From Ōmokoroa to New York

Koen McKenzie took advantage of every opportunity to learn when he attended a performing arts programme in America.

By Melanie Louden

What started off as “just a dream” to go to New York turned into a life-changing experience for Koen McKenzie.

In 2019 Koen participated in the Cerebral Palsy Society event Voices of our Children alongside other members. At 11 years old, he told the camera that he always wanted to be an actor.

Now at 17 years old, he has had an opportunity to make that dream a reality.

The Ōmokoroa student travelled solo to the Big Apple in June to take part in the Teen Advanced Acting Program at the New York School of Creative and Performing Arts (SOCAPA).

He successfully applied for Momenta’s inaugural Live the Life You Love Award – a $10,000 grant created to support disabled people across the Bay of Plenty to pursue bold personal goals.

Koen says after being successful he realised the dream was going to be a great opportunity to learn from experienced teachers and progress his acting career.

Over the years, Koen’s had lead roles in school productions, directed children’s theatre, attended the National Youth Drama School three years in a row, been a finalist in the Tauranga Performing Arts Competition, and enrolled in Trinity Musical Theatre and Speech and Drama exams.

The three-week course in New York covered advanced acting, audition training, voice work and included real set experience.

They also produced films and for Koen, an actor who has only ever performed on stage, this was a new experience.

“There is sound, there’s camera, there’s people doing the slate. There’s all this stuff happening around you. We had an hour and a half to two hours to shoot [short films], meanwhile the director is stressed out because they wrote the script too long,” he says.

“Then all of a sudden, you’re on to the second script, some of which you may not have read the night before because you were out doing activities.

“It’s not dissimilar to what happens in real life. It’s fast moving. They don’t wait for you to have a Zen mindset and get into the mind of your character. You’ve got to do all of that yourself behind the scenes.”

Creating longer films was a different experience again.

“Instead of one film getting half a day, it was one film getting a whole day. So that’s more about stamina and thinking ‘I’m going to be on set for 8 hours, what do I need to do [to prepare myself]?’.”

The programme also highlighted the difference between stage and screen acting.

“You don’t have to project your  voice because you’ve got a boom mic right above you. You don’t have to be dramatic in your facial expressions because the camera is right there.” 

Koen says his course highlight was filming in a sound studio in Brooklyn.

“We were making a horror film. I don’t even like watching horrors. But they are the most fun roles to play because everything is so much more exaggerated.”

Koen made the most of the few opportunities he had to be a tourist in New York.

He watched Hamilton: An American Musical on Broadway and visited destinations and landmarks like China Town, Grand Central Station, the Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty and 9/11 memorial.

While attending the programme may have started out as “only a dream” to go to New York, once he had his sights set on going and was accepted into the programme, Koen did everything in his power to raise the money to get there.

After receiving the initial grant from Momenta, Koen received an Individual Grant from the Cerebral Palsy Society – which he is “very grateful for”, and a grant from local Tauranga business Genera. He did gardening for a 90-year-old man who had a broken back, fundraised at a fair, sold baking, ran raffles and had some input from his family.

One of the greatest things Koen gained from the trip is an appreciation for home.

“It’s just incredible how different [America] is. You come back and you think ‘I’m so lucky’. Life is so different here and it’s given me a sense of appreciation and gratefulness.”

Koen is realistic about what his future as an actor holds. 

“In New York, I learnt that the market is saturated with actors. I’m definitely going to have some sort of backup.”

At this stage, he hopes to go to the University of Canterbury to study engineering or chemistry and take advantage of Christchurch’s strong arts culture.

“I’m going to get involved in The Court Theatre. I’m going to keep auditioning because I got taught how to do that better. I don’t think I’ll ever stop trying with acting.”

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