Hi, my name is Cindy, and this is my resume. Yes, they are all high school shows. (I go to Progressive Prep, the most competitive drama program in Eastern West New Jersey.) I believe in putting roots down in one location and then letting your branches grow. Now that my tree is being ripped from the ground, or as the fascists call it--'graduation'--I've decided to compile my credentials and head out into the world.
Cabaret ~ Inga (The Most Important Kit Kat Girl)
I was ACTUALLY going to play Sally, but the director felt that I would outshine the guy playing Cliff, and I guess the guy who played Cliff was, like, the son of somebody important or something, like, somebody famous, or whatnot, so they had to go with a bland Sally, which is how they wound up with Cheryl, who's like, nice and stuff, but I mean, I don't know, she didn't really do it for me. Everything who saw the show said I was the best thing in it, which, I mean, is nice, I mean, I didn't say that, they did, and by they, I mean, people who know me, but who are, like, totally objective, you know? Anyway, I should probably just put that I played Sally because I would have gotten that role anyway and I was also her double understudy, meaning there was an understudy, and then there was a stand-by, and then there was me standing in the wings mouthing all the words to 'Maybe This Time.' So, yeah, I was a really crucial part of the show.
Kiss Me, Kate ~ Elaine Scarlettt Brewster, or Ensemble Woman #5
Elaine was an incredibly fulfilling positive experience for me after the less than incredibly fulfilling positive experience of Cabaret. Not that it wasn't great to be the strongest link in a show, but it can also be kind of isolating, you know? All that weight to be the best thing in the show over and over again every night for two GRUELING weekends? I mean, it takes its toll. Luckily, I had this amazing show to head into after that stressfest of a less than incredibly fulfilling positive experience. At first, I was just called Five Star, but then the director pulled me aside one day and said I should probably work on my character some more, so I gave her a really awesome name and decided she was being sexually harassed by the protagonist. It really made me grow as an actress. Playing Elaine Scarlettt Brewster just brought so much joy into my life. I added an extra 't' onto the end of 'Scarlet' because I feel like her mother was an illiterate gypsy who died while giving birth to little Elaine on the river. Makes you feel like singing, doesn't it? My gypsy mother don't ask for no man's hand, all she wants is a kerchief. A kerchief...of silk. I just came up with that. Are you amazed? I just do that sometimes. Songs like that. They just come out of my head. I'm going to call that one 'My Gypsy Mother.' God, being creative is a full-time job, isn't it? Anyway, despite my best efforts, I ended up being the best thing in that show too. I keep trying to remain in the background and the world keeps pushing me forward. Well, I mean, the world and the voice in my head saying 'Move forward and push that bitch Carly off the stage!' Hahaha...Carly was such a great Bianca in that show. I mean, her vibrato was wilder than a jungle cat, but you can't blame her, the poor thing. Lovely girl. I just, I mean, I didn't, I guess, you know, care for her, you know?
Sweeney Todd ~ Beggar Woman
So I played the Beggar Woman, which, was, as you can imagine, amazing. I mean, some might think that being Mrs. Lovett is, like, the most amazing thing, but believe it or not, the audiences weren't really having Mrs. Lovett when we did it. I'm not saying that's how it is when EVERYBODY does it, but they definitely weren't liking OUR Mrs. Lovett (again, poor Carly) and even though I could see in the director's eyes when I auditioned for him that he wanted to give me Mrs. Lovett, or maybe even give me Sweeney and make it a girl and do something really fun and interesting instead of the same old boring thing, I looked back at him with my eyes saying 'No please, I couldn't possibly take a bigger role than Beggar Woman' and then his eyes said 'But I need you to be the biggest possible role in the show because you're amazing' and I was going to say 'Well, maybe...' but then I sneezed, and so I wound up with Beggar Woman. Now, I don't know if you know this, but the show was maybe, at one point, going to be called Beggar Woman. It's true. In a good production, and ours was, like, the best, like, better than Broadway, like people who know people who saw it on Broadway said the people they talked to heard about ours and thought maybe ours might even be better--and in a good production, the Beggar Woman is, like, so the most important role in the entire show, and possibly one of the most important roles in the world of theater--ever. One time, I sang a line, and the entire audience stood up and cheered. It was, I mean, you know, it's just, I can't, but yeah, so, you know, I, I mean, sure my mom stood up first then turned around and flashed what some people thought was a gun, but was really just this squirt gun she keeps in her purse in case to ward off muggers, and that might or might not have been what got more people to rise, and some to clap, and some to just run for the door screaming 'Oh my God, she's got a gun!' but you know, it's just, you know, I mean, it was amazing. It was truly amazing to have that impact on people and remind me that it's about the art. Oh, and Carly totally lost her voice halfway through opening night and never really got it back, so if you're thinking of hiring her for a job or show or anything, I really would reconsider.
Please don't be intimidated by my resume. I'm actually willing to start from the bottom if need be. A star is never to big to reimagine itself as a planet or a comet or, like, that constellation that looks like a princess brushing her hair?
After all, it's all about the work.
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