The Proud and the Prejudiced, Part 2
During the luxurious three-day break between our run at The Shell and the performances at BYU, I had time to sort through the last batch of photos from the rehearsal process, so I thought I’d take advantage of a few of them to introduce a few more members of the cast.
Robinne Booth
As you can probably tell from this article in the Daily Herald, Robinne is a force of nature theater. Being on stage with Robinne, I feel much the same way I do when I’m dancing with Lydia. She’s doing all the work, I spend most of my time just trying to keep up (literally), and I end up looking much better than I deserve simply because we’re sharing the same stage. It’s just impossible not to get swept up and carried along by her energy and enthusiasm.
In fact, during the finale, Robinne approaches me enthusiastically, grabs me violently by the shoulders and yanks me forward so she can plant a kiss on each of my cheeks. Even though I know it’s coming, the ferocity of the interaction always leaves me looking a little stunned. I’m not acting, I’m concussed.
Dane Allred
Dane earned all sorts of stage cred in my book simply by being the only male cast member with the chutzpah to grow muttonchops for the show.
He’s also responsible for my favorite acting moment in the whole play. It’s just after Mr. Bennet has returned from his search for Lydia in London. The Bennet daughters are in the garden talking and Dane stands in the wings, offstage left, and says (as if speaking to the maid), “I’ll be around back, Hill…”, and then he wanders on stage. As the daughters finish their dialogue, Dane turns and takes a few steps upstage, mutters something offstage about someone getting their bags, and then turns around and walks into the scene with Lizzie and Jane.
They are two or three throwaway lines that exist only as a cue to let the Bennet daughters know that their father is approaching, but it’s not the lines themselves that I love so much. It’s that Dane is able to take those two or three throwaway lines, and in the sound of his voice and the manner of his entrance, convey more about what Mr. Bennet is feelings in those five seconds than most actors could in the entire scene that follows.
That moment takes place a few minutes before I make my entrance with Lydia, but I always make it a point to get there a little early so I can sit in the wings and watch Dane make that entrance.
Kristen Southerland and Jessica Crandall
Poor Mary and Kitty have been dealt with rather harshly in the film adaptations of Pride and Prejudice. Mary usually comes off as either an automaton or a sociopath, and Kitty is like a cheerleader with ADHD. I think Kristen and Jessica have done an excellent job of grounding the characters in some reality without making them any less delightful. (And perhaps making them more so.)
I’ve actually known Kristen for quite a while. Her family was in our ward when we lived in the Green-Roofed House. I think she was six at the time.
Pardon me while I go get my walker…
Josie Rogers
When I looked at this series of photos for the first time, I could have sworn that there was an actual glow around Josie. After taking a closer look, I came to the conclusion that it was probably just an optical illusion caused by a combination of her hair color and the saturated theatrical lighting.
However, I’m perfectly willing to believe that she has some sort of force field surrounding her after she somehow escaped a certain flattening when one of the flats attacked her during the last week of rehearsals. So, it’s either an optical illusion, a force field, or perhaps she’s just so beautiful that she glows on stage. All three are plausible explanations…
Comments
jenny
I think that we all showed up at the first rehearsal, wondering just HOW plain the poor girl who’d been cast as Charlotte Lucas really was. Imagine our chagrin when— instead of a truly plain girl —was this gorgeous hourglass-curvy blonde. Lucky Charlotte, but bummer for those of us who have to share the stage with her!
And, darn it all, she’s even nice, to boot…
Kate
Upon seeing one of the previous sets of rehearsal pictures I was going to comment upon what I shall call the “Charlotte Lucas” phenomenon (wherein the actress playing Charlotte Lucas, more often than not, is just as attractive or even moreso than any of the Bennet sister combined). While the Bennet sisters in THIS production are, indeed, lovely, she is probably the prettiest Charlotte Lucas I’ve ever seen.