THE FRIDAY FIVE: Adams, Byrd & Street-Kavanaugh from STEEL MAGNOLIAS
By: Jeffrey Ellis Apr. 24, 2015
Inspired by BroadwayWorld.com's Friday Six, welcome to BroadwayWorld Nashville's latest installment of The Friday Five: five questions designed to help you learn more about the talented people you'll find onstage throughout the Volunteer state. This week the spotlight shines on Kate Adams, Britt Byrd and Ann Street-Kavanaugh - Steel Magnolias' M'Lynn, Shelby and Ouiser from Imaginary Theatre's production of Robert Harling's classic comedy, opening in East Nashville tonight.
What was your first "live onstage" taste of theater? I was an elf in the Shoemaker and the Elves in third grade.
What is your favorite pre-show ritual? I like to have a nice lunch and a pedicure.
What's your most memorable "the show must go on" moment? When I was in Up the Down Staircase a fellow actor missed his entrance and we had a discussion about the baloney sandwich my character carried for 10 minutes until the stage manager found the actor.
What's your dream role? Kathy in Me and My Girl, or Cassie in A Chorus Line.
Who's your theatrical crush? Benedict Cumberbatch.
What was your first "live onstage" taste of theater? I played Annie in my high school's spring musical. I was in the sixth grade and completely clueless but I loved it. My grandmother enrolled me at StageWorks Theatre Academy the following summer and the rest is history, I guess!
What is your favorite pre-show ritual? I wish I could say I do yoga or mediated but honestly, I just like to plug my earbuds in and listen to music. I make character playlists through the rehearsal process. I find that helps me tremendously. My playlist during Blackbird was really dark, really angsty and hard but it prepared me for nearly two hours of emotional warfare.
What's your most memorable "the show must go on" moment? This story will reign supreme as one of the most terrifying but ultimately most epic moments I've ever experienced on stage. When I was doing Noises Off at Boiler Room Theatre, our Freddie (played by my personal hero Matt Bauer) went down one night with a terrible stomach bug. Like, so bad that we had buckets in the wings ready for him to throw up into when he left stage. He pushed through the first AND second acts until our stage manager had to take him to the ER. And to know the show is to know that it is truly an ensemble piece. It doesn't work without every actor in play. But we did it somehow. It became a real life Noises Off, each of us taking on Matt's lines and blocking. Laura Crockarell, like her character Belinda, orchestrated the entire thing. Her performance in the third act is still some of the best improvisation I've ever seen.
What's your dream role? This answer is always changing. The two roles on the bucket list that have been there the longest are Sally Bowles in Cabaret and Van's Sister in Dog Sees God.
Who's your theatrical crush? Megan Murphy Chambers. Always and forever.
What was your first "live onstage" taste of theater? I saw The Bell Witch at Nashville Children's Theatre. I was absolutely enthralled and was determined that as soon as I could figure out how, I was going to do theatre!
What is your favorite pre-show ritual? I love to stand in the wings as the overture or pre-show plays and listen to the audience! You get wonderful sense of their energy...are they chatting, quietly waiting for the show to start, opening candy, etc. It's a good prediction as to how the show will be received!
What's your most memorable "the show must go on" moment? I had a wreck that totaled my car opening night of Cabaret. I was mainly bruised and managed to get towed, police report filed, etc. and get to the theatre by call. I was quite shaken and when I told my director about the events, he said something about the show must go on and kissed me right in the mouth! It was not a romantic kiss...and it was weird enough to completely throw me off and make me forget the wreck!
What's your dream role? Elphaba in Wicked. I'd also love to do Mama Rose again!
Who's your theatrical crush? Liza Minnelli, forever and always! Also, Hugh Jackman!
About the show: Imaginary Theatre Company presents Steel Magnolias April 24-May 10 at Eastland Baptist Church 1215 Gallatin Ave, Nashville. Evening shows are at 7:30 p.m., matinees at 2:00 p.m. For more information visit http://imaginarytheatrecompany.com/ or call the box office at (615) 538-7620.
The Cast: Kate Adams - M'Lynn; Britt Byrd - Shelby; Heather Vaughn Alexander - Truvy; Angela Gimlin - Annelle; Beth Woodruff - Clairee; and Ann Street-Kavanaugh - Ouiser.The action is set in Truvy's beauty salon in Chinquapin, Louisiana, where all the ladies who are "anybody" come to have their hair done. Helped by her eager new assistant, Annelle (who is not sure whether or not she is still married), the outspoken, wise-cracking Truvy dispenses shampoos and free advice to the town's rich curmudgeon, Ouiser, ("I'm not crazy, I've just been in a bad mood for forty years"); an eccentric millionaire, Miss Clairee, who has a raging sweet tooth; and the local social leader, M'Lynn, whose daughter, Shelby (the prettiest girl in town), is about to marry a "good ole boy." Filled with hilarious repartee and not a few acerbic but humorously revealing verbal collisions, the play moves toward tragedy when, in the second act, the spunky Shelby (who is a diabetic) risks pregnancy and forfeits her life. The sudden realization of their mortality affects the others, but also draws on the underlying strength-and love-which give the play, and its characters, the special quality to make them truly touching, funny and marvelously amiable company in good times and bad.
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