TAABeauty Cast Spotlight: Lauren Chambers, "Babette"

"Into the Woods"

From mission work in Thailand to wowing us in every TAABeauty rehearsal with her hysterical and detailed performance as the French maid turned Feather Duster, Babette, Lauren Chambers throws her whole heart into everything she does, including her work on the stage!  She has been part of the Visalia performing arts community from an early age, and shared some of her thoughts on theater and life with us...

How did you get here?  Why is theater part of your life? I grew up watching old musicals, and I was mesmerized by them! The beautiful ladies in the beautiful dresses doing beautiful dances. It was all I ever wanted to do! Theater has also given me the opportunity to dance again, and has taught me a lot about confidence! There is something weirdly freeing about being someone else for a bit, it's fun!
 

"South Pacific"

Tell us about your performing arts background...I have been performing in one way or another in Visalia since I was in elementary school. Throughout my school years, I was very involved with Dance Arts, and since I've moved back to Visalia I've been enjoying working with the League of Christian Actors and Theater Arts Alliance. 

What is your favorite theater project to date? I think one of my favorite shows I've done was TAA's Young Frankenstein. The show itself is funny, but the cast made it hilarious! It was such a small cast, and most of us had worked together on other projects before, so it was like doing a show with your family. I was in the ensemble, so I had a million different parts. It was wonderful!  

What is your "day job," and what else do you do when you're not on stage?By day I am a teacher, I guess you could say it relates to theater by fact that I'm used to having an audience all day long. But really, I think that theater has helped me in my work simply because theater has helped me become a more confident person in general, in and out of my classroom. Aside from theater and work, I hardly have time for other hobbies, but I love to craft. I knit and and do other silly Pinterest-inspired things. I also love to bake pie! 

Real-life in Thailand!

Why see this production of "Beauty and the Beast?" Beauty and the Beast is a fairy tale, and fairy tales are good for the soul! Beauty and the Beast sends an important message about standing up for yourself, looking for the good in others and not judging someone simply because they may look different. I think everyone should see this show, because it really is "a tale as old as time," but our cast is giving a great interpretation to this magical story!

Dancing in TAABeauty rehearsal with Lumiere

 See Lauren as Babette the Feather Duster and the rest of the marvelous TAABeauty cast 

August 18-21 at Visalia's LJ Williams Theater
For tickets call 559-972-8417 

Or go to www.brownpapertickets.com

Dancing Right Out of My Comfort Zone

I've been producing theater for more than twenty years in one capacity or another.  Lots of professional work where I did my job as music director and conductor and didn't have to worry about anything else, and lots where low-budget and scrappy community theater called on me to do everything from hair and makeup to set construction.

Nothing,  NOTHING, I tell you, prepared me for........


The pancake tutu. 

They are beautiful and obviously complicated, and one to three thousand dollars, purchased.  What???  And we need three for the Nutcracker? 

Oh no.  I can do this.  Let's go to YouTube.

Huh.  "How to make a cheap tutu stand up and look like a pancake..."  for a Halloween costume, maybe -- not for grand ballet...  Romantic tutu tutorials galore... (tutu tutorials... didn't even mean for that to be cute...)

And then I FOUND it!  "How to Make a Ballet Tutu"  with the competent looking woman seated in a studio surrounded by gorgeous pancake tutus.

"All you need to make a tutu is a little bit of knowledge..."  (She is so comforting!!! Yay!!!  She's going to impart this coveted knowledge!!!)

"...and a person, who is professionally trained in tutu making."

Wait, what?  Can I get that at Joann Fabrics?  I have somehow missed the human trafficking in tutu makers...

No exaggeration, here's the link, watch the first 20 seconds... How to Make a Ballet Tutu

The first attempt -- 20 some hours of attempt -- seemed pretty okay until I sewed the last seam and stood the layers up.  They didn't meet in the middle!  No one wants a ballerina with no tutu in the back!  But I had learned a lot.  I learned that the basque -- ha!  First I learned what a basque was! -- is supposed to cover up all the layers of stitching.  Mine didn't.  I learned that the pattern I had didn't have enough material to gather, and that I needed to at least double it.  I learned that I still would rather be a musician than a costumer...

But the second attempt -- Ahhh, the second attempt!!  Just look at it!

And it's even prettier right-side-up and on the young woman who will play the Ballerina Doll at the party!

Finished off the day by going to rehearsal to dance in the party scene.  (I'm a conductor.  And a vocal coach.)  I had the time of my life.  Never dreamed I'd be in the ballet I've drooled over since I was a small child.  Much subtle and beautiful legit dancing in this production, but the moment of "courtly" dance at the party is beautiful even with people like me doing it!  Rachel Thompson is a miracle disguised as a choreographer.

How does a vocal coach and musical theater conductor get mixed up in ballet?  Well the answer is also why I haven't written anything in the last six months or so --- but it's coming up soon! 

Get a taste here:  www.theaterartsalliance.com 

Happily Ever-Aftering in Camelot!

Josh and his dressing room sign!

"Camelot" in Fresno had the best Tom of Warwick ever!

When I saw the post on Facebook announcing auditions for a local young actor for the part of young Tom of Warwick on the Camelot tour, Josh was my first thought.  

Spunky and self-possessed, with bucketfuls of theater experience (but not a lot of height!) for someone his age, and even having played Gavroche in the Saroyan Theater a year before, I thought Josh was the perfect candidate -- and when his mom sent in his audition materials, the production team agreed! 

Overnight, Josh was a local celebrity.  A car was sent to take him to a local TV news interview. (Link Click here!) 



The Visalia newspaper wrote an article and took tons of great pictures. (All images Here)
  

 The rehearsal process was short and intense -- a few short hours before the first performance!

Soon we were waiting in the spacious and beautiful Saroyan Theater...  

Having done Camelot several years before, we came with original-production expectations -- large orchestra, set changes that can be cumbersome and large chorus numbers.  How different this production was!  The orchestration was entirely re-imagined with a five player pit -- focusing heavily on percussion and early instrument sounds which created a sparse authenticity that was very exciting and interesting.  The sets centered around a large abstract sculpture that suggested a tree at one moment and a throne at another.  Projection, fog, and specialty lighting were used to create a fresh new ambiance for each scene that was not dependent upon major scene changes, though the fly used for many castle scenes was a thing of absolute beauty, creating the illusion of a multi-layered tapestry.  I especially liked the chorus work in The Joust, which was very tight and exciting.   Overall I found the production very fresh and interesting -- and Josh NAILED IT! :D

After the show, we were allowed to come backstage and see the set pieces up close.  We were especially glad to see the construction of Guinevere's bed, which was simple and looked great on stage!  

Cool fog and light effects!

The castle tapestry (and Guinevere and Arthur!) that I liked so much -- the colors changed with the mood!
I loved how all of Guinevere's dresses moved, and this is a beautiful example!

The icing on the cake of this production... was the opportunity to meet a friend-of-a-friend who was playing percussion in the pit.  Over dinner we got to hear all the fabulous details of life on tour, the amazing machinery of move-in and move-out, and the thoughts behind the re-imagined orchestration, as well as make a new friend!  The musical theater world is small and fabulous!