Flying high as a winged monkey in 'Wicked,' Pacifica dancer Peter Chursin is making his dreams come true, one audition at a time
David Wiegland, Tuesday August 9, 2005
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/08/09/DDG2PE3V1V1.DTL

Pacifica's Peter Chursin has been dancing his way across the country over the past couple of years, but now that he's finally back onstage in the Bay Area, his friends in the audience won't necessarily see his face: For a good part of his time onstage in the national tour of "Wicked," Peter Chursin wears a monkey's mask.

"Wicked," of course, is the big Broadway hit that, in some ways, is not quite as big as it was during its formative tryout in San Francisco two years ago. Back then, opening night seemed more like opening week. But that's what tryouts are for, and that's why San Francisco has pretty much become the go-to town for developing new shows. It's especially fun after the shows get developed and then return with national touring companies: Audiences get to see how the shows have changed.

Walk past the Orpheum, though, and you won't see Peter Chursin's name on the marquee. Not yet, anyway. Chursin is a journeyman in show business, one of the thousands of eager and ambitious young men and women who pack their lives in dance bags and head from audition to audition. As memorably depicted in Michael Bennett's Pulitzer-winning "A Chorus Line," some of these kids hope for their turn in the spotlight, others just hope for the next job, but regardless, they are the backbone and, in many ways, the heart of musical theater.

In some respects, Chursin, who turned 20 in July, has had a typical "gypsy's" life -- auditioning for Madonna's "Reinvention" tour in New York and almost making the cut, getting an "industrial" for Redken, trying a semester at New York University as a dance major, switching to history so he'd have more time for auditions, moving to Los Angeles to expand his options. But what hasn't been typical about his career so far is that unlike many dancers, he hasn't had to cool his heels between gigs too often. And that's a good thing, he says, because he's a guy who "hates doing nothing."

Throughout an hourlong chat in the VIP lounge of the Orpheum last week, Chursin often refers to his unusual "luck" - "being in the right spot at the right time" to land a dance role on an episode of the now-canceled CBS series "Joan of Arcadia" (he was masked then, too), to find an agent almost as soon as he arrived in L.A., to be recommended and accepted for admission to the respected Howard Fine acting program in L.A. once his "Wicked" ways are behind him.

But it was talent and drive, not luck, that helped Chursin win a $10,000 scholarship in the "Steve Silver's Beach Blanket Babylon" scholarship competition two years ago. That was the second year of the program launched by Jo Schuman Silver, Silver's widow and the current producer of San Francisco's eternal hit at the Club Fugazi in North Beach. In 2003, Chursin was graduating from the School of the Arts in San Francisco. He had made it all the way to the finals of the competition and found himself facing his best friend, Juliet Ante, a fellow School of the Arts senior. That last night at Club Fugazi, Chursin thought Ante would win, and in fact, a part of him wanted her to win. But when his name was called, the elation was instantaneous, as was the affirmation of his talent: "My feeling was, 'all right. This is pretty awesome. ' "

Dressed in crisp jeans, a turquoise pullover and the whitest sneakers in the world, the blue-eyed Chursin talks rapidly and grins frequently. When he tells you he's not someone who likes sitting still, you don't need convincing. Self-confident without being cocky, unfailingly polite, consistently mindful of family, friends, colleagues and teachers who have helped him along the way -- if it seems that Peter Chursin is too good to be true, you quickly realize he's the real deal. And if he's ever had a down day in his life, it must have been the only one.

After graduating from high school, Chursin headed east, where his scholarship money was put to good use during that first year at New York University. The money was important, he says, because NYU was expensive, but the scholarship also played a big role in boosting his confidence, convincing him he had what it takes to make it in a tough and often very competitive business.

The California boy admits he didn't take well to New York with its cold winters and the challenging auditions, as he was repeatedly told he looked too young for one part and another. His move to Los Angeles was prompted in part by the weather but also because he reasoned he could hold his own in a "younger crowd."

Chursin, born in San Francisco and the older of Pete and Bernadette Chursin's two sons, has been in love with dance since his mom enrolled him in a San Bruno tap class.

"My first dance, when I was about 7, was 'Boogie Woogie Piggy,' " he says, laughing at the memory of trying to perform while wearing a hat that was too big for him.

For the first few years, his focus was tap, but when that began to hurt his ears a bit -- Chursin has a hearing impairment and wears hearing aids in both ears -- he switched to jazz, which he liked better anyway. A couple of years later, he studied ballet. And while he was a member of a hip-hop team in high school, he auditioned for Shely Pack-Manning's Half Moon Bay-based dance studio and was accepted. "She is responsible for me being the dancer I am today," he says with typical generosity.

In addition to his parents and his younger brother, Chris -- "he's my total opposite, a total jock, and a great younger brother to have, really supportive" -- Chursin's biggest booster is his grandmother, Dorothy Chursin of San Francisco, whom he calls "the president of the Peter Chursin fan club."

"I don't think I'd be the person I am without her," he adds.

His dad is a former butcher turned electrician and his mom works for the school volunteer office of the Pacifica public school system. He remembers seeing his family in the front row when he was dancing to victory in the "Beach Blanket" competition and his parents also have seen his performance in "Wicked" in Chicago and Los Angeles. Whatever his journey, he knows he'll never take it without a solid support system.

As for those hearing aids, they are sometimes a pain, he says, but they haven't stopped him from doing anything he's set his mind, heart and feet to.

"I think, in a way, I'm more blessed to be hearing impaired because I don't think I would be as determined and motivated to pursue everything that I've ever pursued," he says.

He still has about 60 percent of his hearing (which he began losing at age 3) and the aids enable him to hear high frequency sound. Onstage, though, he doesn't need or use them. And while he has to be careful not to get water in his ears, that didn't stop him from taking up surfing in Los Angeles with other members of the "Wicked" cast before the show moved to San Francisco.

Since leaving the Bay Area, Chursin has expanded his performance horizons, studying acting and singing at the Los Angeles Valley Community College. In fact, he's finding his love of acting almost equal to his love of dance these days.

When asked how he keeps his performance fresh for eight shows of "Wicked" a week, Chursin says he loves exploring new ways to act his various roles in the show.

"You have to dig deep to make it new and to make it fresh, to keep yourself new," he says.

For the next four weeks, Chursin will essentially have two families, his biological relatives as well as his "brothers and sisters" in the company.

Is there any competitiveness among the cast members?

Not at all, he says. "We all know we have the job already," he says, adding that he feels constant support from other cast members.

His one spotlight turn in "Wicked" is as Chistery, one of the flying monkeys. He has a small bit that pretty much jump-starts the second act of the musical.

"I'm the one that gets his wings," he says proudly.

Bet on it.

While at SOTA, Stella also got involved with Ron Chase's Art & Film for several years, then studied in Paris and is currently back in San Francisco. In 2005 she participated in an art benefit hosted by Making Impressions Fine Printing Salon, along with a few other SOTA graduates.