Stages of Life with Alex Kanter

Actor, singer, dancer, choreographer, director, and playwright Alex Kanter had a plan, and Indian River State College was nowhere on it. Four years ago, he was director of performance management at Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Princeton, New Jersey, producing concerts with the New York Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Then came COVID, and the plan changed dramatically.

“So much happened during the height of the pandemic,” he says. “For me it created a fork in the road, an opportunity to come back to doing what I love, which is teaching. I’ve always erred on the side of following your passion.”

“You never know where out of left field that’s going to come, but I was open enough and my life changed immediately,” adds the Vero Beach resident, who, as master theater instructor, delights in introducing IRSC students to a world that can alter preconceived notions and open the door to possibilities.

“I feel one of our jobs as educators is to tap into students’ wells of experience,” Kanter says. “There are so many different shutters blocking their view; our job is to open those shutters and make students fall in love with the arts and theater, to pull them in.

“Besides teaching skills, I teach appreciation courses. I get the chance to interact with a business student or an athlete who really never thought they would be involved in the theater, to open their minds to what’s out there.” He speaks from personal experience.

While working in the film industry and living in New York City, Kanter landed an audition at a dinner theater in Wichita, Kansas. He jumped at the chance, headed west, and was hired. When the show ended, he just happened to stop in Branson, Missouri on his way back to the Big Apple.

“I didn’t know that town even existed,” he says. “It has this huge entertainment center. So at the age of 25 I bought a house and stayed there for four years performing, loving life, and making money while doing it. It wasn’t part of my plan, but I took the risk.”

More risks followed as Kanter spent seven months entertaining passengers on a cruise ship, performed and directed at venues around the country and the world, taught college and high school students, and sang a duet with Dolly Parton—and that’s just the short list.

“I’m fortunate to have had so many great experiences. It’s something I never take for granted,” says Kanter, whose job description includes designing IRSC’s pre-professional theater training program, instructing, recruiting scholarship students, and selecting shows for the theater season that challenge students, engage audiences, and sell tickets.

“We have a responsibility to our patrons to provide beautiful entertainment with six to eight shows every year,” he explains. “This is where educational theater comes into play. There’s a balance between shows the audience will love and ones that the students will learn and grow from; part of it is educating students to the wealth of opportunities that are out there in the arts.”

“My big thing is you can’t expect audiences to watch the same thing over the year. A lot of my research and work has to do with adapting and modernizing the classics, like what we’ve done during our summer Shakespeare program. We did Hamlet in the library, with the actors coming out of the stacks. Next June we’ll be doing The Winter’s Tale steampunk style in the new Eastman Workforce Building.

“Exploration and experimentation can be scary but also a lot of fun. Two years ago we did The Fan, the original 1720s version, which is actually quite charming. We set it in a 1981 discotheque, with dance sequences throughout. In the play, two characters fight a duel; so how do you do that in the early ’80s? You have a dance-off. The students were so excited they were still doing disco battles after the play was over,” Kanter grins.

“We have some incredible shows coming up this season, a lot of robust programming,” he continues. “Every season I try to do two musicals and two classicals, along with contemporary works, comedies, and stuff that’s also practical. It’s really important to me to open the table up to the variety of voices that are part of the world of theater, making sure we’re inclusive, and the proof is in the pudding with what we have lined up.

“In November we’ll be doing Jekyll and Hyde, a musical. Audience members are encouraged to dress up in Halloween costumes and celebrate with us in this concert-style, gothic-themed production that’s perfect for the time of the year. The following month we’re partnering with Ballet Vero Beach with Dancing in December.”

The rest of the season promises to be just as innovative and exciting. “In February we’ll be doing A Chorus Line—I believe it’s the 50th anniversary,” he adds. “In March it’s Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express, followed by Hope and Gravity, which is about nine people whose lives are all intertwined, who meet in an elevator.”

So when does Kanter take time off, have a little R & R, head to the mountains for cool air, the islands to lounge poolside while sipping a drink with an umbrella in it?

Not part of the plan. “If I don’t get the choreography and detailed rehearsal schedules done over the summer, plus meeting with our new scholarship students individually, it doesn’t get done,” says Kanter, who also serves as president of the Florida Theatre Conference and as theater representative on the executive board of the Florida College System Activities Association.

He smiles as he reflects on his busy schedule, which starts first thing in the morning with an energetic workout. “As a dancer and singer, it’s important for me to stay fit. Then I drink water and have some coffee.”

“At the end of the day, I don’t forget for one second that I get to do what I love, which is to create a whole new world,” Kanter says. “While clearly there’s a lot of work that goes into it, it’s never boring. What I value the most with my experience is the ability to work with diverse students who are eating it up. That is a blessing, and I don’t use that term lightly. It was a really great fit for me to come here to IRSC.”