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Aly Perry as 'Nina'

10/20/2014

 
Aly Perry as 'Nina'
What excites you about working on this play?

It just won the Tony Award for Best Play!

The pacing is sharp, the characters are vibrant. It is modern, old-fashioned, and topsy-turvy. Great comedy. Durang walks the fine line between seriousness and comedy with this play in particular. It is at once over-the-top, and also extremely real. A true delight. 

What is your favorite line in the show?

"Beware Hootie Pie." - Cassandra

Is there anything about playing this role that intimidates you? Why?

Nina is a young, idealistic, bright eyed young woman who dreams of being an actress. She is absolutely sincere in her eagerness and her interest. The challenge is to bring that level of impressionability and awe to the stage without creating a caricature for comedy. In my past, I've been pegged as an ingénue (as is true for many performers, and young enthusiasts in general), and I aim to bring a depth to Nina's sweet wonder. 

What would you like the audience to be thinking about after the show?

Hmm...Hopefully they have laughed and guffawed and grinned and felt yearning and acceptance and love... I suppose a question that could arise is: "What barriers have I built that prevent me from taking risks toward further joy?" That seems really heavy right now. Here's where I'm coming from:  Several characters in the play are suspended from action within their own lives, and suddenly there is a ball of chaos that barrels through the living room and disrupts that suspension...Yes, so, it'd be lovely to hear that the play sparked a conversation around how we protect ourselves from our own bliss or contentment. 

What made you want to work with Vermont Stage?

It is a wonderful opportunity to collaborate with Vermont Stage's actors, directors and designers. They are a company taking risks and bringing new kinds of material to the Burlington and Vermont area! It's a thrill.


Ellen McQueeney on playing 'Masha'

10/13/2014

 
Ellen McQueeney as 'Masha'
Why should someone come to see this show?

Anyone who wants to laugh and have a good time should come to see this show! Christopher Durang is a master playwright who has crafted a wonderfully funny, moving play about complex characters who are now middle aged and questioning the choices they made in life.

What excites you about working on this show? 

I am excited about working on this show because the play is so well written! Playing comedy is always a welcome challenge, too, and my castmates are very talented and a lot of fun to work with! I look forward to many performances with this fine group of actors...to find all the nuances of the characters and the play!

What character are you playing and how would you describe them to someone?

I am playing the role of Masha....sister of Vanya and Sonia...and the only sibling who "got out" of the family home and had a career and a life. Masha is a successful actress, and she is most famous for her "Sexy Killer" movies, but she deeply regrets not having had a career as a classical stage actress. She is very insecure, which she masks with her apparently large ego and her self-involvement. She loves nothing more than to talk about herself and her acting experiences....and she just cannot understand why she hasn't been able to hold onto any of her five husbands. In the play, she shows up with her very young "boy toy" boyfriend, Spike. Clearly, she is trying to recapture her youth and trying to make herself feel better about her life. 

Is there anything about your character that you can relate to?

The only thing about my character that I can relate to is that, I too, am an actress....but the similarity stops there. While I have had a successful career as an actor, working regionally and off broadway, I have never known life as a celebrity, as Masha has. For this, I am actually grateful, as a life in the public eye can lead to great insecurity, disillusionment and despair. In Masha's case, she has never been able to stay in a steady relationship because of her success and her life choices, and this distresses her greatly. 

Is there anything about playing this role that intimidates you?

The only thing that intimidates me about playing Masha is a bit of concern that the audience will see her as mean or evil, rather than just self involved. So, hopefully, as the story unfolds, she will be revealed as greatly flawed and insecure, and if I do my job correctly, perhaps the audience will feel some sympathy for her as they see how she is changed throughout the course of the play. 

What is your favorite line in the show? 

My favorite line in the play is Nina's line...."Oh, life is like a long, long pathway in the forest, filled with wonderful surprises ahead. Artistic fulfillment, fame, fortune....love. Do you agree?"


Ito Aghayere on playing 'Cassadra' in "Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike"

10/7/2014

 
Ito Aghayere
What character are you playing and how would you describe her to someone?

I'm playing Cassandra, and I would describe her as...the benevolent know-it-all, the reluctant psychic, the under appreciated prophetess.

Is there anything about playing Cassandra that intimidates you?

Yes! I'm playing a woman that hears things. That alone is daunting! To be able to bring life and authenticity to the role of Cassandra is a challenge I look forward to. This character is a woman plagued by visions of the future in addition to the incessant need to rescue her employers from it. She's not crazy, she's cursed. She is determined to make the best of it. Her strong desire to change the future and her uncanny and unpredictable prescient abilities are both ironic and hilarious components of her personality  that are grounded in an undeniable (albeit somewhat crazy) reality!

Is there anything about your character that you can relate to?

I'm a middle child in a very big family with loads of experience giving advice that's never taken!

Why should someone come to see this show?

Because you'll be laughing for 99% of the time.

What is your favorite line in the show?

"And Hootie Pie should be called Spawn of the Devil."


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