The world of performance in Chicago is vast and varied. It is comprised of an incredible network of actors, musicians, performers and countless other individuals that serve as its driving force. The story of each performer is distinct and informative; snapshots into their lives and their work provide a wealth of knowledge about the industry and enable us to gain an even broader sense of what makes the city’s brilliant theater scene tick. I had the opportunity to sit down with the talented stage, commercial and voice actor Peter Sipla in order to gain even greater insight into what performance means to him and what others can learn from his experience, as well.

The DePaulia: Can you provide a little bit of information about where you are in your acting career right now?

Peter Sipla: Right now, I am in the midst of rehearsing “Juno” at The Timeline Theater. They are actually a unique theater because they rehearse at night and they have shows at night, which is awesome for what I do because then it leaves the day completely free for any auditions whether it be theater, or voice-overs or commercials. All of that stuff is generally during the business day, so that I like a lot. I just did “Miss Saigon” at Paramount in November and I really enjoyed working there. It is an awesome theater and they do groundbreaking work. I am a non-union actor, right now, if I were taking points for everything, I would have enough points to be a union actor, but I’m not ready to make that leap yet. If I was just a stage actor, I would totally go union but I make the bulk of my money to support my living from voice-overs and that is in the city. I am really excited with where I’m at because I am just performing for a living. It’s great. I have a lot of repeat clients for voice-overs, so that is kind of taking care of itself and now I just have to focus on expanding that. I am making nice headway in acting as well, with some of the bigger theaters and some of the medium-sized theaters that I want to work with.

DP: When did you discover that you were passionate about theater? Did this occur at the same time you knew you wanted to pursue theater as a career?

PS: They actually happened at different times. I was like any other kid that loved playing with action figures and all of that. I have always had a vivid imagination. The first time I was actually “knocked over” by a performance was “Les MisêÑÔ©rables” a long time ago. I was 8 or 9, and Brian Lynch was Jean Valjean and he is the father of one of my buddies that I grew up with, and I saw it and I was blown away. My sister had always been a fan of musical theater, so I was always around it and there was always a lot of music in my house but for me it was like, “Oh, that’s so hokey,” you know? But going and seeing this grand, sweeping, epic story was unreal. The spectacle of it, how good the actors were, and how it was real-life drama going on. I loved it. For me, when I decided what I wanted to do for a living, it was probably my sophomore year of college. I actually ended up going to North Central College and doing summer shows with Brian because he left the tour and settled at the college as faculty and he directed community theater productions so me and my sister and my dad did them for like 10 years straight together. So I ended up going there, even though I didn’t want to stay near home initially because I wanted to major in psychology but I could also do music and theater. I had gotten through all of the curriculum of music and I loved music, I was passionate about it, but I really had much more of a knack for theater. It just fit me. So I thought, “I’m passionate about music, but theater will be my job.”

DP: What is the biggest lesson that performance has taught you in your life?

PS: The biggest thing I’ve taken from it is that you always need to be learning. As much as things were going on in my head for the last year and a half, they weren’t coming out and they weren’t being shown. I would experience them but I would stifle them because in everyday life, we’re socialized. We’re not supposed to do random, crazy things but in theater you have to do that stuff. In all acting, you have to focus on conflict versus pacifying. In normal life we all want to be likeable and get along but in theater you have to challenge that, whether it just be a look or how we say something. I realized that I was lacking that so I took some more acting classes. It felt good to get back to that. Now I’ve budgeted time every day for making sure I learn more, whether it’s reading a new play or looking at a new theater season, or actually working on my skill set.

DP: Are there any specific ways in which your career as an actor evolved over time?

PS: It’s really evolved, especially in the last year, to the point where I only audition for things that interest me. When I was first out of the gate I was trying to be known and just have face time with everyone. Now, it’s more learning how to focus my time and be more protective of my time. Especially with acting and theater, you can keep busy all of the time but you have to ask yourself if you’re being fairly compensated for what you’re doing or if this opportunity really fits in line with your goals.

DP: If you could give your younger self one piece of advice knowing all that you know now, what would it be?

PS: Two days ago, I probably would have said, “Just go to L.A.” I’ve always been interested in movies. That’s what I was more passionate about than theater. But it’s funny because yesterday I was with a couple of buddies who are all actors and we were watching the game. We were talking about the players and saying, “Well this guy could have been better than that guy,” but there is that “if ” there. You have no idea how that would have played out that way, you know? I’ve learned so much in Chicago and there is still so much to learn. What I’ve been focused on for the last two years is making sure that I’m learning everything I can in this town before being ready to go to either coast. I’ve really enjoyed it. I’ve really enjoyed being here and maturing here and soaking in all I can. Whether it be improv or on camera or voice-overs. Anything I can learn, I am into. So I guess if I could tell my younger self one thing it would be, spend even more time on everything.

DP: Do you have any advice for aspiring young actors today?

PS: The first word of advice is, eliminate the “hard to break into” thing from your vocabulary. There is always something that can be looked at as a hindrance but, again, it’s a strength. I’m a firm believer that you are a type. Who you are, what you look like, it gives you as many opportunities as it keeps you from. Why focus on the opportunities you can’t have? My word of advice for recent graduates or people in college is always be working and always be trying to find what you’re missing and work that twice as hard as what you feel comfortable with. We all tend to focus on what we’re comfortable with and where we feel good but you need to bring up those weaknesses, too, and work them twice as hard.