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Local singer-actor approaches 15th show with RMTC
DISCOVER Amy Johnson will play Madame de la Grande Bouche in the Red Mountain Theatre Company’s summer production of “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast,” her 15th performance with RMTC. Photo courtesy of Elle Kay Images.
By ART SBHAM ST AF F ed Mountain Th eatre C ompany onc e again mounts tw o f ull produc tions f or its summer season. “ Disney ’ s B eauty and th e B east” and “ Mamma Mia! ” w ill b oth sh ow at th e Doroth y J emison Day Th eater. O ne c ast memb er of “ B eauty and th e B east” w ill b e f amiliar to B irmingh am audienc es. Amy J oh nson w as b orn in B irmingh am and grew up in R andolph and Montev allo, w h ere sh e ev entually attended th e Univ ersity of Montev allo and in 2 0 0 6 earned h er b ac h elor’ s of arts in th eatre. actually ust finished a stint this spring as a guest artist perf ormer w ith th e th eatre department in th eir produc tion of ‘ Urinetow n,’ ” sh e said. “ It’ s b een amaz ing to c onnec t w ith th e students, rec onnec t w ith th e c ampus and perf orm a dream role of mine, Penny Penny w ise. Suc h an inc redib le exp erienc e.” ArtsB H AM rec ently spok e w ith h er ab out h er role in “ B eauty and th e B east” and h er ex perienc es w ith R MTC . Q: How long have you lived in the Birmingham area? ‘Disney’s A: I moved to Birmingham shortly after I graduated Beauty and college and have lived in the the Beast’ Homewood/Southside area ever since. I love Birmingham and • WHAT: Based on have really enjoyed watching it the 1991 animated grow and change over the last eat re l several years. • WHEN: June W en did fir l es perform with Red Mountain days-Saturdays at Theatre Company? e es A: y first e perience with days, Saturdays and RMTC was “The Sound of Music” Sundays at 2 p.m. back in 2010. So, including the • WHERE: Dorothy 2014-16 Holiday Spectacular e is a heater, shows, this is show No. 15. 800 19th St. N. Fifteen? Holy cow. I’ve been • WEB: redmountain incredibly fortunate to stay theatre.org/beautybusy in the Birmingham theatre and-the-beast world, and TC has definitely been a pivotal part of that. W a er ae you done in the area? A: erforming in the agic City with companies like TC, Virginia Samford Theatre, The Dane and others has offered me the opportunity to cross some dream roles off the list like Ursula (“Little Mermaid”), Sister ary atrick Sister Act , Lady of the Lake Spamalot , and work on epic old and new shows like Les iserables, Fiddler on the oof, Falsettos, Hairspray and others. hen look at the list over the years, I’m a little overwhelmed at how lucky I am. Q: RMTC Executive Director Keith Cromwell will be directing Bea and e Bea ’ an i e a e een in e’ directed?
NECK OF THE WOODS
A: Of the 15 RMTC shows I’ve done, eight of them have been directed by Keith, including “Beauty & the Beast.” W a i r in i i li e A: Every director is different and definitely has a uni ue style of their own, and it can be tough as an actor to match your style with someone else’s. The thing I’ve learned with Keith is to make sure I have my multi-task switch turned on as soon as I walk in the door. The way he approaches work with actors re uires you to perform and listen at the same time, which is much easier than it sounds. You could be mid-song thinking you’re nailing it and he’s known to redirect you and e pect you to make new choices right away ... while you never stop singing. love that challenge. And it creates an environment where you can’t be afraid to really play and make off-the-cuff choices. Another thing love about working with eith is his passion about telling the story in a way that is relevant for our audiences and making sure we understand why we’re here, why what were doing is important, why this story is one that should be told. W a d in ll rin e r le Mada e de la Grande Bouche? A: n a role like this one, while The ardrobe isn t a central
character, her moments on stage are important and you have to find a way to make them stand out without taking away from the focus of the show — for some reason, Madame de la Grande Bouche & the Beast wasn’t a big hit on Broadway. I try to think early on about the things that make her different – things like voice, posture, accent, movement and layer that in during rehearsal on top of what we know and don t know about her story. Every character, no matter the size, has a story. If it’s not written, you build one, and that’s where the fun really is. For this role, m really e ploring her si e and power, while still keeping her feminine and in the realm of the world. Shes an e ception to the rest of the enchanted house objects because she’s not an employee, but an opera singer in real life who was caught in the wrong place at the wrong time and wound up under a spell. So that gives her a whole different layer of history to play with. m really looking forward to it! Editor’s note: This article was produced in partnership with artsBHAM. To learn more about them, visit artsbham.com.