Growing up as the child of holocaust survivors, broadway director Jerry Zaks, often found himself overprotected with his family wanting him to enter a “real” profession. At the moment he found his true passion and was happiest his family felt sorriest for him and that he had thrown his life away. But he had inherited from them a ferocious will to live that enabled him to take nothing for granted and propelled him in a vocation in which the odds are stacked up against you. Though not apparent on the surface, performers and directors are Spartans and in this episode Zaks will describe why.

Lessons

1. Seek out the roles in which you best fit and then make fulfilling them a matter of life or death.
2. Getting the part, whether it be the leading actor or position in a dream job, involves translating your talent into behavior that’s unforgettable.
3. Protect the possibility of a happy ending for as long as possible.

Credits

• Video and Audio Production – Marion Abrams, Madmotion, llc.
• Audio Post Engineer – Team Podcast
• Synopsis – Matt Baatz