ROCKFORD—Those “who began a good work” in the life of Boylan Central Catholic High School alumnae, Amanda Clement, are sharing in the performer’s success as Clement made a visit to her alma mater April 29. 

 

She spoke to choir students about her role in the Chicago production of the Broadway musical “Hamilton.”

 

Clement, a 2008 Boylan graduate, studied dance at the University of Illinois before receiving a communications degree and moving to New York. She worked various jobs including performing as a singer and dancer for Carnival Cruise Line before landing her big break as part of the ensemble cast in the musical “Hamilton.” 

 

“After eight years of trying to work as a performer, a ‘big thing’ came along. ‘Hamilton’ is my first Broadway experience, working as an equity league actor,” she said. 

 

“I moved back to Chicago for the production and am finishing up my first year, so I decided to spend my vacation back in high school,” Clement joked.

 

As a Boylan student, Clement was involved in various choir groups and performed in the school’s musicals. 

 

“I was in Octaves my junior year and had auditioned for Octaves my senior year, but I didn’t make it! So, just remember that. It’s OK if you don’t always get what you want. It will work out in the end,” she said. 

 

Octaves is among Boylan’s elite singing groups.

 

Clement played the lead role in “Crazy for You,” her junior year and was in “Thoroughly Modern Millie” as a senior. 

 

Being a hard worker is essential, Clement told Boylan students, to make it as a performer. After many auditions and call backs, Clement rehearsed for only five weeks before her stage debut in “Hamilton.” Since her full-time job now is performing in “Hamilton,” Clement only gets two weekdays off per week and attends two to three rehearsals per month in addition to performing. 

 

The production typically runs every day each month except for Mondays and holidays. During her first seven months on “Hamilton,” Clement never missed a performance. 

 

When not onstage during a production, she is in the wings being a bit of a joker. 

 

“You’ve got to find ways to keep it fresh. When a fellow performer is onstage, I try to make eye contact and just break them up,” she said. “If someone is going to try and concentrate, play it straight in front of the audience. I want to be the one who makes them laugh.” 

 

During a long quiet pause at one point in the musical, the joke was on Clement as she loudly passed gas and almost lost her onstage composure.

 

Clement said that she has learned a lot from other performers in “Hamilton.” 

 

“I learn the most from working with people whom I admire,” she said. “I can take a bunch of classes and read a bunch of books on acting, but what resonates with me the most, where I learn the most, is from being in contact with people who are living out my goals. 

 

“I almost get teary-eyed thinking about how my love of theatre started at Boylan,” Clement added. 

 

“I especially thank Mrs. Victoria Sleger, who was my English teacher, and got me involved in musicals at school. Spending my teen years at Boylan, molded me into who I am I as a young adult and taught me a strong work ethic. I just hope I can give back more than I received.”