Revolutionary Tales: Jacob Khabie Takes a Bow
Revolutionary Tales: Jacob Khabie Takes a Bow
After shaping productions from behind the scenes, the political communications major takes a stage role made for him in one of his final acts of student theater.
Story // Nick Erickson
Video & Photos // Cara Taylor
Crusted in white makeup with a splash of red under the eyes, Jacob Khabie emerged from the backstage area and into the lobby for a quick drink of water.
It was a moment of short solitude before the doors to the University Student Center’s Grand Ballroom opened for a capacity crowd set to catch the opening night of “Rocky Horror Picture Show,” where Khabie was portraying the character Riff Raff in GW’s annual shadowcast production of the 1975 musical comedy horror classic.
And, he may have needed that water to prepare his singing voice for the night ahead.
Khabie in character is a lot like Khabie in real life—energetic, charismatic, passionate and versatile. As a political communications major at the George Washington University who has also been heavily involved in New Student Orientation and as both a crew and cast member of the student theater organization Forbidden Planet Productions (FPP), he wears a lot of hats and is always on the go.
It might make sense then why “Time Warp” is his favorite track of Rocky. Because at the end of the song, Riff Raff passes out for roughly five seconds. And in that moment, Khabie can finally catch his breath.
“That break is really nice,” he said.
He doesn’t get many of them in his current life, where behind the makeup is also a GW Presidential Scholar. But the work in putting on a show has all been worth it for Khabie, who was first bitten by the theater bug as a seventh grader in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, when he was cast as Cinderella’s father in the school production of “Into the Woods Jr.”
“What student theater does—especially at GW—is create a space for people to have fun together and embrace an art form that means a lot to them,” Khabie said. “For many students, college theater is their last chance to be part of that creative world before they enter the professional one.
“So yes, we focus on putting on high-quality shows, casting great people and building good sets—but it’s also about community. It’s about making friends, having fun and creating something together.”
Ironically, being in the cast of Rocky this fall may have actually been a scheduling reprieve.
Last school year, he served as the co-executive producer of FPP, one of four student-run theater companies at GW. In that role, he would run meetings, schedule shows, coordinate venues, manage the rights process and even step in to mediate.
After that successful tenure, Khabie knew one of his final missions at FPP was to be cast in the Rocky show he helped produce. This fall marked the 30th time FPP put on Rocky—the organization’s first-ever show. He was going to be a part of it in some capacity.
During his first couple of years working the production and behind-the-scenes side of FPP, and Rocky specifically, Khabie always thought “I’ll get to that at some point” when it came to auditioning for a cast role. But suddenly, it became now or never as he is set to graduate in May.
He also didn’t have much time to think about his audition, as trying out for a role in FPP’s version of Rocky includes a song of the auditioner’s choosing—for Khabie it was “I Don’t Care Much” from Cabaret, reading a few lines of the character they are trying out for and then dancing for 30 seconds to another song—which for Khabie was Lady Gaga’s “Judas.” The whole audition lasts just about three minutes, heightening the pressure to be “on” in that moment.
Khabie clearly was, as he was cast to be the character Richard O’Brien made iconic in the original Rocky. Khabie particularly enjoyed the high vocal range needed to play Riff Raff, a character portrayed as a hunchbacked handyman who is revealed to be an alien.
“As I’ve learned the role, I’ve loved it,” he said a week out from the Oct. 29 show. “[Riff Raff] is creepy but fun. It’s been such a blast.”
University Student Center Director and FPP staff advisor Cassandra Lammers believes Khabie’s previous experience as an executive producer gave him a valuable perspective that made for a smooth transition from crew to cast. On top of that, Lammers noted Khabie’s exemplary leadership and people skills that FPP—and the university in general—will deeply miss once he graduates.
“Jacob has truly seen it all—both as a student leader and as a performer—and he brings such grace, positivity and energy to everything he does,” Lammers said. “He’s an incredible role model on campus.”
While Khabie will be exiting stage right from his time in student theater, he intends to make the arts part of his life going forward and even believes there is some overlap between lessons learned through performance and his future career in political communications.
“When you’re working on a campaign, you’re collaborating toward a shared goal,” Khabie said. “It’s not the same format, of course, but the idea is similar. Teamwork, community, meeting people where they’re at and working together to build something meaningful.”
That is exactly what Khabie has done during his time at GW, both on and off the stage. He hopes the things he’s poured his passions into continue after he graduates and that people keep putting their energy and creativity into the communities that have given him so much joy and comfort during his time at the university.
Borrowing a line from Riff Raff, Khabie’s “time is fleeting” at GW—and as he’s done throughout the duration of his college experience, he intends to make the most of it.
Khabie will be part of FPP's production of "Anastasia" Dec. 11-13 at West Hall Blackbox.