21 Questions with... Jonathan Schwartz '10

OFF-BROADWAY ACTOR IN THE FANTASTICKS DRINKS CARROT JUICE, DAYDREAMS ONSTAGE, HATES THE STREETName: Jonathan Schwartz '10Age: 20Major: SociologyHometown: Cranford, N.J. Eating club/residential college/affiliation: Independent WilsoniteActivities on campus: Nassoons, PUP musicals, making short narcissistic films with friends.Who's your favorite Princetonian, living or dead, real or fictional?Jimmy Stewart. When I was first thinking about Princeton, I visited LA, and when I saw his handprints (at Grauman’s Chinese Theater), I put mine on top and they fit perfectly. I took it as a sign and that’s partially why I’m here right now (I’m a very indecisive person...)What's the best meal you've eaten in Princeton?Filet Mignon at Elements (opened earlier this year).  Filet Mignon is usually my measuring stick of how good a restaurant is. But Carousel is pretty up there as well.In one sentence, what do you actually do all day?Do just enough work to pass my classes, watch ‘The Wire’, and then sing, sing, sing.What is your greatest guilty pleasure?Xanadu (both the film and the musical).What's the last student performance you saw?Assassins put on by PUP.Do you know all the words to Old Nassau?Yes.  The Nassoons sing it pretty frequently.  It’s kind of awkward when we’re singing it with older alums who know alternative lyrics, which focus on it being an all-male school, e.g., using ‘my boys’ instead of ‘we sing’.  It compacts years of gender inequality and historical change into one off-key moment.What do you hate most about Princeton?The social scene.  I’m not very into the eating clubs, and wish we could be a little more varied in what we do on Thursday and Saturday nights. *Jonathan stops answering questions to cry in the corner of his sub-free single*What's your drink?Carrot juice.  Normally when I eat vegetables, it’s a chore, and I’m clocking my servings like difficult push-ups.  But carrot juice is akin to a sugary milk that’s good for your eyes.  No brainer.How often do you cook?A few times a week.  While I’m independent, I haven’t graduated to any really ambitious meals yet. I do a lot of eggs, an occasional tuna melt, eggs with a side of canned tuna, tuna surpise, cheese omelette, and beef wellington.What's your favorite medication?I forget what it’s called; that white liquid for something, amoxycilin, maybe?  It’s a smooth white liquid, like the medication equivalent of a pina colada: smooth, sweet, vanilla, ummm...I’m in the mood to get sick right now.What's hanging above your desk and/or bed?Posters of Moulin Rouge and The Beatles’ Yellow Submarine.  Wonderul music. Bright colors.  Lots of imagery.Where do you do your best thinking?Surprisingly, onstage.  In The Fantasticks, I have about ten minutes at the beginning where I’m onstage but I don’t have any lines or anything.  I daydream, make fun of the audience in my head, and then eventually remember that I have a job to do.When's bedtime?It depends on my rehearsal/performance schedule, usually between midnight to one-thirty.  I’m also a big fan of afternoon naps (although they never make you feel quite as good as you think they will).New Butler or Old Butler?Neither.  Why can’t Princeton designers take a hint and realize that the only look that anyone will enjoy twenty years later at Princeton is Gothic (a la Whitman)?What do you think of Dean Malkiel?She doesn’t say hi to me when we pass each other.  While we’ve never been formally introduced, I think that a head nod or a smile is obligatory on her part, and I’m a little disappointed.Where is the worst place on campus?Wilcox dining hall.  Did they change anything in their latest ‘renovation’? Re-paint the walls? I can’t believe they’ve turned Rocky/Mathey and Whitman into beautiful gourmet dining halls while Wilcox is left to wallow in it’s own ‘whatever’.Who is your mortal enemy?NJ Transit train conductors.When's the last time you used cash?I bought a crossword puzzle book in Penn Station.  I’m just starting to pick it up now, but I feel like a complete idiot because a lot of my Princeton friends are crossword geniuses, and I’m constantly looking up half the answers in the back.In 25 years, I will be…I’m a very superstitious person, so I think that if I say I’ll be doing something awesome in 25 years, it won’t happen.  Similarly, if I say I’ll be doing something really lousy, that will happen.  Even thinking about the cosmic implications of answering this question is making me uncomfortable. Hey, do you want to read my palm? Please?Where do you go to study alone?My room.  It’s a single, so I don’t have any roomates to distract me.  My laptop is distraction enough.What makes someone a Princetonian?Stressing out at the drop of a hat.You can watch Jonathan perform in The Fantasticks at the Snapple Theater on 50th and Broadway, New York.(image source: facebook.com)