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by Vini Bulhoes
The play has been done by many before, which only made it more difficult for these young actors to make it their own. But on March 9, the cast wowed the audience.
Sammy Myette played one of Cinderella’s stepsisters, Grace. It was her first lead role. Even though the part had been done many times before, Sammy tapped into herself to find Grace, a maniacal young girl. “I thought she was a really big exaggeration of me. I’m kind of crazy and sometimes stupid. I don’t usually get lead roles, and I’ve done tons of different characters, and I felt like this suited me well.”
Sammy had more freedom to experiment with her character than most of her fellow cast members. Because she played a comedic role, she was allowed to improvise, only keeping in the final performances what worked during rehearsals.
To be the part you must look the part, and Sammy was exactly what her character demanded. “When she [Kathleen McKenzie] was talking to me about why I got it [the role of Grace], she said my arms and legs are just so lanky,” Sammy said, laughing.
Everyone auditioned with an open mind for which character they would play. “We don’t really audition for parts. We just pick a song that we sound good singing,” said junior Laura Girard.
Laura Girard got the part played by none other than the late Whitney Houston in the original Rodgers and Hammerstein adaptation of the story. Girard has performed in many plays, so she didn’t have any trouble becoming the Fairy Godmother. But with such a huge act to follow, she did feel pressured to do especially well. “I felt like it was strange, because with Whitney Houston just passing away, the part was written for her, so they were big shoes to fill.”
Girard does various afterschool activities that help her perfect her performances, such as ballet, voice and piano lessons. She joined Arts Alliance at a very young age, and performing became something she never thought twice about doing. “I was always a dramatic kid. Like when I started dance when I was three, I told my mom I had been waiting my whole life to dance.”
Now a junior at Hudson High, Laura is auditioning for regional and semiprofessional productions. She is looking forward to getting a bachelor’s degree in musical theater, and then off to Broadway!
No matter how much work it took to prepare for the production, the cast is definitely “going to miss this whole experience,” said Sammy. “We bonded very well as a cast; it was like one big family.”
