Junior Ben Kingsland is well on his way to Broadway stardom. An accomplished actor and singer, he enjoys writing and participating in Outdoor Club trips with his girlfriend in his spare time. Although Kingsland, who is double majoring in Writing Seminars and Psychology, began taking piano lessons when he was three, he pursued singing so that he would not directly compete with his brother, who showed music talent at an early age. When he came to Hopkins, he was attracted to the Mental Notes at the O-show because they were funny and dressed crazily. He is currently the musical director. His responsibilities include running rehearsals, conducting concerts, and overseeing all song arrangements. "I try to run the group on a democratic basis," Kingsland said. "Every person has the same influence to pick new songs and members."
For him, running Mental Notes takes up as much time as classes, but he doesn't mind because he's committed to the group and enjoys performing. "I think that arts people at Hopkins shouldn't sell themselves short just because it's mostly known for premed," Kingsland remarked. "Hopkins is fully of people who are engineers and will be for the rest of their lives, but this chance for them to have a creative outlet is just as much a part of them as engineering." The Mental Notes frequently take tours, although they have a limited budget. Last year, they toured in California and got tickets to be in the audience of The Price is Right. At one of the commercial breaks, Kingsland told Bob Barker that the Mental Notes wanted to sing on the show, but Barker would only give them thirty seconds of air time, which wasn't enough time to sing an entire song. Although Kingsland asked for time to confer with the group about singing part of a song instead, Barker said "this kid's trying to run the whole damn show," so they weren't ultimately able to perform live. However, this remains a memorable moment for Kingsland. Unlike some a cappella groups, the Mental Notes do not participate in competitions. "It's all about having fun and singing," Kingsland said. However, he would like to see the group perform at more events, such as department holiday parties, which help the group raise funds.
In addition to singing, Kingsland has acted in several Barnstormers productions, most recently in the musical A Chorus Line last spring, which he enjoyed because his character was very reserved. "Most of what I've done is comedic. It forced me to think about the other side of acting. My abilities as a comic actor improved by actually getting into the emotional side of a character instead of just fooling around," said Kingsland.
He didn't plan on acting when he came to Hopkins. "As a pre-frosh, I didn't really see theater going on, so I had resigned myself to writing and music until I started taking acting classes with Astin and found this sort of secret society." He discovered through these classes that there is more to acting than making funny faces and saying funny lines. "As an actor, anything is possible that you can think of and make yourself believe. With singing, you're constrained by your natural range."
He plans to pursue theater professionally and wants to either join a traveling company or move to a city to "build up his chops" when he graduates. He will be performing in the Mental Notes concert on December 4th and in the musical Gigi, which opens at the Vagabond Theater in early January.
