Julian Tushabe ’22 makes Off-Broadway debut performing Shakespeare in Central Park

When Skidmore alumnus Julian Tushabe ’22 booked his latest gig — joining the star-studded ensemble cast of the Off-Broadway production of Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” in New York City — he got on the phone and started calling the people who helped make it possible, including many of his former Skidmore professors.

“I said to them, ‘I wanted you to know that this is happening and wanted to thank you for your contributions in getting me here,’” he recalls.

A theater and business double major at Skidmore, Tushabe went on to earn his Master of Fine Arts at UC Irvine. He recently relocated to NYC for the opportunity to perform alongside actors including Lupita Nyong’o, Peter Dinklage, Sandra Oh, and Jesse Tyler Ferguson as part of The Public Theater’s summer Shakespeare in the Park series at the newly renovated Delacorte Theater in Central Park.

Tushabe also voices multiple roles in season two of the supernatural audio-drama “The Prophecy” on Audible, in the company of actors including Kerry Washington, Giancarlo Esposito, Laurence Fishburne, Daniel Dae Kim, and David Oyelowo.

In his first semester at Skidmore, Tushabe took the rigorous management and business course MB 107 before setting out to explore his interest in acting the following spring. He looks back fondly on the many Skidmore productions and projects that reinforced his passion for theater, as well as an apprenticeship with Berkshire Theater Group that one of his professors encouraged him to apply for. All around, he says, the mentorship he received from Skidmore’s dedicated theater faculty was exceptional.

“I was lucky enough to have great instructors — Dr. Lisa Jackson-Schebetta, Teisha Duncan, John Michael DiResta, Dr. Eunice Ferreira, Lary Opitz, and others — who were willing to take time out of their regular schedule to work with me because they saw the hunger I had and my willingness to work hard,” Tushabe says.

While the industry is not for the faint of heart, he says, he finds it’s worth it to be able to pursue his dreams. When he’s not performing, Tushabe enjoys his side hustle as a personal trainer, as someone who loves fitness and empowering others.

To those looking to pursue a career in the theater arts, he says, “Learn what it is that you love. The more specific you are, the more you can make a path for yourself, and then be very clear about why you’re doing it. I tell people all the time that my ‘why’ is my mom who sacrificed everything to make it possible for me to pursue a career in the arts. I owe it to her to do the things that I’m passionate about.”