By: Sydney Moody, (Marketing Intern)
Wow, how this show flew by! It feels as if earlier today, I was typing away to get the first blog out. We interviewed many people, from Miss Trunchbull (Matthew Alvin Brown), to our stage manager, Caroline Mueller, to one of the Matilda’s, Cassie Magrath, and our director, Ashley Wells. Today, we end the blogs from MATILDA with the Matilda from the other cast, Elaina Dobey.
We always love seeing how people find their passion and place in theatre, so Dobey was no exception. We also asked her how her audition process went with Lyric Theatre.
Dobey: “Musical theatre has always been big in my family! I’ve been singing show tunes with my mom for as long as I can remember. I started dance classes at Dance Unlimited at 3 years old, and joined their theatre program, Spotlight Acting Academy, at 4 years old. My acting instructors encouraged me to audition for MATILDA! One of my dance instructors, Mrs. Amy, is choreographing MATILDA, so we thought I might as well give it a shot for fun and get some professional audition experience! This was my first professional audition, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect! I got a callback for Amanda Thripp and was asked to do a cold read for the part of Matilda. It was definitely exciting and nerve-racking at the same time! I was very proud of myself after my callback and just thought that any role in the production would be amazing! It felt very surreal to find out that I’d be playing Matilda.”
With this being Dobey’s first professional audition, we were curious if she had been a lead prior to playing the role of Matilda. We asked her if Matilda was more challenging than her other lead roles or if it was an easier part to play as well.
Dobey: “My favorite lead I’ve played so far (other than Matilda) was SpongeBob SquarePants in SpongeBob SquarePants the Musical! Matilda and SpongeBob are similar in character because they’re both kind, brave, and a great friend. Matilda is on a much more challenging level though! My favorite part of being a lead is ALL OF IT 🙂 I love bringing the character and the story to life!”
Everyone has something they love about theatre, whether it’s the tech or the singing or the friendships. Elaina was excited to tell us what she loved about theatre.
Dobey: “The friendships are my favorite part of theatre! I’ve met some of my best friends through performing. Also, singing and dancing and everything about theatre just makes me so so happy! When a show comes together at the end, it feels really satisfying.”
Theatre shapes many people, from getting them into musical shape to emotionally shaping them. Many people discover themselves through theatre and can express themselves in the safe space they can call home. As Elaina still has much more time in theatre, we wondered how theatre has shaped her in her time of being in it at a young age.
Dobey: “Theatre has allowed me to explore who I am. It has given me many opportunities to meet new people and make friends. My theatre friends encourage me and make me feel confident! Theatre has also taught me to work hard! You can accomplish anything if you work hard enough.”
What an emotional moment. Well, as we come to our last question from the blog series with the cast of MATILDA, we hope you’ve been enjoying all the advice we’ve learned together from amazing people. We asked our young cast member what her piece of advice is.
Dobby: “Do it! Take a risk. Try something new! It doesn’t matter what role you get. It matters what you put into that role. Hard work pays off. That’s what makes you stand out!”
As we conclude our last blog, make sure you check our website for tickets! MATILDA will be presented at the Civic Center Music Hall – with two actresses rotating in the lead role – June 21-26th.