BWW Interviews: Casey Weems, From Fear Factor To Allenberry Playhouse

Casey Weems has been at Allenberry Playhouse this summer in its first three shows, THE ANDREWS BROTHERS and the repertory Happy Days and THE FULL MONTY. A versatile younger actor, she's played everything on stage here from the lone female of four cast members to multiple parts in the ensemble of a larger musical. The Orlando, Florida native came to Central Pennsylvania by way of Montana - Bigfork Summer Playhouse, to be exact. She's played in Happy Days there as well, along with dancing Lola in DAMN YANKEES, and in college performed as Sheila in the run of A CHORUS LINE directed by Charlotte D'Amboise at Western Carolina University.

How does an actor make it from Orlando to Pennsylvania en route to New York, with a swing to Montana in there? And how did she come to be a "Fear Factor" champion (and does that same refusal to be intimidated help her with her career)? To find out, Broadway World caught up with Casey at The Breeches, Allenberry's lounge, for a conversation.

BWW: You're originally from the Orlando area. There's a lot of song and dance associated with that region - was your interest in musical theatre at all influenced by a certain Mouse?

CW: My father worked for Disney, and he helped build MGM, and I did grow up surrounded by Disney entertainment. It's ironic, between that and my studying with Terrence Mann, that the first movie I ever saw was "Beauty and the Beast". I never worked at Disney, though, and I didn't want to - I think knowing what goes on behind the scenes would ruin the magic for me.

BWW: So many actors seem to come from musical or other performing arts families. Did you as well, or were you the first one to have the performing bug?

CW: No - not at all! My aunt is a fashion designer. My father is an electrician. My brother's in the Air Force. Nobody's in performing arts. But my dad did take me to my first audition as a mini-Munchkin in "The Wizard of Oz." I continued to do community theatre but it wasn't till I got to high school that I realized that you could do this for a living. In school, they'd wanted to train me for the Olympics in gymnastics - no music, no theatre.

BWW: Aside from being on stage, you're also interested in writing. Can you tell us more about that?

CW: It started with journaling, which I've been doing since I was seven. The journals have certainly gotten deeper and more meaningful as I got older. I won a creative writing award for an essay on auditioning for ANNIE at my community theatre. I played Tessie in that production. I've written short stories; I was published in the Orlando Sentinel. I've free-lanced. I won my Nook in a creative writing contest.

BWW: So you'll be trying your hand at script writing?

CW: No. When I took creative writing in college we had to write a script. Everyone wanted me on their team, but it was awful. I could work on the book for a musical, but not a script. I could become a theatre critic! That would combine my passions for both.

BWW: Let's take a look at something else - you're pretty brave, aren't you? You did win Fear Factor Live! in Orlando.

CW: In college my freshman roommate came to visit me in Orlando and we did the theme parks, and of course I thought that as an Orlando native I should show up all the tourists! I got through the initial elimination round, pulling bean bags from a tank of eels and catching live squid in a bucket. I didn't have to eat anything disgusting. My roommate got dragged into having something gross - it may have been bugs blended into a drink. I may have gotten off easy!

BWW: Very well - back to theatre. You have your BFA from Western Carolina University - what's your theatre education?

CW: I started in community theatre and did that all through middle school and high school. I did Broadway Theatre Project in Tampa. Debra McWaters was running it. One of the things they used to sell it was bringing in Terrence Mann, and BEAUTY AND THE BEAST was my favorite musical. He mentioned being a professor at Western Carolina, but I'd heard of Western Carolina already because of a college fair. When I went to audition there, I didn't realize he'd be there - he was in the next room, in tech for GUYS AND DOLLS. The rest is history.

I've done his and Charlotte D'Amboise's Triple Arts intensive. Once I found out I'd be going to Western Carolina University I signed on for that the following summer. Fosse technique is my favorite, and there aren't too many people better equipped to teach that than Charlotte D'Amboise and Kelly Crandall. I was in A CHORUS LINE directed by Charlotte D'Amboise, and that was incredible. I was Sheila in that. It was my first experience playing older, but I discovered it wasn't really that hard to do that.

BWW: You've come to Allenberry Playhouse after some time working at Bigfork in Montana. How do The Playhouses compare?

CW: They're very similar. We repped four shows there as opposed to two here, but they're much alike otherwise. They draw really hard-working people. They've both got some prestige. And there's a lot of people who move from Bigfork to Allenberry. It's great to be associated with places like these.

BWW: And what's it like doing summer stock in Montana?

CW: It's the best! It's the most beautiful place I've ever seen. The weather is perfect, the people are young at heart, and everyone's so loving. You wouldn't think there's much to do there, but the second you leave, you want to go back. Glacier National Park is incredible.

BWW: Of the musicals you've done, what are your favorites? And do you have any favorite parts?

CW: My favorites from college are Sheila in A CHORUS LINE and Kate in KISS ME, KATE. I got to work opposite my best friend as Petruccio in KISS ME, KATE. Zsince then, I've gotten to play Roz in NINE TO FIVE at Bigfork, which was an accident - I got thirty-six hours to get ready for that. And Roz is different from any other characters I've played.

BWW: What parts are you looking for, ultimately? What's the dream role?

CW: Whatever one I'm hired for! But I'm all about Fosse parts, and shows set back in the 40's and 50's. I love CHICAGO, and I like Velma - she's so much deeper than Roxie. She's this fiercely desperate character. But CHICAGO's a dream show for anyone who loves Fosse.

BWW: I know Jessica Humphrey, who's also working in Central Pennsylvania right now, is a friend of yours. Her goal is to go into theatre education. What's your goal right now - to stay on stage? Teaching? Writing?

CW: There's never been a doubt in my mind that musical theatre is what I'm passionate about. I'm also interested in American Sign Language, and I'd love to incorporate that. I've thought about an MFA in acting, so I can pursue my character development. I like knowing what makes characters tick. And I like characters that have some meat to them, not just fluff. Velma? Sheila? They're real people.

Casey's website is www.caseyweems.com.

Photo credit: Scott Treadway

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