Santa Fe New Mexican — Teen Profile: Despite obstacles, NMSA graduate keeps going
After New Mexico School for the Arts senior Danny Cron graduated in 2013, the Santa Fe native applied to eight of what he believed were the best theater colleges in the country. Not one accepted him. He then applied to Columbia College in Chicago, hoping to find a home, but after a semester, he decided the environment there wasn’t for him. So he started all over with another selection of auditions and applications.
That sort of experience might deter the average high school graduate, but Cron remains determined. This semester he starts classes at CalArts — the California Institute for the Arts. And during this time, Cron has not been idle. He worked at the Lensic Performing Arts Center in Santa Fe, accepted an internship in Chicago with the Chicago Dramatists and as an understudy helped to devise a production by The Neo-Futurists — one of the most highly regarded experimental theater companies in America.
Despite the challenges and the rejection faced at a young age as an actor, Cron said he has no regrets about his decisions so far. “If I could go back in time and tell my young self something, I don’t know if I would because everything that I’ve learned along the way I needed to learn,” he said. “Also, the ride has just been so much fun that I wouldn’t want to go back and skip any bits.”
Born in Santa Fe, Danny has been acting since he was a child. “I was struck by his willingness to take risks and his desire to work really hard,” New Mexico School for the Arts theater teacher Joey Chavez said. Chavez supported Cron as he chose to direct, produce and raise the funds to present Journey to X, a play written by Nancy Harris, in Santa Fe.
“Danny has the ability to just go all out with a character. He was always exciting and took that leap of faith, and he really had no fears,” said actor, director and playwright Matt Sanford, who has worked with Cron on stage and as part of the Lensic Performing Arts internship program.
Cron says he is inspired by “people who are making it work, those who are doing what they love. That kind of work ethic where you see people who are always working and are going out and not taking anything for granted.”
This motivation has paid off. Cron is one of six recipients of this year’s Mayor’s Awards for Excellence in the Arts. He will be honored with the Melissa Engestrom Youth Artist Award acknowledging the passionate commitment of youth to their community and art form. The awards ceremony will be held at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 23 at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center.
Cron said no setback should stop a person from pursuing their dreams. “If you know that this is what you are meant to do and if you know that you cannot imagine yourself doing anything else, then that is what you are meant to do, and nothing should get in the way of that,” he said. “So do it.”
Juliana Brenner is a sophomore at Desert Academy. Contact her at julianabrenner@gmail.com.
Danny Cron