Today we’d like to introduce you to Caleb Morton.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Caleb. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
My infatuation with acting began when I was about seven years old when I saw my sister perform onstage; I was immediately infatuated. As a kid, I was homeschooled so community theatre was my only option to perform on stage; when I began acting at eight years old, my first role was Jack Sprat in The Trial of the Big Bad Wolf. From there, I continued to perform in as many plays as possible, usually about two a year.
When I was fourteen, Theatre Macon (TM) became my new theatrical home. I learned so much about acting, stage etiquette, respect for other artists and their work and even found the love of set building. My time at TM was absolutely invaluable to starting my career as an actor now. I got to live among high-quality performers who taught me true artistic integrity by never allowing themselves to think less of their art for many reasons.
In my second year of college, at Macon State, I had a serious moment of self-reflection after hearing a TEDtalk about how humans unlearn artistic potential as we grow old. My first two years of college, I did not pursue acting as a career option, although I did perform in several shows with Mercer Theatre. This caused a battle inside of me because I knew that pursuing Acting as a career would be choosing a difficult path for the rest of my life. Ultimately I transferred to Kennesaw State University (KSU) to study in their rapidly growing Theatre and Performance Studies department; I never looked back to what could have been.
At KSU, I learned more about Theatre and its history than the rest of my life combined. I began to see myself as a true artist and that my art didn’t begin and end with acting. I poured my passion into also learning better-set building techniques with Kenyon Shiver at KSU and Daniel Terry at the Aurora Theatre. I took my very first Art History class and fell in love with great visual artists of old. And I was even challenged to write a short play for the first time in my life, I was quickly hooked.
I started writing my own plays, drawing more, dabbling in painting, and now after graduation, I have even started to build statues. As a graduate, I have come to see a great potential to sustain myself as an artist by using all of my skills. As I seek representation for a film, I am continuously working on other projects to better my talents. Resurfacing, painting, and wood burning an old drafting table have been my favorite visual art project thus far. I am now working on a statue made of a delicate material that is proving difficult and incredibly rewarding.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
When I started college, I quickly realized there were many areas that I lagged behind my classmates. I had always found reading to be difficult and it usually took me twice as long as the average person to read anything. This challenge was embracing, to say the least, but it began to hit home that my grammar skills needed serious improvement when my professors began to confront me. Most often, I would be told that they loved my ideas and where I was trying to go with my papers, but that my grammatical structure was wrong and my through lines were difficult to follow. I thank all of my professors for drawing this to my attention, but I have to give the greatest thanks to Dr. Angela Farr-Schiller who took hours out of her day to sit with me and teach me better writing techniques and strategies to check my own work. Without her guidance, I would have never had the confidence to begin writing plays. All this to say comes still and may always confuse me.
Please tell us more about your work, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
I am an independent contractor in many different areas. I am for hire as an actor, writer, carpenter, painter, lighting technician, and even a driver recruiter for LYFT. My mission is to be as useful as possible to any theatre I walk into, whether that is as an actor, builder, technician, or otherwise. I am versatile and friendly with a passion to help. I am most proud of this versatility, my wide skill set constantly comes in handy to me and as often as possible, I am proud to make someone else’s life a little easier. I think that is the very thing that sets me apart from most artists, is that while I may be on stage, I may have also had a hand in building the set, hanging the lights or painting some props.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
My proudest moment was a production of Macbeth that I helped cultivate with other KSU Alumni. Under the leadership of Chris Sell and Andrew Hobson, we built a beautiful adaption, guided by the concept that the witches were in 100% control of Macbeth’s fate, by possessing the bodies of those closest to him and his worst enemies. I was able to play one of the Three Witches, Macduff, and various other parts as Macbeth rose and fell by the witch’s power. I assisted Chris Sell in constructing/painting the set and props and assisted Maddie Fay with lighting the space. It was a true collaborative effort to breathe life into a new look at an ancient piece.
Contact Info:
- Website: caleb-morton.com
- Phone: 478-320-8141
- Email: calebs.morton@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/presidentnoodle/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/caleb.morton.3
Image Credit:
Meg Harkins, Caitlynn Silvius, Jamie Bullins, Zach Veach, Deandre Lemans
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