Talisa Friedman '10

“I’m pretty boring,” says Talisa B. Friedman ’10, who in reality, is anything but. Alongside Carolyn W. Holding ’10, she was recently awarded the Jonathan Levy Award in Drama by the Office for the Arts at Harvard (OFA), a prize recognizing the most promising undergraduate actor or actress in the College. Her performance credits include eleven Harvard productions and several productions staged abroad and overseas.

In addition to playing several lead roles, notably Sandy in “Grease,” Clytemnestra in the Visting Director’s project “The Flies” and Ophelia in “Hamlet,” Friedman has performed in two Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club (HRDC) Visiting Directors’ Projects and one professional A.R.T. work. She is grateful to have taken advantage of professional theater.

“You really are working at a standard that I don’t think you necessarily get otherwise,” she says.

Friedman got her start in South Africa, where she lived from the ages of eight to twelve. She started singing in a touring children’s choir, then auditioned for a show choir, which she credits with pushing her in a more theatrical direction. In high school she dabbled in professional shows, small films, Shakespeare studies, and directing but found a particular passion for acting. “I realized I liked acting better than singing because it required a lot more intelligence and thought.”

“Choosing a school without a theater major was a wild move at the time,” says Friedman. She knew she wanted to work in the business, but decided against conservatory training. “Everyone in the industry that I knew told me to go to a liberal arts school,” says the English concentrator with a secondary in Dramatic Arts. “I thought maybe they were telling me that because they didn’t think I was going to make it.” However, Friedman seems to have underestimated her own talent.

“I know perhaps better than anyone how much she is capable of and how successful she will undoubtedly be,” says close friend and blockmate J. Jack Cutmore-Scott ’10, also an actor and OFA award recipient. “She brings a level of professionalism to both rehearsals and performances that is uncommon in student theatre.“

“I didn’t realize quite how much I had to offer until I got here,” she says. “I thought I’d get bored with the acting scene quickly—I really haven’t.” Senior spring marks the first semester Friedman has taken off from performing in an HRDC show. She has hardly taken a break, however—her credits this semester include performances in Edges, a collection of student-written songs; three plays for the Harvard Playwrights’ Festival; the Annual 24 Hour Plays Festival; and two student films.

“I’m going to move to New York in September and just start waiting in line for eight hours a day,” says the aspiring professional, who has already begun auditioning in New York City between on-campus performances. Luckily, she has a network of friends from Harvard with prior artistic endeavors who have already forged similar paths. “I’m hoping they’ll show me the ropes,” she says.

Friedman is, in a way, relieved to have delayed her jump into a competitive artistic environment. After an open call for the Spring Awakening National Tour, she says, “It was such a relief to come back here and have conversations with real people who could talk about more than just what their belt range was. I’m so grateful I got to spend time learning and being with interesting people.”