 |
| Maryanna Lauter is no angel as Alice Wendleken in The Best Christmas Pageant Ever |
By her own recollection, Maryanna
Lauter “practically grew up here at the Barn,” and has always played the “quiet
and nice young girl” in such roles as a 5 year-old in A Wonderful Life, Olive in Spelling
Bee, Velda in The Amish Project,
and the title role in Annie. Maryanna’s natural sweetness made her a
great fit for those good-girl roles, and while she relishes those past
experiences, now she’s singing a different tune: No more miss nice girl!
In the Farmington Players
production of The Best Christmas Pageant
Ever, Maryanna plays Alice Wendleken, who she describes as “a stuck up,
know-it-all who loves to be in the spotlight. I love getting to be the mean
girl for once. Alice is self-absorbed, self-righteous and thinks she's the
perfect Christian girl, but in truth, she is nasty and inconsiderate.” Alice looks down on the Herdman
children, who are newcomers to church and first-timers in the annual Christmas
pageant. So how did Maryanna learn
how to get so mean? “I prepared
for my role by basing Alice off of real people I've come across in life as much
as possible, and even trying to mirror mean girls I see in TV shows and movies.”
Besides the fun challenge of
playing her opposite, Maryanna wanted to be in Christmas Pageant because her mother Amy “was in this show when she
was around my age. She played Gladys and I've always heard her saying it was
one of her favorite shows she'd ever been in and I thought that I could pay
homage to her by doing this show!”
Maryanna also credits director Terie Spencer for inspiring her to do her
best work as an actor: “Every show
I've done with her has always been so memorable. I've grown not only as an
actor, but as a person whenever she directs me in a show.” Plus, it is especially fun to do a show
with other kids from Warner Middle School (where she is in 8th
grade), including Madi LaJoice, Hannah Weinraub, Michael Soverinsky and Ben
Rakolta.
Beyond the fun and frivolity,
Maryanna thinks audiences will enjoy this show because “not only is it a
hilarious play for people of all ages, it has such a beautiful meaning that no
matter how old you are, what your religion is, or what your past is, you can
change for the better.” In
preparing for this role, Maryanna drew on some of her own earliest memories at
church: “I had heard the Christmas
story countless times when I was younger. I went to Vacation Bible School every
summer from ages 5-8. I remember hearing about God and Jesus and the Bible but
never truly understood what those meant. … Flash forward to when I was 10 years
old and I had to go with my dad because he had an organ gig at a church in
Royal Oak. I didn't plan on really listening to the service but I did. I
experienced a feeling I'd never felt before. It was the first time in a long
time I had felt happy, as I was having a rough couple of years. I wanted to cry because I felt so close
with the Lord and I finally realized I had someone and something to turn to in
times of hopelessness, anxiety and sadness.”
Maryanna equates her own
revelation with the children’s realization of the true meaning of Christmas in
the play. As she says, “I think
that's what happens to the Herdmans, especially Imogene in our show. I'm lucky
enough that something like that happened to me pretty early in life. On the
other hand, I also relate to the church kids in our show from that story. They
are raised hearing all about the Christian faith and what it means but probably
don't get to experience the true meaning of religion until later in life, but
like I said before, I was lucky enough to learn the true meaning at a young
age.” Maryanna shows a level of maturity well beyond her 13 years, and to
develop such a depth of understanding at her young age is no mean feat!
The Farmington Players production
of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is
proudly sponsored by The Life Chest. The 12 performances run from December 2 -
18, 2016. Tickets are available online at farmingtonplayers.org or by
contacting the Barn box office at boxoffice@farmingtonplayers.org
or 248-553-2955.
No comments:
Post a Comment