Courtney Bassett has accomplished a lot since graduating from Leominster High School in 2006. The New York City-based actor, singer and songwriter left the halls of LHS to go on and study at Point Park Conservatory in Pittsburgh, where she earned her BFA in Theatre Arts.
From there, she launched her career where she has performed live on "Good Morning America", "The Today Show", and the "71st Annual Tony Awards."
Bassett also created an original role in a new Broadway musical, Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, and later took over for the supporting role of Princess Mary.
Recently, Bassett has been busy writing, recording, and releasing her debut album for her pop/folk band, Starbird and the Phoenix.
Bassett also has played the role of a doctor for an episode of NBC'S "Manifest" and sang the "Somewhere" solo at Lincoln Center for the New York City Ballet's "West Side Story Suite."
Bassett has built her career from a foundation firmly rooted in North Central Massachusetts.
“I took dance lessons at Heidi Hogan's School of Dance from the time I was four-year-old,” Bassett said. “Those classes were Ballet, Tap, Jazz, and Pointe. Pointe started when I was 12.”
Bassett credits two teachers who helped really “discover” her unique talents at an early age, allowing Bassett to truly move forward to where she is today.
“I was a part of the Samoset chorus starting in 5th grade,” Bassett said. “One day I was singing along with everyone, and Mrs. Sawtelle, the Chorus teacher, picked my voice out of the group and took me and my Mom aside after the rehearsal. “She said ‘you've got to get this girl into voice lessons, she has talent,’ and so I did. Thank goodness for her extraordinary ear, plucking me out of the group and pointing me in the right direction! It just takes a good teacher.”
Bassett did start taking those voice lessons at a music center in Sterling and she hasn’t stopped since. Bassett said voice lessons continue to be important for her to hone her vocal technique and to keep it in shape.
The second teacher Bassett credits is Mr. Bob Landry.
“In 6th grade, I decided to sing acapella for my music class,” Bassett said. “Mr. Bob Landry was the new music teacher. He heard me, and two other girls in the class who were very talented, and we formed a little singing group which we later named Candy Kiss Kids because my Mom would always give us little Hershey kisses before our rehearsals.”
“I went on to learn a ton from Mr. Landry musically,” Bassett added. “I began early music theory and guitar lessons with him, recorded at his studio, and really developed my musical ear singing in our little group. To this day, I credit him for teaching me how to really use a microphone, and for my comfortability and joy in the recording studio. To me, the recording studio feels like home.”
Bassett also said she was thrown into Community Theatre at an early age, mainly because her big brother and sister were already doing it, and she didn’t want to miss out on the fun.
“I performed at New Players Theatre Guild in Fitchburg, Central Mass Repertory Theatre in Leominster, and Theatre at the Mount in Gardner,” Bassett said. “I caught the contagious theatre bug early.”
At LHS, Bassett’s first show was called “Barbie Get Real,” a one act drama which was an entry into the Massachusetts High School Drama Guild festival.
From that point on, Bassett performed in the MHSDG each year until she graduated.
“Drama teacher Andrea Mastroianni was a pivotal guiding force in my acting/theatrical development from the time of that first show onward,” Bassett said. “I got to play a leading role as a freshman with "Barbie Get Real," and from then on I really discovered how much I loved the craft of acting, and creating shows with an ensemble of artists.”
Bassett even has compiled a "Greatest Hits of LHS Theater,” which includes:
-MHSDG'S “Omnipotence and the Wheelbarrow Man”
-Interclass Plays every year, especially “The League of of Semi Superheroes”
-Musicals "42nd Street" and "Guys and Dolls"
-FAME Academy
Bassett said her high school career helped lay a foundation for a vocation in the arts by introducing her to rigor involved in attaining success. That rigor included evening rehearsals and shows after a full day of school starting at 7am. Bassett said it also taught her about competitiveness.
“We all wanted to be on that stage,” Bassett said. “Those of us who loved theater, as emotion-filled teenagers, loved it hard. We were intense and passionate and the true joy of collaboration and gratification that are constants in this career.”
“Not all of it was easy, and I think that experiencing frustration, and rising to challenges at this young age moved me toward understanding the complexities of being a performer,” Bassett added.
Bassett said being part of the Massachusetts High School Drama Guild Festival every year was vital to her growth as an artist and as a young person.
“The festival provided goal orientation, structure, community, direction, and my first tastes of true professionalism and artistic excellence,” Bassett said. “Ms. M never let us get away with not living up to our potential as a cast and company.”
Bassett said her time with the MHSDG allowed her to perform for Boston area theatre professionals who were serving as judges for the festival. That too proved to be quite valuable.
“They provided written feedback at the end of each round, along with handing out awards,” Bassett said. “I still remember a note I once received to really listen in each and every moment on stage.”
Bassett also really loved literature and writing at LHS, and besides theatre, her favorite classes were A.P. English and A.P. Literature. She said she really enjoyed A.P. Lit with Mr. Smith.
“I was exposed to such literary brilliance in that class, which has stuck with me since,” Bassett said. “The ones that I'll never forget are Shakespeare, Elizabeth Bishop, Charlotte Perkins Gillman, and Hemingway.”
“There was also a civil rights and Black literature history unit in junior year A.P. English,” Bassett added. “We studied Richard Wright's "Native Son," along with the works of James Baldwin, and it was incredible and imperative.”
Bassett said even the cafeteria provides a fond memory for her.
“The chocolate chip cookies in the cafeteria were pretty awesome.” “I'm still nostalgic for those.”
Bassett said her favorite work of her professional career to date has been "Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812," which was a transcendent and thrilling piece of art that ran on a commercial Broadway stage for a year.
Watch Bassett's "Great Comet" Tony performance here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
“That's rare,” Bassett said. “And I got to be a part of the show's heart and eclecticism from the out of town tryout run at the American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge onward. It changed my life and I'll never forget it.”
“The musical score was deeply nuanced and wide-ranging,” Bassett added. “I got to sing everything from Blues/Soul to experimental opera in one night. That kind of flexibility vocally is my ‘jam’ you could say.”
“The entirety of the Imperial Theatre was transformed into a Russian Supper Club-it was magical, and huge, and for one song sequence, I had to speed run up two flights of stairs while singing and dancing,” Bassett added. “It was the ultimate challenge, one that lit up my spirit every night, eight times a week, even if it did tire me out!”
Bassett just released an album entitled “Starfire” with her pop/folk band, Starbird and the Phoenix, and they are promoting the album now.
Bassett describes her band as “driven by stratospheric harmonies and ukulele extroversion, Starbird and the Phoenix flaunts powerful rock/pop vocals, and infectious, belt-along melodies aimed straight at the heart."
In the future, Bassett said she is looking to get involved in more film and television projects.
“That's where my passion is leading me right now, and what's actually happening while Broadway is shut down,” Bassett said.
Bassett will also be releasing some singles for her solo indie folk project, "Egan Whim," this summer.
As for someone looking to pursue a career in the theatre/entertainment industry, Bassett said to never stop evolving your craft, whatever it may be.
“Do all that you can to become the best possible version of yourself in your art,” Bassett said. “Strive for excellence, and be consistent about it. Get so excited by your creativity that it becomes a habit. You'll need this practice to keep going even when you don't feel like it. Or when your industry is shut down due to a worldwide pandemic!”
Bassett also said self-love should come first.
“Taking care of your mental health and spiritual well-being is key to surviving in this career/workforce,” Bassett said. “If you work on loving yourself no matter what, it will be easier to accept and stay strong in the face of rejection/criticism.”
“It may be trite, but, as Lady Gaga says: ‘There could be 100 people in the room and 99 of them don't believe in you, but one person does... (and that one person can mean everything to you and your success).’ Go where it's warm. Seek out the people whose faces light up when they see you walking into a room.”
Bassett also said being a good team player is vital.
“Again, be the best version of you, by focusing on what you're giving in a creative process, rather than what you're getting from it,” Bassett said. “This will make the process of creating a show,or whatever your art may be, more satisfying for you and the people around you. People want to work with people who are kind, gracious, and giving. Be that person!”
For more on Courtney Bassett, go to: https://www.courtneybassett.com/
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