Artist finds passion through inspiration of teachers

Sam Lubs
Singer/Actor

Junior Sam Lubs first took the stage last year. This year he was the lead in “The Curious Incident of a Dog in the Nighttime.” Not only did Lubs challenge his acting capabilities with this role, but it helped him discover who he was as an actor. Singing is also a major part of Lubs’ life. He loves the community that is created with a a group of singers. Sam is starring in his second show this year as Prince Charming in the musical Cinderella at the high school. Sam plans on pursuing a career in music education, following the footsteps of his inspiration, choir teacher Eliott Kranz. 

How long have you been singing/acting? I have been singing since elementary school. I have been acting for about a year. 

How did you get involved in theater? Some of my friends had recommended that I do it, so I gave it a shot last year with the spring play. I really enjoyed the people, and I really enjoyed the community, and I love the idea of putting on a show. 

Do you see yourself doing anything with acting and singing in the future? Oh, yeah. I really enjoy it. Acting, I love to do community theater and some stuff in college, but music is something I liked to pursue as education. 

Who is your role model/inspiration for singing and acting? I have quite a few. When it comes to music, one of my inspirations is Mr. Kranz because of his teaching style, because of his attitude toward the choir, because of how you really see how he helps build the community within the class. I think that’s really important and something I want to strive for in music education. One of my inspirations for theater would be Ms. Rathe, and it’s for a lot of the same reasons. Because of her attitude, because of her positivity both toward the entire cast and to me personally. Last fall she took a chance on me. I had never been a lead before. The play before I had six lines in. The faith she had in me really pushed me make that role as good as I could. 

What has been your biggest accomplishment regarding acting/singing? Regarding acting, certainly the last show, “The Curious Incident.” Christopher is not an ordinary role. It was also again my first lead. It was very difficult to adapt, considering I have never acted in that way before or acted at all before. Regarding singing, last February I had the opportunity to sing in Chicago with an honor choir, and I was the only student from Cedar Falls. I don’t want to say that was my biggest accomplishment or anything; however, that was a very important time period for me regarding being part of a choir and being involved in music. That experience there made me realize how much of a community you can make with people in two days and how important it is to me, and it made me consider music education in the future. 

How would you describe your singing style? A bright traditional. 

What has been the biggest challenge for you regarding singing and acting? Regarding acting, getting out of my comfort zone. It took me a while with the previous show and with “Cinderella” too. This was my first lead where, I don’t want to say a more normal role, but a role more similar to most musical roles, if that makes sense. I suppose with singing it’s the same thing, adjusting to the pieces, and I have moved around quite a bit regarding range.