Michael Shofi

Junior Evals

Questionnaire

1. What do you believe has been your main accomplishment in your career at Pace

thus far? How did you achieve it?

My biggest accomplishment at Pace thus far was a actually a huge surprise to me. I had

no idea that my first year at a new school would send me head-first into a passion I had yet to

discover. I tried my hand at songwriting a little when I was younger, but when I took the

Writing for MT course taught by RSO last year, I realized how interested I am in the art of

writing music and lyrics. Since I took the class last year, we were able to write the music for

Hatched and I was fortunate enough to have three of my pieces performed in the showcase. My

wonderful writing partner and friend, Jameson worked with me every single night to make our

material as good as it could be. We orchestrated each of our songs for a full band, the guitar part

for a couple of the songs was actually too difficult for the band guitarist to pick up quickly, so I

got to accompany the singers myself (and got to hatch in my own little way)! It was tireless

work, but I enjoyed it so much. I believe that discovering an entirely new passion that I am also

good at is quite the accomplishment, and my biggest at Pace thus far!

2. What aspirations do you have for your senior year?

For senior year, I want to continue to push myself regarding personal fitness and healthy

living. Since my freshman year of college, I have been regularly going to the gym and working

towards my ideal “Broadway bod.” Next year, that is going to include a lot more calisthenics

(body weight exercises) specifically designed to get me as cut as possible rather than bulking up

muscle. Also, next year I want to start utilizing being in the city even more than I have before by
going to auditions and open calls to get into the practice of auditioning professionally. I think it

will also be very smart to try and make connections with as many casting directors as possible.

As of now, the only company I have gone in for professionally is Tara Rubin, but there are so

many other casting offices out there who I want to make good impressions on as well.

3. What do you wish you knew a year ago?

A year ago, I wish I knew to not push anything that doesn’t feel right. I know that is a

vague answer, but I mean this broadly regarding acting, relationships, career moves, etc. Like

many students, last year I felt obligated to do a summer stock season to get more roles on my

resume. Despite some bad feelings from my gut, I accepted a contract at a very new summer

stock, but this ended up being the worst summer of my life. Sometimes, the stars don’t align

after auditions and the jobs you get, you are not required to take. I grew a lot as a person that

summer in standing up for myself and what I believe to be right, but if I had just listened to my

gut, I could have been a lot happier living at home and writing music.

4. What do you see as being your main contribution to the Pace community?

I’d like to think that my main contribution to the Pace community is beyond my work in

songwriting and acting. Transferring into an already established class of incredibly talented

individuals is incredibly daunting and crazy, but I found so much love and acceptance as soon as

I arrived the first day of classes. The family of artists here took me in with open arms and kept

on talking about how it felt like I was in their class the whole 4 years! From that day forward, I

would love to believe that my main contribution to the Pace community is kindness. I believe in

karma and I want to send out as much love and good energy into the world as possible so that I

can be lucky enough to have it circle right on back to me as it has.

5. Describe a defining/seminal moment in your experience at Pace and how it has

changed you and your work.

Last semester, we were lucky enough to have the brilliant Sam Pinkleton as our artist in

residence, and I learned more from that man that I thought possible. As someone who enjoys

dancing, but never thought of it as a main passion, I wasn’t all that excited for a choreographer to

be our artist in residence. Well, I was very wrong not to be excited, because Sam brought so

much light and creativity into Pace in so many aspects. The day he came into my scene study

class, he coached me so well in a song I had been singing for years. It really goes to show how

sometimes the best advice can come from somebody outside of the realm your work exists in.

Sam had not seen or read the show that I sang from, and admitted to me that he didn’t think he

liked the song I was working on, but by the end of the 10 minutes we worked on the piece, I was

able to see the piece from an outside perspective I hadn’t seen before, and Sam said that he

actually loves the song now! This is an experience I will never forget. Sometimes it is best to

just look at a piece with fresh eyes.