At the age of five I saw Forrest Tucker in The Music Man, but my love for the theatre didn't really begin until the following year when I saw a distinctly low-budget, in-the-round version of Peter Pan -- Peter was lifted by a pirate and hooked to his very visible wire in full view of the audience. I was charmed by the fact that, actors and audience, we were all pretending together. I continue to prefer arena stages because of that especially close bond with the audience, and I'm thrilled to have my first chance to perform in the gorgeous space at the Stone Cottage.
I got my formal acting training from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, but quickly decided I wanted a more predictable life than I could have as an actress. I spent twenty years in the corporate and education worlds before I just couldn't stand it any more and began acting again; now I have the best of both worlds -- I love my day job as a Montessori preschool teacher, and I get to keep pretending with the audience at night. Some of my favorite characters have been Vivian Bearing in Wit (got to shave my head), Stage Manager in Our Town (got to find the feminine in a traditionally male part) and Rose in Enchanted April (got to imagine I was actually in Italy). Although I'm a native Texan and have known quite a few of them, this is the first time I've played a Big-haired Baptist. I hope my Baptist grandmother isn't revolving in her grave over what we have wrought...
...as for my thoughts on seeing The Nutcracker for the first time -- well, I'm not sure I've actually seen the whole thing yet. See, I grew up mostly in Pasadena, Texas (where the grass is greener and so is the air), and we really didn't get out much. There was a ballet/belly dancing studio down the road, though...I think they might have done a version almost as good as the Velvet Kittens.
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