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Aseem in By the Way, Meet Vera Stark Aseem in The Game's Afoot

March Volunteer of the Month:

by Jillian Keith, TNP, Marketing Coordinator

8 months of volunteering, five “This is an extraordinary group of people that I’m so grateful
productions, and one Broadway to get to work with. My directors have all been amazing and
1World award later - it’s starting to I’ve learned something different from each one of them. My
feel like our first volunteer from New castmates have been incredible and so motivating. I look up
Delhi, India is unstoppable. Since our to them and learn from each of them as well. There’s a lot of
Volunteer of the Month’s first production, support when it comes to the crew, stage managers, the lighting
By the Way, Meet Vera Stark, Aseem and sound teams, the costume shop - everyone. I’ve made a
Upadhyay has become one of the most lot of close friends here who will all go and audition for shows
involved members in our community, together. We hang out pretty much every day. The remarkable
racking up over 1,000 hours both on stage and off. “I found amount of talent, my friendships, and the community keep me
The Naples Players (TNP) because I was looking into getting coming back.”
my acting chops back. I hadn’t acted in ten years and had heard Despite only returning to acting in 2022, Aseem has been
great things about the classes here, so I signed up for one. My performing as an actor and a musician his whole life. “As a
instructor at the time encouraged me to audition for my first kid, I would imagine that, even in my everyday life, there were
play here and I shockingly got cast. One thing led to another cameras around. I’d even have a musical score running in my
and I’ve been doing shows here ever since.” head. Acting allows your imagination to soar. It makes me feel
Since that class and his first production, Aseem has gone on like a kid making movies in my head again.”
to perform in The Game’s Afoot, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, “When I’m on stage, I feel like the king of the world.
Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley, and Harvey – all within Going out on stage for the final bow is one of my favorite
the span of a year. “I think I’ve improved tremendously over the parts of performing. When the audience is applauding and
past year and a half. In the beginning, it took me a long time cheering, that means that I made them feel something with my
to understand my character’s motives and what they would performance on that day. I love seeing the audience happy.”
be like. During the last two shows, I think I’ve gained a huge While most of Aseem’s time volunteering at TNP has
understanding of my characterization, how every line reads been spent on stage, he also volunteers on our Enrichment
emotionally when I’m on stage, and how to comfortably take up Committee and helps the stage management team with line
space on a stage.” notes. “I took a stage management class recently and would

66 Life in Naples | March 2024