BWW JR: THE MANY HATS OF FRANCESCA McGRORY- More Than Just a Freckle Face
By: Erin Leigh Peck Feb. 02, 2012
As a busy mom, I often bemoan the burden of multi-tasking. I cry and whine about how I never get enough recognition for the fact that I do six jobs at once, every day, and don't get paid for most of them. Then I met Francesca McGrory, and I knew I'd met my multi-tasking match.
Francesca McGrory never thought she'd be starring in one of the biggest shows to hit the New York family theatre scene in years. She also didn't think she'd be simultaneously heading up the production's outreach marketing or sharing the job of company manager. But come on, who could possibly do all those things at once? (Besides a mom!) True to her character's persona, the actress who brings "Freckleface Strawberry" to life every weekend in FRECKLEFACE THE MUSICAL also has no less than THREE jobs at Manhattan Movement and Arts Center, and she handles them all like a pro.
Growing up in Toronto, red-haired Francesca McGrory didn't plan on working in show business. She enrolled in a prestigious Canadian girl's high school for mathematics and computers and planed on accepting a scholarship to Queens University to study finite math. Whatever that is.
It was towards the end of her high school years that Francesca started to get the bug. She boldly walked into her guidance counselor's office and announced her desire to defer the college scholarship for a year so that she could go to New York and audition for acting schools.
"He was like, 'I'm sorry, WHAT?'" says Francesca. "I was really discouraged by my teachers."
But it wasn't enough to deter the freckle-faced dreamer, and Francesca skipped out on class to travel to New York for her Julliard audition. Having never been to New York before, she got lost and somehow ended up at AMDA (The American Musical and Dramatic Academy) on 61st street, asking for directions.
They did, and the next weekend Francesca returned to New York to audition. She was so close to the deadline that she had to hand in her applications in person. She was accepted on the spot with a partial scholarship. "I literally walked in and asked what the place was and I was like, 'Do you have an international program for musical theatre majors?'"
Although ecstatic, Francesca assumed she'd return to Queens University for math….sorry, Finite Mathematics.
"I just never did. I auditioned during the day and did AMDA classes at night, and I booked my first show at St. Lukes Theatre."
It was a children's show called "The Tortoise and the Hair's Holiday Hoopla". Francesca played a princess, a ballerina, a cat and a fairy. For money. Take that, Julliard.
"I had this gigantic costume and I would chaine on stage on point, do a monologue, chaine back."
Not bad for a math major.
After the show closed, Francesca started working as part of the Chicago "Dance Mob", a team of costumed dancers who performed in the middle of Times Square while handing out flyers to promote Chicago on Broadway.
"It was really fun," she says of the experience, "….until it wasn't fun any more."
She got "flyering" jobs for other shows too, and even handed out a few for the original production of Freckleface Strawberry that played New World Stages. Of course she didn't realize back then that the red-headed freckleface on that flyer would one day be her. Or that she'd be the company manager. Or doing their marketing….
Francesca knew she needed to stay in class if she was going to get back onto a New York stage, and Manhattan Movement and Arts Center offered a work study program where students could intern in exchange for dance classes. MMAC is the creation of Rose Caiola, an ex-ballet dancer and mom who has made it her goal to provide both cultural and educational opportunities for the city at large through her artistic endeavors. Rose founded MMAC as a place for top-notch dance education and a theatre. It has quickly become the premier NY destination for the best children's theatre in town, hosting such hits as Freckleface Strawberry (on which Rose is a producer), Berenstain Bears, The Amazing Max and His Box of Interesting Things and Pinkalicious."
It was exactly the kind of place where an ambitious and energetic young performer could find a home, and that's what Francesca did. She started taking tap classes while assisting MMAC's theatre manager from home.
"I started taking on more and more responsibility," Francesca explains. "Nobody knew who I was because I was supposed to be interning from home but I was there helping out all the time. One day MMAC's rep for Freckleface said 'You look like Freckleface' and I was like 'Oh I used to hand out flyers in times square for them.' So she asked me if I wanted to play Freckleface for birthday parties."
Soon Francesca found herself handing out balloons and singing "Happy Birthday" dressed as Freckleface Strawberry while working for MMAC's theatre manager and taking dance class. The production of Freckleface closed at New World Stages and Francesca took over for MMAC's departing theatre manager. That's when Rose Caiola started talking about bringing Feckleface back and staging it at MMAC. Francesca took on even more responsibility, becoming company manger for the incoming Freckleface and also for The Amazing Max and His Box of Interesting Things. She had to coordinate both shows sharing the same playing space, not to mention all the tasks involved with bringing in a show in under two months. And of course, that meant casting. A show poster went up featuring the previous cast and Francesca's dance teachers at MMAC started calling her "Freckleface". People started encouraging her to audition, but Francesca wasn't sure if it was OK for the company manager to be in the show. It's pretty much unheard of in New York theatre, and it would require Fancesca to be dealing with box office and last minute tasks during the actor's prep time before curtain.
Rose Caiola encouraged her. Even though Francesca had proven herself irreplaceable in so many capacities, Rose has never been one to stand in the way of a dream. She sent Francesca an email saying, "You have to get down there and audition!" And Francesca knew her boss was right.
"It's weird auditioning at your office," she recalls. "I remember walking in and the casting director asked me if there was anyone behind the table who I DIDN'T know!"
She sang "It's My Party and I'll Cry if I Want To" and buttoned the song in the classic Freckleface Strawberry pose with hands on hips and toes turned in. The creative team burst out laughing.
"Francesca came in with an enormous amount of energy and charm," says Cindi Rush of Cindi Rush Casting, who casts FRECKLEFACE THE MUSICAL among other shows. "She embodied the spirit of the character and was completely captivating. She left the room and we knew we had found our Freckleface."
The newly-titled FRECLEFACE THE MUSICAL opened at MMAC on November 8th, 2011 starring Francesca McGrory in the title role. Francesca stayed on as company manger but she now splits the job with another person, allowing her to focus on the show during performances while managing the company during the day. She gave up her theatre managing responsibilities at MMAC but quickly replaced them with the job of head of Outreach Marketing.
"The rest of the cast and I wanted to do more work with charities. The show has a message about bullying and self-acceptance and we really liked being able to share that. So I asked them to create this position for me. I think it's the part I like best about being with the show."
Today, Francesca juggles her many hats with ease. She loves being a part of every side of the process, and she finds that the role of Freckleface comes easy to her.
" It's not far off from who I actually am," she laughs. "My boyfriend has seen the show like fifteen times and he always laughs, especially at the parts where I'm just playing by myself. He says it's just me. I'm completely a child. I think that's what makes me flexible and able to wear so many hats. I get fascinated really quickly. I sign up for everything".
It's hard to believe that anyone lacking in maturity would be able to handle so many jobs, but watching Francesca McGrory on stage and seeing the impact she has on the children in the audience makes you understand her point.
"This show is for kids, about kids and every time we finish a show I sign autographs and I love how the kids get the show," she explains. "They understand it because it doesn't talk down to them. They get the message right away. They follow the story because it's something they can understand. They all understand bullying on some level, no matter the age. And bottom line is that they enjoy it."
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