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“With Pam, when you’re young,
in general,
people tend to underestimate you. Pam really appealed to me as a strong character with strong ideals.”
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When considering acting roles, Claire Duncan tries to make some kind of connection with her own life.
“I’m looking for something in the character either that I relate to or I aspire to,” said Claire.
Then again, it’s interesting to explore new realms. Claire also likes parts that expand her reach, characters who do things “I’m not able to do in regular life.”
As the character Pamela in “Scenes and Songs from Fannie Lou: At Carnegie Hall,” Claire gets the chance to time travel back half a century portraying an enthusiastic, optimistic young woman who is determined to help change the old ways of the South. The setting is rural Mississippi in 1962, years before Claire was born. Yet, Claire perfectly grasps Pam’s personality, and instinctively draws on the character’s traits to make her someone the audience cares about -- and roots for.
“With Pam, when you’re young, in general, people tend to underestimate you,” said Claire about elements she considered to mentally transform into the college-student ideologue. “Pam really appealed to me as a strong character with strong ideals.”
Claire’s path to discovering and portraying characters onstage was forged through her mom, who is a piano teacher.
“I kind of fell into it,” said Claire, who performed in her first children’s musical at age 12.
“I started out in musical theater, singing and dancing,” Claire recalled. “That opened the door to acting. I love it. There’s always a new experience, and it’s always exciting to get to play different roles.”
Helping her flesh out those roles is Claire’s knowledge of psychology and linguistics. That’s what she studied as an undergraduate at the University of Toronto. A native of Kingston, Ontario, Claire -- whose dad is Canadian and mom is American -- holds dual citizenship in Canada and the United States. She moved to New York after college to pursue her acting career.
While mastering the basic tools of performance is important, Claire said she doesn’t get too elaborate when preparing for a role.
“Ultimately, I keep it as close to what I have as possible,” she said. “I keep it more authentic that way. That’s the simplest way to do it, to ask myself, how would I feel in that situation?”
Claire cites multiple Tony Award-winner Audra McDonald as a professional inspiration.
“I love her voice,” said Claire, adding, “She’s always been my idol.”
Claire’s own work has been critically acclaimed. Her many credits include a national tour of Jigsaw Jones and several regional productions, among them King David, Hello Dolly! and Grease (for which she understudied the role of Sandy). She’s also been seen in more than a half-dozen Off-Broadway productions, including a mounting of Threepenny Opera that was was nominated for a 2012 Drama Desk Award for Best Revival.
In addition to her stage work, Claire has acted in a considerable number of film, television and new media projects. She’s also an accomplished voiceover actress. Her voiceover credits include commercials for national brands such as Purina, JC Penney, Denney’s, Bud Light, Bridgestone Tires and Doritos; radio campaigns for Kiss My Face, Pandora and others; and animation, educational and public-service projects.
