Deandre Sevon delivers in the role of middle Noah in Still at the Ensemble Studio Theatre. Here are excerpts from the conversation about the show with the talented singer and actor.
How did you get involved in the production?
The director of our production, Cameron Knight used to teach at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. He was my teacher like two or three years ago. And he was a mentoring figure to me. He was the first Black acting teacher that I ever had.
What attracted you to the piece the most and your character?
What attracted me to the piece the most was the story and how supportive these two people, Noah and Jeremy are, and their journeys together with each other. So the story really attracted me because I haven’t felt like I’ve seen something like it before. What attracted me to the character was in a weird synchronous way, synergy way. A lot of the songs that my character Noah loves, I as Deandre actually loved as a kid. I have a video that I posted on Facebook of me singing “Lay Me Down” [by Sam Smith] when I was like 14 in my house.
What has been some of the feedback that you’ve gotten about your performance in that show?
People have been really touched. It’s really been touching people’s hearts, which has been really gratifying and makes me really happy because I think it’s a really heartwarming and uplifting show.
Tell us a little more about your journey in acting and singing.
My grandma had a church across the street from her house, literally across the street. And it was her church that they ran. So I spent some time there. When I was little, I always wanted to do everything that my big sister did. So she swam, so I swam, she did gymnastics, I did gymnastics. And then she found the piano and then I found the piano. And then when she left, that’s when I found something that I was like, “Oh, this is really me. This is really where my spirit is.” So I traded the piano and I always just kept singing.
