Spencer stars on the lacrosse field and the theater stage
In the slower moments of lacrosse practice, even sometimes during games, Ty Spencer stands in front of his goal and rehearses.
Musical numbers stick in the Indian Creek goalie’s head the closer the days creep to opening night. The current earworm is “It’s Time to Dance” from the musical “Prom!”, which he’s still drilling on a thick sheet book in the mornings.
Most afternoons and evenings, he’s the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association B Conference’s top goaltender, bound for St. Mary’s College of Maryland to continue his lacrosse career. But in the mornings, and across certain sets of days in fall and spring, Spencer is a set of wizards, a cowboy, the enemy king of Shrek, and, most recently, a grandfather ushering a queer girl against a bigoted school PTA.
Spencer didn’t intend to spend his time in high school doing any extracurriculars aside from playing soccer and lacrosse. But like fictional TV characters Finn Hudson of “Glee” or Archie Andrews of “Riverdale,” Spencer realized he could be both an athlete and a performer. He picked up his first lacrosse stick in elementary school and knew the sport like a first language. But he only joined theater because his sister did it and his parents encouraged it. Musicals might as well have been Spanish.
“I was really nervous, but since my sister was still here and two years ahead of me, I was asking her questions like, ‘What should I do? How should I go about this?‘” Spencer said. “And she was like, ‘Just act as you normally do.’”
Spencer lost his freshman soccer season in fall 2020 because of coronavirus restrictions. His first play in the spring gave him something to look forward to, and for months he poured his soul into practicing. Until, that is, shortly before the first show, when his brother brought home COVID-19.
A fire kindled under him, not unlike his desire to return to soccer. He secured 11 roles in the fall 2021 play, a Harry Potter spinoff. In spring came a musical, “Oklahoma,” in which he had to sing for the first time.
It was a high-pitched song, he remembers with a grimace, and he “didn’t know how to sing.” But when he became more comfortable with the other actors besides his family,
worked through the scenes and learned the dance moves, he fell in love. Rehearsals were not unlike athletic drills.
“Even now they’re gone, and my sister’s [graduated], I’m still here. I’m trying to be the same person for the people younger than me. A lot of people, while it’s not necessarily looked down upon, it’s not really a favorite — especially athletes,” Spencer said. “I really try to prove that we can do both.”
Spencer is fortunate not to be confined to the tropes of a sitcom. When his lacrosse and soccer teammates found out he joined the musical, they didn’t stuff him in a locker. The school designed the schedule so that Spencer wouldn’t miss any games during show week. Even
though he played just two games of basketball this year — it just wasn’t for him — his coaches made sure the team was in attendance for opening night.
Boys lacrosse players tend to adopt a Premier League soccer hooligan mindset when they show up for other sports. When Spencer invited them to his comedy play last fall, where he portrayed a parody of himself, his teammates couldn’t leave that energy behind.
“I mean, they all thought it was really funny,” Spencer said. “It was worth getting the laughs, them telling me their favorite parts.”
Spencer isn’t the only act they’re there to see anymore, either.
Senior Hunter Walls didn’t need recruiting; he followed in Spencer’s footsteps happily. Andrew Harris, a shortstop in the spring, enlisted during soccer season. He dabbled in middle school plays but hung it up when he hit high school, despite his mother’s pleas. He thought he compromised by joining chorus. But then, in the fall, Spencer offered to carpool to theater practice.
“He really opened my eyes to a different world. I had only thought you could do one or the other,” Harris said. “The fact that he could do both was honestly astonishing to me. It was actually really cool to see someone I’m so close with.”
Before long, Harris was murdered — well, not really, but everyone in the cast thinks so. The not-so-deceased fiance turned to Spencer for “expert” advice on how to play dead. To Spencer, guiding other cast members — athletes or not — doesn’t feel very different than a four-year starting goalkeeper giving tips to underclassmen on the field.
“I try to lead on stage. No matter what role I receive, I try to be not necessarily a captain, but a push for the younger [actors],” Spencer said. “That it’s actually worthwhile.”
The senior found out over time that he can’t keep the two sides of him separate. Just as the musical lines slip into his mind when the ball’s on the other side of the field, the lessons acting taught him find their way into sports.
“The way you perform really does go into your game sense. The more you practice, how you practice, really shows, whether it’s the big game or the show day when you know everybody’s there,” Spencer said. “You’re trying to prove you’re the best, but you’re always trying to do better.”