The Question Trend

So, apparently it's pretty obvious that music and performing are a huge part of my life and my heart. And if you haven't noticed it yet, you may want to have that reading disorder looked at. A lot of the questions I got after writing my "Notice me!" tirade are related to that subject. So I'll answer those all in one post. This post. :)

(EDITORS' NOTE: Due to my long-windedness and the need of my children to actually have a mother, I will only answer Katie's question in this post. The others I will answer in a "TO BE CONTINUED" post, later this day).

From Katie: "What is the favorite role you've ever played and why?"

This one is always very easy for me to answer. You would think not because I've played a lot of varied roles, very different from each other. And I've performed in a few venues (which can greatly affect one's memory of an experience). And I've played quite a few romantic leads opposite my husband. And I've even been fortunate enough in my life to request a specific role from a director, and actually get it (*cough* Frumah Sarah *cough, cough*).

But I will always, always, ALWAYS be grateful for the experience of playing "Eve" in "Children of Eden" at the SCERA Shell in 2002. There are a lot of contributing factors:


1) The cast was AMAZING! And I don't just mean amazingly talented, but I mean amazing to work with. There were so many people in that cast - like 100, or so - and there were so many people who were triple threats, and yet, no divas. We were like a family from beginning to end. And even though my (then new) husband and I missed the first 2 weeks of rehearsal because we went and got married and were on a honeymoon, they welcomed us in so warmly and didn't even blink at me, the lead, missing all of that work time. PLUS, my brother and sister and cousin were all in it. That was kind of rad. Oh, and Neal Johnson as "The Father?" Amazing. Acting opposite him felt like play all the time, he was so good. I especially loved the scenes where he would just totally yell at me. So fun.


2) Playing Eve after just having been through the temple in its entirety for the first time was an incredible experience. And doing "Children of Eden" in Utah will always be different than doing it elsewhere because of the allowance of religious themes and the spirit that was often present even at rehearsal. While I'm not sure that the entire cast was LDS, we still had some pretty amazing spiritual experiences. There is a scene at the end of ACT 1 where Eve (me) is old and dying. And she's at the altar, giving her daily supplication to the Lord, and she kind of yells at Him because she knows He can hear her, but never responds. And you can sense she's had to work on being patient with Him (a struggle she has throughout the entire 1st Act). And then, when she composes herself and prays with respect, He finally, after years of silence, quietly says, "Eve." Our director blocked it so that you could see Him behind me the entire time - but he doesn't say anything until that moment. It took everything in me to not fall apart at that moment every night so I could finish the monologue, sing an entire song to my "posterity," and then run into His arm's. It. was. incredible. Every night.


3) My husband played one end of the Serpent and that scene was really fun to do with him. Sure, he played the guy kind of gay, but that was the charm of it. In fact, the perfect balance of humor and emotion that was required of me in that production made it a very exhilarating and exhausting role to play. That is a very rewarding feeling to have. A balance of laughter and drama are kind of how I envision myself, and so I really felt like I fit in the role like a glove.



4) The director - Jan (then Shelton) Hunsaker. She had never met me, seen me, knew nothing of me. I showed up to the audition. Sang my song. Showed up to the callback. Read the sides, sang a few songs. A week later, my brother calls me from the theatre to tell me I've been cast as Eve. This was such a shock because the director knew I'd be missing at least two weeks of rehearsal with my wedding. And she still gave me the lead. Also - there were some community message boards that were popular among Utah community theatre actors and they were talking about how I didn't have the range to play the role. It was a real bruise to my ego. I ran into her later that day and expressed my concerns. She said she remembered I'd be out-of-town, but that she had felt something very strong when deciding to cast me. I was relatively unknown in that community, still (which matters), but she felt like the role was right for me and that she was willing to take a chance on me, even, if only, for my singing voice. That director and I have since worked on dozens of shows together and are very good friends. I miss her.

5) I was newly married. Everything made me happy.

Also, from Katie: "Is everyone in your family super duper talented?"

Yes. At least, I can vouch for my immediate family, anyway. The cousins and in-laws.... well, maybe talent attracts talent? I have 4 siblings: 2 brothers, 2 sisters. My parents are both incredibly talented musicians, who chose not to pursue it as a career. My mother spent hours instilling a love of music in my family. While my oldest brother doesn't care much for theatre or Utah (why you may not have known he even exists), he is an amazing drummer. You've met Cindy, the greatest soprano to grace the Earth. Tony did shows in Utah, and he's got a Tenor voice you wouldn't believe. And my little sister, Tina, still does shows here and there, but more in the Payson area.

As kids, we were in a family band and had to do gigs with my parents on most holidays. Mostly 50s, 60s, and 70s music. My dad played bass/sax/flute/clarinet. My brother, Alan, played the drums. My mom was the keyboards and did a lot of the ballads. My brother, Tony, would do a song here and there and then go to the boards to check sound balance. My sisters and I sang trios and were the "eye candy" (we were little, so we were more there for the cute factor). We wore sequins and did a lot of swaying. I had to start singing alto harmonies at 7 years old . We hated it. But, in hindsight, it was pretty cool. "The Winkel Family Band." We were even in the paper and on the local news a few times. :) We did a lot of County Fairs, store events, club events, and Church Parties. My first New Year's Eve without a family gig didn't happen until I was 20-years-old. I used to show up to Church dances on NY Eve at about 11:30 PM, my hair wreaking of cigarette smoke. I never thought I'd say this growing up, but I miss it.