Xander Primerano’s performing journey leads to big ambitions

Yorktown High School senior Alexander (Xander) Primerano has been described by his choir teachers, Andrea Stock and Olivia Knittle, along with his “Wizard of Oz” director, Jeremy Newberger, as “a hidden treasure.” They said he went half his high school career without participating in the performing arts at YHS before auditioning for drama in his junior year, joining choir, and ultimately landing the lead in last year’s musical. He continues to take part in both programs this year and is recognized as an outstanding leader among his peers.

Yorktown News caught up with Primerano, who reflected on his journey through the arts.

When did your interest in acting begin? My interest in theatre started in fourth grade when I decided to do the “Wizard Of Oz” as part of the school musical where I played a variety of roles. I continued in fifth grade in “Aladdin Jr.” where I was cast as Aladdin in the one scene where they sing “A Whole New World.” This was my first little taste of theatre singing but I absolutely adored acting and dancing beforehand.

I attempted to continue my sixth-grade year, but unfortunately, COVID hit and I was unable to continue. However I took up playing the string bass in orchestra from fifth grade to freshman year, but then I quit soon after. In my Junior year of high school, I decided to return to the stage in the fall play titled “Murder's in the Heir.” I got a really great role as Jordan and from there I reignited my passion for the arts, especially getting the lead in the spring musical.

I soon joined the school choir after that and continued to sing and dance and perform my way through the rest of my high school career.

Do you plan to continue acting after high school? I plan on attending SUNY New Paltz for college and continuing to study theatre as my dream is to either make my way up to Broadway or to hopefully join the stars on the silver screen and become a movie actor, since acting is my favorite thing in the world. Performing is my ultimate goal in life and I can't wait to pursue it in any future I may have.

Who inspires you? My biggest inspiration in life isn't any famous movie star but instead it is my late grandfather. He was an actor in several clubs that he was a part of and was a permanent performer of a show called “On Golden Pond.” He was also a professor at Fairfield University and even helped build up the business school. He was able to do so many great things in his life from teaching to performing and helping raise four amazing kids, one of which was my mom who encouraged me to start theatre in the first place.

What makes acting challenging? One of the most challenging things about performing is my limits. I have all these ambitions that I want to accomplish in my life, but I am limited by the things I can do. One of the biggest things is that my voice only goes so high ... most songs are either at the top of my range, or wayyyyyyy out of it. It's something I hope to work on in my future career. Dancing, while singing is also challenging because you are moving sometimes very fast and intensely and it doesn't allow many breaths to keep singing at a constant pace. 

How do you spend your free time? In my free time, when I'm not scrolling on TikTok into oblivion, I love spending time with my friends, especially my girlfriend. I used to be very introverted in freshman year but now I've come out of my shell and I love hanging out with people I'm close with. I also like to do volunteer work around my town such as helping out at fairs and learning how to be a firefighter when I volunteer at the firehouse.

What are the top five songs on your playlist? My top five songs right now are pretty hard to choose because I love many genres, but the top five are probably: “Locked Out of Heaven” by Bruno Mars; “Would You Fall in Love With Me Again” by Jorge Rivera-Herrans; “Wait for Me” from Hadestown; “You Don’t Mess Around With Jim” by Jim Croce; and “Bang Bang” by Jessie J, Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj.

Which teacher has most inspired you? One teacher that has really has inspired me in my artistic pursuits is my choir teacher, Ms Stock. I joined choir a little bit into my junior year not expecting much to come out of it, but she inspired me with her teaching and her words of encouragement. Then she had to go on maternity leave in my senior year where her temporary replacement, Ms Knittle, stepped in and she was such a fun person to work with and I wish we could've worked with her a bit longer.

But one of the biggest inspirations I've had that wasn't a teacher is our director for the musical this year. Since the choir teacher/drama director was out, we had a stand in director—Mr. Newberger was one of the most interesting people I have ever met. He was very funny, energetic, and full of ideas.

It was such an awesome experience that I will never forget for the rest of my life.