SPOTLIGHT
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Pass A bimonthly newsletter for Rome Little Theatre and Friends of the DeSoto members and contributors
ROME LITTLE THEATRE
DEC 2013/JAN 2014
First Time RLT Director Mandy Malone: "Being in the Theatre at Christmas is One of my Favorite Holiday Activities" By Wendell Barnes
I had a chance to sit down for a few minutes to chat with my friend Mandy Maloney, the director of RLT’s upcoming “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever,” during the renovations of the auditorium and the busy activity of building the set and getting it cleared in time for rehearsal! Mandy and I have known each other for years, and have worked together at the Public House Theatre at 1902 Stock Exchange in her hometown of Adairsville, and have become even closer friends now that she has become actively involved in RLT, which includes sharing the stage with her in “The Sound of Music,” her recent election to the Board of Directors and becoming one of the instructors for last fall’s Young Actor’s Workshop! Now she has taken on the Director’s task for the first time with this production, and there are many good reasons why she wanted to take on this additional daunting task. Mandy first fell in love with theatre in kindergarten, when she played Mrs. Claus in a Christmas play, rocking away as the wife of the round one. Mandy’s first involvement in theatre as an adult was with a Christmas show, “A Christmas Carol” at the Stock Exchange in 2004. A few years later she played Violet in a musical production of the favorite Christmas move, “It’s A Wonderful Life” there, with me playing Bert the cab driver and directing the production. Romance took her for a brief time to Camarillo, California, where she married her husband Nathan and stayed for a few years working with Camarillo Christian Church and School directing their Master’s Company, doing 3-4 musicals a year. Eventually they relocated back to Georgia so they could spend some time closer to her family in this area for a while and also because they liked the Southern lifestyle and less expense of beginning their own family here. And we are so glad that now they are a major part of RLT! One of Mandy’s favorite roles is the recurring role she has played as Louise, the friend of the title character in the musical “Always…Patsy Cline.” She even performed the role once when she was 9 months pregnant with her
BACKSTAGE PASS DECEMBER 2013/JANUARY 2014
daughter Millie (who is 5 years old now and has been joined by two- year-old brother Henry.) But as you can see, Mandy loves to be involved in the theatre at Christmastime. And “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” also gives her the opportunity to participate in her other theatre love: teaching children the basics of theatre while helping them learn about life, acceptance and rejection, self-confidence and so many other life lessons. Mandy feels strongly that that is the real value of theatre to everyone. So this great work of literature (Barbara Robinson’s book) becomes even more lively onstage than it is to read, and that’s saying something! Mandy loves to be involved at RLT; she had done props, costumes, make-up and hair, sets, directing, and will be producing “Grease” this spring. It takes a supportive family (thanks, Nathan!) to allow her the time to do this, and Millie has already appeared on the RLT stage as a snowflake and a Munchkin in last season’s “The Wizard of Oz”! Not only did she want to direct this show because it was Christmas-themed, but it also is a loving story with values that she supports due to her own strong faith, including themes of acceptance and a great spiritual message, and it is hysterical on top of that! There are even touches of an anti-bullying theme that is quite timely today. A perfect show for Christmas 2013! We talked briefly about auditions. Over 100 children and adults auditioned for this show, and she ended up with 30 children and 6 adults in the cast. We both wanted to be sure to convey to everyone in the community how important it is to keep coming to auditions, and if you don’t get cast, come back again and again, and volunteer to work on a committee or crew to get involved. I can think of numerous examples of people who auditioned again and again, and eventually they got cast and have become active. Community theatre is a big family, and is a great way to get every member of your family involved. I can give you examples of three or sometimes four generations of a family who participate together at RLT, especially parents of young actors, plus it’s a great way to make new friends to add to your ever-expanding theatre family too. (Continued onPage page1 8)