From the Graduation Files: Musical Theatre student finishes degree while performing on national tour
Drew Flickinger has spent his last months before graduation traveling the country with Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Musical.
Logan Butts |
Drew Flickinger (center, with drum) on tour with Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Musical
The end of the semester is a busy time for any student. Finals, projects, internship duties, and more pile up as the months get colder. For graduating seniors, all of this is compounded. With commencement quickly approaching, they must prepare themselves for the next steps in life.
Drew Flickinger has one more component added into this already stressful situation - he is currently touring the country with Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Musical.
“It's crazy. Thankfully, one of the blessings from the pandemic is that we all know how to do online school now. I do a lot of homework on the bus when we go from city to city, before the shows, after the shows in the hotel, anytime I can squeeze in schoolwork.”
Flickinger, a Musical Theatre major, first arrived at Lipscomb from a small town in Indiana with the excitement of Nashville propelling him to campus. But after a visit with the professors in the theatre department, he came away even more convinced that it was the place for him.
“Talking with the professors, I could feel that they, unlike any other school that I auditioned for, cared about me as a person as well as an artist. They were very intentional and very personal. It was the only school I auditioned for where when they asked ‘what are your dreams? What would you like to do in your career?’ and I told them my dreams, and they were like, ‘great, we support that.
“The Lord was like ‘I placed you here, this is where I need you. You're supposed to be here. Trust me on this.’ And it was.”
For Flickinger, professors like Theatre Chair Beki Baker and Nat McIntyre pushed him to expand his skillset to include things like choreography and songwriting, preparing him for anything the industry might throw his way.
“They saw things in me that I didn't see. I had this little box of what I thought I could do, and they really stretched that out.
“I wouldn't be where I am if it wasn't for the professors that really pushed me and really saw something in me and would never give up on pushing me to my limit every single class I attended of theirs.”
The summer after Flickinger’s freshman year he applied for the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer tour alongside some of his friends. He received a callback and performed in their show at the Opry during his sophomore year.
This past summer, they reached out once again - but this time for a spot on the national tour.
The tour began in October, the midway point of his final semester of school, and won’t finish until Christmas Eve. On graduation day Flickinger will be in St. Louis, where the company is planning on holding a ceremony to celebrate in between the day’s two shows.
But his favorite stop on the tour will be hard to top. During a performance in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Flickinger came upon a full-circle moment. He was set to perform in the same venue where he saw The "Phantom of the Opera" for the first time, a formidable moment growing up.
“I have to pinch myself a lot. I remembered after the show saying ‘I want to do that.’ I wanted to go around the country performing. I wanted to be on that stage. So getting to be there was definitely very surreal.”