: What role do you play in the show?

RO: I am playing the role of Thomas in this production. I chose this part for myself largely because of who I chose to be my cast mate for this journey. When thinking of who I wanted to do this show with, I wanted to pick someone I knew would both be dedicated and with whom a tangible bond of friendship could be felt. Andrew Litwin '11 became that person for me. Being great friends in life and living together this year, I figured that our friendship would read easily to the audience. After picking him, I decided that I would play Thomas and Andrew would play Alvin, largely because of look. I believe firmly that we could each play either part, but physically it makes much more sense for me to be Thomas because I am much larger in stature than Andrew.

JA: What has been your involvement with theater at Brandeis?

RO: I'm very involved in Brandeis' theater community and have been since my first semester. I've been performing in shows since my first semester and have gone on to be one of the main carpenters for the University Theatre Collective, a set designer, co-director of the 24-hour musical version of Shrek, and am now the president of Hillel Theater Group. I am very attached to this community and choose to involved myself with nearly every group on campus. This semester, I am involved in several projects, including playing the role of Collins in Rent.

JA: What exactly about theater appeals so much to you that influenced your decision to major in it?

RO: My family brought me up seeing plays, watching movies, and listening to showtunes, yet I didn't really get involved until the end of high school for various reasons. Once I did my first show, you could say I "got the bug," and ever since, there have been very few stretches of time in which I am not involved in any show. I realized during my first Brandeis show, Cabaret, that I wanted to be a Theater major, because I couldn't ever see myself not doing theater. As an interpretive art, those involved in producing theater are not always writing the shows they perform. Making each work personal is what I love about doing theater: I am able and often encouraged to make a decisions about a character that aren't dictated to me by the script. I also love the theater, because of its live nature. What's is happening on the stage is occurring right in front of the audience. As much as people try to pretend that there's a "fourth wall," there is a tangible energy shared between the audience and the performers that is really what creates a show. A performance is nothing without the audience to witness it.

JA: What is the difference to you between the straight play experience and the musical theatre experience?

RO: When I got to Brandeis I had mostly been involved in instrumental music, but since arriving here, I somehow found myself as being a singer in many contexts. In addition to musicals, I have done chorus for a few semesters and am the music director of one of the a cappella groups on campus. Music opens something in me much more intensely than most other things. Doing musicals has allowed me to access emotions and sentiments that doing straight plays doesn't do for me. I have been involved in several straight plays at Brandeis and have loved each experience, but my experience in musicals has been more intense in many ways than the straight plays. Because musical casts sing together as well as act to together, a level of synergy must be reached so that their sounds form a cohesive unit. I love the unity that I have experienced from many of the shows i have worked on at Brandeis. I love working on straight plays, but my love has always been for musicals.