Jacob Cayouette
UMaine first-year student and Iraq war veteran spreads his artistic
wings
When Jacob Cayouette auditioned for a role in his first college musical,
he didn't know the play about a lonely, pointy-eared, sharp-toothed boy
discovered living in a cave. As a first-semester theater student at the
University of Maine, all Cayouette hoped for was a bit part that would
give him a few minutes in the footlights.
But Cayouette's acting and singing talents landed him the title role in
UMaine's spring production of Bat Boy: The Musical. And while the
casting call stunned Cayouette, it was no surprise to those who know him
and his lifelong love of the stage.
"I've been acting — or acting out — in front of my family since I was
3," admits the Rockport, Maine, native. "I was the middle child trying
to grab attention. I've always been in love with theater."
His parents, a Christian singing duo known as the Cayouettes, regularly
toured the Northeast. When Cayouette and his two siblings were old
enough, they joined their parents on stage. Cayouette performed with
them until he was 10.
"My dad has a powerful voice. He's a real people person who likes to
tell stories. My mom has great tone. She's quiet and musically diverse,
playing piano, guitar and trumpet. She was the one who started my love
for every type of music.
"I'm a tenor with a pretty high voice and decent falsetto range. I like
to think I got a little of both my mom and dad's voices."
At Camden Hills Regional High School, Cayouette's first taste of theater
came as a member of the chorus in a production of Guys and Dolls. It was
the first of nine high school plays, including every musical, in which
he took the stage and an increasing share of the spotlight. But to
pursue his passion for theater and music, Cayouette made the tough
decision as a sophomore to give up athletics, which he excelled in all
his life.
"I loved sports," he says, "but music and theater were more fun."
Two months after graduating high school in 2002, Cayouette was in the
Army. He enlisted, he says, because of Sept. 11, just as his brother had
done a year earlier, and because a military career would give him two
opportunities: money for college to major in theater, and world travel.
Cayouette turned 18 in basic training. That January, he and the rest of
the 17th Signal Battalion headed to Iraq for a six-month stint.
"The military shows your breaking points," he says. "You get to know
fear — and yourself — well."
When he was back in Germany where his unit was stationed, Cayouette
submitted an audition tape for the U.S. Army Soldier Show, an annual
touring company of amateur artists selected from active duty soldiers to
spend nearly seven months performing a live musical review. He was
selected to be one of 18 performers for the 2004 tour, which involved
110 shows in 57 locations worldwide before audiences of up to 10,000.
It was his first professional performance gig. And it went by all too
quickly. By January 2005, Cayouette was back in Iraq, this time for a
year.
"I never wanted to go back after the first time," he says. "I heard
halfway through the show that we had to return and I was upset — and
scared. Everybody's scared. Then comes the point that you just do it.
It's like winning a bad lottery."
Cayouette is proud of his military service, and the maturity and life
experiences he gained. "I don't necessarily agree with the war, but I
have a lot of respect for the soldiers who go and do it without
question," he says.
"I'm glad I joined the military. I grew up a lot in four years. I got in
great shape and got some discipline. Traveled a lot, met my girlfriend
in Germany and performed in a professional production. The experience
also gave me a lot to work with on stage."
Last July, Cayouette was discharged from the Army. A month later, he
enrolled as a theater major at the University of Maine. Not long after
that, he was tapped for what he says is unequivocally his all-time
favorite theatrical role.
"Everyone who's not been accepted or misunderstood can identify with Bat
Boy. I've been misunderstood plenty of times in my life," Cayouette
says.
"For me, one line in the play says it all: I know I'm strange, so help
me change. Because I see myself in Bat Boy, this is my favorite role."
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