Student Blog: Get To Know Me! Summer Student Blogger Megan Frigerio

Hi there BroadwayWorld! My name is Megan Frigerio. I’m a junior theater major with a performance concentration and a music minor at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Over the next few months, I'll be coming at you guys with all kinds of fun posts about life in Harrisonburg, life as an out-of-state theater student, and some of the really neat opportunities and experiences I’ve had not only as a student at JMU STAD (School of Theatre and Dance) but as an undergrad trying to balance making the most out of my college experience while having rehearsals Monday through Friday from 6:30pm to 10:30pm and working my muggle job/taking muggle classes (muggle is the word I use for non-theater work).

Besides theater, I am the event coordinator for my acapella group The JMU Black Ties, a jazz, close harmony group that just formed in 2023. I also work at our theater’s box office. I love both of these gigs because not only do they provide me great production and management experience but, I’m still surrounded by the thing I love most, which is performance. In my acapella group, I get to scat, sing, and improvise with people who love the style just as much as I do. At the box office, I get to sell tickets and talk with people who have been through the industry I just started dipping my feet into. 

Outside of the lovely computer, I’ll be studying abroad in Scotland with a bunch of other JMU theater and musical theater majors! We will be galavanting through Edinburgh and St. Andrews while diving into some classic Scottish literature and plays like Shakespeare’s Macbeth and John McGrath’s play The Cheviot, the Stag, and the Black, Black Oil. On top of taking a Scottish literature course with faculty at the University of Edinburgh, we are taking a geology course with faculty at the University of St. Andrews, and a kinesiology and anthropology course with JMU faculty all while having excursions to museums, landmarks, and popular local food stops. We’re all super excited to spend the next two months knee deep in the culture of the country while also experiencing the Scottish theater industry first-hand. 

When we get back at the end of August, our school year starts but so do rehearsals for our student-directed production of Anne Washburn's Mr. Burns, A Post-Electric Play, which I’m in! I’m already starting prep work over the summer by listening to the music, underlining my script, and watching episodes of The Simpsons to make sure my Bart Simpson voice is solid before heading into the rehearsal room. I plan on giving this experience a whole post in tandem with talking about JMU’s student-operated Studio Theatre so, I'll tease it right here.

I’m pretty sure if you told high school 2021 senior Megan that in two years she would not only be traveling across the pond but that she is halfway done with her college experience in a school that has given her lifelong friends and mentors, she would probably say que eres una loca but would like to hear more. I’m so excited to get to share bits of my life with you guys, I hope you are too! 

If you guys are interested, feel free to follow me on Instagram @megan_frigerioactor as well as @jmutheatre or @jmustad.