Andrew James Gordon, 17, a senior at High School North, obviously knows how to succeed in show business — perform, perform, perform. Gordon attends Mercer County Performing Arts High School and Mercer County Community College classes for drama. He is also in rehearsal as an actor in “The Pregnancy Project” in New York City.
The play about teen pregnancy written by Lindsay Price, a Canadian playwright and dramaturg, features a cast of 15 girls and 5 boys from the tri-state area portraying a high school health class. Everyone wears a pregnancy belly to simulate what it feels like to be pregnant. Gordon plays the role of Andy, an angry teen from a dysfunctional family, who is a bit of a bully who thinks “Guys do not have to worry about being pregnant. Guys do not get pregnant. End of story.”
Gordon credits Georgine Hall, a drama teacher at Lewis School of Princeton and a Broadway and television actor, with setting him on the acting career path. Performing at home since he was five, he recently completed his first role in Justice Productions’ short film “Monster Goo,” now in post production.
A volunteer with West Windsor`s Twin W, Gordon is an emergency medical technician. “I have personally seen him running lines with his partner EMTs in between emergency calls,” says EMT Assistant Chief Kimberly Fritz. Gordon feels that these two professions have a similarity in that they both need focus, determination, attention to detail — and require good improvisation skills.
Gordon is currently auditioning for entry into acting conservatories, including Britain’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, and New York’s American Academy of Dramatic Arts and the American Musical & Dramatic Academy. His two most precious possessions are letters from his acting idols, Kenneth Branagh and Sir Derek Jacobi, who wrote to him with encouragement and advice on auditioning and the business of acting.
“I know acting is a very tough business,” he says, “but in this economy there is no easy, safe occupation with guarantees. So with the support of my parents and my sister, Verity, I shall shoot for the moon and do what I love most of all.”
“The Pregnancy Project Health” performances are Saturday, March 20, at 3:15 and 4:30 p.m. at the Off Broadway Theater at the Roy Arias Theater Center, Times Square Arts Center, 300 West 43rd Street, fifth floor, New York City. Tickets are $15.
