Imagine a world where 10-year-olds are measured at auditions and are told they are too tall to play a role in a musical. Imagine being told that if you reach 5 feet tall, you probably won't perform in a musical professionally until you are 18 again. Imagine hearing that you are too tall, or too skinny, or too heavy, or the wrong ethnicity. Imagine sitting in dance class listening to parents talk about how great their children are, and showing YouTube videos of their children to anyone in eyesight. Now imagine in any of these situations that you are that child.
At around 10-years-old, while waiting to go into an audition, Joshua Turchin was told that many children stop acting professionally in theater once they hit the 5 foot mark or when their voices change because there are few shows with children over the age of 12. That period of time is known as the dead zone for child performers. As a child with a perfectly average height percentage on the growth chart, he realized that his time as a working actor could be limited. Rather than fulfill the height prophecy and enter into the dreaded dead zone, he decided to take action and prove the stage parents wrong. The Perfect Fit was born.
The Perfect Fit features the book, music and lyrics by musical sensation Joshua Turchin written when he was between the ages of 9-12 years old. “We are all trying to figure out where we belong in this world,” says Joshua. “It is through the ups and downs, trials and tribulations, forced fits and imperfect fits that help us to find our real perfect fit.”
After finishing the first draft of The Perfect Fit in March 2019, Joshua submitted it to the Rave Theater Festival through a blind submission process. A month later, he found out that it was one of only twenty shows selected out of hundreds across the world that applied.
Following the sold out run, Broadway Records signed Turchin to release music from the show to further the development. Plans were in place, but because of the Covid-19 pandemic, Joshua decided instead to record the EP completely remotely during quarantine. Broadway Records released the Remote EP of The Perfect Fit the Musical, which was the first EP to be completely recorded during quarantine with each actor and musician recording separately, and is available on all digital music outlets.
The success of the Remote EP of The Perfect Fit led to the recent collaboration with Sharon Playhouse. In an effort to continue to provide opportunities to out of work performers and musicians, Turchin reimagined his show into a socially distanced concert. The Perfect Fit: A Perfectly Distant Concert sold out at the Sharon Playhouse Drive-In in September.
Rave reviews led to Joshua continuing to move forward with his music, while maintaining a safe environment for the cast, creatives and audience. He wanted to create a live experience for audiences at home as well as in theaters, much like sporting games have audiences at home and in stadiums for live games. Upon producer Ken Davenport's call following the Drive-In concert and the introduction to The Shubert Organization, Joshua realized it was time to continue to find the perfect fit for his musical in a live stream world. Hence, The Perfect Fit the Musical: A Perfectly Distant Livestream Concert was created.
He hopes that you enjoy the music from wherever your perfect fit may be! Follow his adventures on Instagram and Tiktok: @joshuaturchin and following The Perfect Fit on instagram @theperfectfitmusical to see where The Perfect Fit's next perfect fit will be!
