Photos by Ralph Freso
When Ben Sparling came to Grand Canyon University, he thought he had left his theatre days behind him in high school.
But when he walked into Ethington Theatre his freshman year to complete service hours for a scholarship, he walked out with a renewed passion for the art.
He auditioned for the upcoming play at the time, “Murder on the Orient Express,” and did not stop performing for the college's productions until his Friday graduation, when he earned a bachelor’s degree in history.
“I didn’t realize how open not only GCU is, but the College of Arts and Media is, to people who just want to pursue this," Sparling said. "Not just people who want to pursue it as a career, but people who want to pursue it in the here and now.
“I never thought I would be doing this. It is all a testament to how God has a plan bigger than my own plans.”
The Colorado native grew up singing. To break his shyness, his parents signed him up for yearly school talent shows.
Along the way, Sparling developed a love for music and joined choir in high school. His talent was quickly recognized by his choir director, who asked Sparling to consider joining theatre as well.
Though hesitant at first, he auditioned for a school play. Once he got in, he never looked back.
“Every year of high school, that was what I was really dedicated to,” Sparling said. “After overcoming some acting challenges, I learned to view theatre less as an obstacle that is only going to bring me difficulty and more so as something where I can look beyond myself, rely on castmates and help people.
“First opening night, once I had an audience in front of me and feeling the adrenaline and the nerves, your blood run cold, all of that was exhilarating and scary. I loved it.”
Regardless of the love and passion, Sparling thought of theatre and choir as high school hobbies he was leaving behind. He came to GCU to focus on his history major, but his plans changed once he visited Ethington Theatre.
He was met by Jami Kratz, theatre freshman at the time but now a recent graduate, and after an hourlong conversation, Kratz unexpectedly signed up Sparling to be a crew member for an upcoming play, “Big Fish.”
“I walked up to the stage management booth, and Jami says to the director, ‘This is Ben, and he is going to be our spotlight operator for ‘Big Fish.' It was the best voluntold I had ever been told because then I met some of the theatre crew, and that turned into me auditioning for my first college play. Since then, I have been in every production I had auditioned for.”
“We certainly wouldn’t have encouraged Ben to stay if he wasn’t the incredibly loving and Christ-like individual he is,” Kratz said. “He has left a great impression on me and impacted me for the better. The rest of the theatre department would undoubtedly say the same, as he truly is the best of us.
Once Sparling took the stage for the first time in college, it was an instant connection and a reminder of how much he loved the art.
Many prominent and iconic roles in Ethington Theatre productions followed for Sparling.
From George Banks in “Mary Poppins” and The Man in the Yellow Suit in “Tucker Everlasting” to Gaston in “Beauty and the Beast,” Audrey II in “Little Shop of Horrors,” and more.
Despite the versatile, loud and fun characters, Sparling’s favorite role was playing gentle but brilliant Charles Babbage in “Ada and the Engine,” a role that combined his two worlds, history and theatre.
Sparling portrayed Babbage as an inventor who created the physical framework for the first computing device. He worked on a Difference Engine, while fascinating mathematician Ada Byron Lovelace composed several translations for the machine’s capabilities that the two presented to the world.
“Doing research for this role, I was like a kid in a candy store. It was history and acting together,” Sparling said. “I knew nothing about the show going into it. Coming out of it, I had learned not only a great deal about the history behind this wonderful story, but also a lot about acting as an individual and acting in a group as a collective.
“It was a very challenging show because of the material and the circumstance, but it was a role that grew me the most as an actor.”
Through theatre, Sparling heard about the university’s choir group, Critical Mass. Since he already had reconnected with theatre, it did not take much for Sparling to go back to his musical roots.
He joined Critical Mass during his junior year, adding over a dozen yearly shows to his already packed acting schedule. What started as a hobby that he left in the past turned into something that impacted Sparling’s college experience the most.
“From the first production I did with him, I knew there was something special about him, his dedication to his craft was very evident,” Musical Director Mark Fearey said. “When opportunity arose for him to join Critical Mass, I could see it exemplified.
“Ben is a consummate professional in music, theatre and really, in life. It has been a treat to work with him these past few years, and I know that he will be successful in whatever direction he takes.”
After graduation, Sparling hopes to use his degree to teach history while taking on productions on the side and dazzling on the stage.
GCU staff writer Izabela Fogarasi can be reached at [email protected]
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