Connor Hill, a sophomore here at SJHHS, returns to the stage October 19th cast in his familiar role of Busby in Sherlock Holmes and the Spinsters of Blackmead, at San Juan Hill’s Camino Real Playhouse.
Hill says he started his acting career “a long time ago, when I was five my mom put me in an acting class and I hit a homerun with acting. I shot for all the lead roles and went on stage for the first time for a musical solo.” When he went on stage to perform his solo in ‘Music Man,’ he said “the feeling of everyone looking at me was making me nervous, but when I finally had all the attention on me it felt awesome.”
Hill’s latest production, Sherlock Holmes and the Spinsters of Blackmead, is the sequel to Sherlock Holmes and the Doom of Devilsmoor, where he first took on the role of Busby. “My dad suggested a role to me, the character of Busby. I decided to try out and I got the role. I was good friends with the director and that might have been the reason why I got the role,” Hill said.
“I don’t mean to brag but I am a really good actor,” Hill said was another reason why he was selected for the role. “I did an absolutely fantastic job with it and the writer came down and saw the play and just because of me he wanted Busby to have more interaction with the characters throughout the show.” Hill claimed that the writer, C.P. Stanchich, “originally wasn’t going to have Busby in the sequel, but because of me he decided to put Busby in and gave him a lot more interaction with the other characters.”
This time around, Busby certainly has a much more profound role as his character develops in his second adventure alongside Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. Hill said that in the sequel “Busby is still kind of the helper of Sherlock Holmes. He goes and delivers messages and he’s really there for the excitement, the adventure, the thrill of being around Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson” and that, in the end, “he does something that helps everyone at the Blackmead manner and basically helps them solve the crime that was committed.” Hill shared his personal connection with Busby as he stated that “I don’t feel any connections with Busby, but I feel like I am Busby. People at the theater call me Busy and I answer to Busby. It’s like my second person.”
Hill also let The Express in on his secret to success on stage with a quote from one of his directors. He said, “If you’re nervous and you have butterflies in your stomach, it shows that you care about what you’re doing.” In addition to that tip, he said, “Even if you mess up be confident about it, be confident about your role and what you’re doing.”
Hill said that his best moment in his acting career so far has “been every single performance that I’ve ever done. The best moment is every single moment on stage in front of everyone.”
Unfortunately for SJHHS, Hill is not currently involved in the drama program; however, he said “I want to be in drama now, but for now I’m doing the play down at the playhouse. But yes, definitely in the future I want to be involved.”