Student voices: A conversation with Morgan DiCrescenzo 

Rachel Benton

Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to review Timberline High School’s production of “Something Rotten.” Among the talented cast was Morgan DiCrescenzo, whose passion for the arts is truly inspiring to his peers, teachers, and everyone fortunate enough to know him.  

DiCrescenzo and his friends have formed a band called “The Breezes,” which will be performing at the Flower House during Olympia Porch Fest on Sept. 7.

Whenever I have the chance to interview students, I take it. As I have expressed in this column on numerous occasions, I believe our young people are often much wiser, more ambitious, and more talented than we give them credit for — and that they have plenty to teach us. Such is certainly the case with DiCrescenzo. 

I hope you enjoy my conversation with DiCrescenzo. 

The conversation 

Benton: Tell me about yourself and what you would like to do after graduating high school. (DiCrescenzo is in the 11th grade).   

DiCrescenzo: “I want to be a screenwriter and a film director when I am an old person like you.” (I, Rachel, feel weirdly honored by being called old.)

“I want to move to LA, maybe, … I hear LA is miserable, but that’s where I want to go. I play guitar and drums, and I've dabbled in piano, banjo, and a couple of other instruments. I draw, paint, and sculpt.  I love acting, theater, writing, and most of the arts, and I'm in theater and choir right now.”  

Benton: When and where did your love for the arts begin? When did you know that you wanted to make a living from the arts?  

DiCrescenzo: “Since I was old enough to hold a pencil. My parents put me in the Olympia Family Theater when I was around 5 or 6.

“When I was very young, my friends and I would play games and make up our own worlds. At that time and at the back of my mind, I knew that I would love to make movies, but it was never something I took seriously until middle school.” 

Benton: What kinds of movies would you like to make? What are the kinds of movies that inspire you?  

DiCrescenzo: “A lot of the older Spaghetti Westerns inspire me. My favorite current filmmakers are Christopher Nolan and Curry Barker. I really like the Western and Film Noir genres. 

“I think Westerns are especially important right now because Hollywood has fallen into a pattern of trying to create grander new iterations of everything. I don’t think films like those found in the Marvel Universe are a bad thing; I am a huge Marvel nerd, but I do think it gave Hollywood the wrong message about what people really value. Now, Hollywood is just trying to add more characters, distractions, flashy lights, and things like that.

“Films in the Western genre are made on a smaller scale, and as they go back in time, they look at the inherent, intrinsic human values and ideas that everybody has. The genre is pretty much timeless, which is ironic because an inherent part of the genre is that it takes place in the past, but all of the themes circulate things that people will always struggle with because they’re part of human nature.

“I have been coming up with ideas for scripts my whole life, but didn’t start writing them about three or four years ago, but I have yet to complete a single project. I get about through a project, and then I start a new one, and so on.

“Right now, I’m writing a musical that is set in the 1940s that has Film Noir elements and Western archetypes about honor, freedom, and things like that. There are law enforcement officers, outlaws, and characters that are the cowboy type. I will finish this project and submit it to the Thespian Society my school is linking up with next year. If I write a good enough script, I might be able to get myself a stage and performers to act in it and be able to direct the play myself.”  

Benton: Thinking about your time in choir and theater, why do you think arts programs like these need to be continually supported by the public? 

DiCrescenzo: “Art gives us insights into human nature, our own emotions and habits, taps into these philosophical questions that are helpful for all of us.

“I met most of my friends through these classes … it’s just a great group of people. I like musicals; I really enjoy doing them. Having kind, talented, nice people like my classmates and our good teachers Dr. Jones (Theater) and Mr. Shaw (Choir) makes it a very awesome and fun experience.” 

Rachel is a writer, arts advocate, performing arts enthusiast, and passionate about our beloved Thurston County. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree with a double major in History and Political Science and a minor in Music. You can enjoy more of Rachel's writings by visiting her website. All inquiries for Rachel can be submitted here.