For Fourth Former Greyson Heneks, the road to a lead role at Walnut Street Theatre, one of the oldest theatres in the country, started with his love for singing.
“Since I was a kid, I really loved music,” Heneks said. “I would always just sing, because it’s what I love to do.”
His mother, a dance teacher, first got him into dance, and one day she suggested that he try acting. He gave it a shot. Before long, he started earning roles.
His connection to the Walnut Street Theatre started about three years ago, almost by chance. He signed up for the theatre’s summer camp, and it grew into something a lot bigger. Since then, he has built a real resume there. He played Brett Sampson in the musical 13, took a part in Aladdin, and performed in Anything Goes this past summer. He even played Buddy in Elf, his first time playing as a main character in a show. Now he steps into Jack Kelly in Newsies Jr., which is his first leading role at the Walnut Theatre.
“I found a group of people, and those people are my people,” Heneks said. Even in the months when he is not in a show, he says he still talks to them every day.
Leading a show is a different kind of pressure, and Heneks does not pretend otherwise. But he has a clear reason for taking it on.
“It’s a lot of work, but at the end of the day it comes down to me wanting to do this as a career,” Heneks said.
He puts in the extra time because he knows it pays off later, since a bigger resume makes the next audition or role easier to get.
That next step is already lined up. Heneks got accepted into a competitive summer program called Stage Arts, led by performer JJ Niemann, that accepts only about 60 students from around the world.
Interestingly, Heneks found out that he got accepted into this program over a FaceTime call from a player for the Savannah Bananas. He also plans to audition in front of college theater programs at a Pittsburgh event a full year before he actually has to, so he can get early feedback.
Looking further out, Heneks wants to make theater his career. He is drawn to both film and the stage, though he leans toward the stage, and he is in no rush to box himself in.
“I just want to let the wind take me where I want to be,” Heneks said.
Music will stay part of it too. Heneks sings, plays guitar, releases his own music on platforms like Apple Music, and hopes to keep singing in an a cappella group through college. For Heneks, none of these interests feel like separate goals.
It is all the same thing—doing what he has loved since he was a kid.
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