On Saturday, October 18, 2008 at 7:00 p.m. and on Sunday, October 19, at 2:00 p.m. at the Woman’s Club house, RSTS preseneted repeat performances of the play Tea at Five. The play depicts two pivotal days in the life of Katharine Hepburn—in the first act she learns that she was not selected to play Scarlet in Gone with the Wind and in the second, she is in her eighties looking back over her life and career. The play appeared on Broadway starring Kate Mulgrew and was nominated for a Tony award. The young actress, Sasha Halvorsen, presented this one woman show to rave reviews beginning in July throughout the central Kentucky area. She is repeating the role in two benefit performances for the Women’s Shelter and Save the Grand folk music and story-telling activities. Following is an interview with the actress.
Q. You are planning a career in the theater. What led you to making that decision?
The first moment I stepped onto a stage was the moment I made the decision that I wanted to act professionally. For years I had been thinking about studying to be a marine biologist, but when the lights came up on the stage and I began my lines, well, it was one of those defining moments. I suddenly realized that I had a true passion for acting and the theater...and I didn't want to spend my life doing anything else.
Q. What are you doing to prepare for this goal?
First, I am performing as much as I can. Nothing beats a variety of experiences. In addition, I am currently a sophomore at Eastern Kentucky University and am majoring in English with an emphasis on Theatre. As for the future, I am considering transferring to another university that has a Bachelor or Fine Arts program in Theatre or Acting, and I have every intention of attending graduate school as soon as I have graduated from Eastern. My hopes are to attend the University of Connecticut and get my MFA in Acting.
Q. What was that first play which created the desire to act?
My first play was The Best Christmas Pageant Ever for Georgetown Community Theatre in 2004. I was sixteen years old. The play is very much like the book, and I played Beth Bradley, the narrator. It is a Christmas classic and has been performed in Central Kentucky several times.
Q. What other roles have you played and do you have any favorites?
Oh, there are so many! Most of my work in musicals has been ensemble roles, which are always fun. I can narrow my favorite roles down to four: Jack in Legends of the Great Hall in Frankfort; Belle in A Christmas Carol at Ragged Edge Community Theatre in Harrodsburg; most recently, Bianca in The Taming of the Shrew at EKU; and, "my baby" as I like to call it, Tracy Lord in Studio Players' (Lexington) production of The Philadelphia Story. To this day, Tracy is my pride and joy; I would reprise that role anywhere, anytime.
Q. Have you favorite actors who have influenced you?
If I had to pick my favorites that have influenced me most, I would have to go with Katharine Hepburn, Kate Mulgrew, and my friend Jennifer Barnhart. I say Katharine Hepburn due to the fact that she never gave up on her dream of being an actress. Even after being labeled "Box Office Poison" following a line of cinematic flops, and a huge flop on Broadway, she kept on at it and eventually became one of the most recognized women in theater and Hollywood. Kate Mulgrew has been a favorite of mine since I was a child. It was always my dream to see her perform on stage, and in recent years I have made several trips to New York just to see her productions. I've always greatly admired her strength and knowledge, and have aspired to be very much like her. As for Jennifer Barnhart; she is currently performing on Broadway in Avenue Q, one of my favorite musicals. As some of you may not know, Avenue Q can best be described as 'the adult's Sesame Street', combining puppets and humans on the stage. It is this show that brought about my love of puppetry. A few years ago, Jennifer and I began writing one another and exchanging emails. This led to my traveling to New York to see her perform as the leading female character in Avenue Q. Whenever I wonder whether my small-town beginnings will deter my career, I remind myself that Jen began in a small town in Connecticut and made it to Broadway through hard work and determination. I hope to do the same.
Q. Many folks in Frankfort saw you perform in the Thornhill production of Legends of the Great Hall. Tell me a bit about that experience.
Legends of the Great Hall was the experience of a lifetime! I did the production twice, playing a different role each time. The first year I was the Lady in Waiting Cassandra. She was a simple little character that had a few great dances to do and got to tease around with the Jester and Jack. The second year, I was cast as Jack, which was a huge change. Not only did the number of lines quadruple, but I was playing a young man! That was something I'd never even thought about. I mean, I know it's common in the theater, but I'd never pictured myself as one of those girls who would be cast as a boy. But it was fun. One of my closest friends, Lynsey Shelton, was cast as my mentor, the Jester, so we got to work very closely together. I think the fact that we were friends made the parts so much easier for us both. It was easy to play off one another, and we didn't have to worry about not knowing what the other was going to do next. I was saddened when I wasn't able to audition for Legends of the Great Hall in its third year, but other productions that had me wrapped up. I would do that show again, though. It was just too much fun!
Q. I also hear that you have a couple of charities that are near to your heart. Talk a bit about those.
The two charities I hold dearest to my heart are Locks of Love and the Alzheimer's Association. Locks of Love is a program in which hair is donated to create real-hair wigs for those undergoing treatment for cancer. As I'm sure you know, some cancer treatments cause hair loss. This can be embarrassing for the patient, and Locks of Love works to address this worry. I myself have cut and donated my hair twice, and as soon as Tea at Five is over, I plan on cutting and donating my hair for the third time. I go to Shannon Newton at Uptown Hair here in Frankfort for the cut; she gives hair donors a free cut and styling and sends in the donated hair. She makes it really easy and pleasant. As for the Alzheimer's Association, I came to be an Alzheimer's Champion because of Kate Mulgrew. Since she is my favorite actress, I follow updates on her very closely. Just a few years ago, she lost her mother to Alzheimer's Disease. While no one in my family has been afflicted by the horrible disease, I do everything I can to support research and treatment. For the past two years I have participated in the Alzheimer's Association Memory Walk in Lexington. Last year I walked alone. This year I had a team of about ten people walking with me. I was amazed to find that so many of my friends wanted to participate. I'm very grateful to them and to every person who has made any donation to the cause.
Q. Now, let's talk about Tea at Five. Why did you decide to do this play?
Well, it started out as a one-time performance for the Senior Center in Georgetown. They love having people from the community theatre perform for them, and they asked Scott Turner if he had any show that could be taken to the center. He asked me if I would be interested in doing a one-woman show. Well, of course I was interested. We rattled off a list of shows we could possibly put together for them. I told Scott about Tea at Five and he was instantly hooked by the idea. The play was written by Matthew Lombardo specifically for Kate Mulgrew, which is how I had first heard of the show. I love Katharine Hepburn, though, which certainly hooked me. Only the year before I had undertaken Tracy Lord in The Philadelphia Story, which Philip Barry had written with Katharine Hepburn in mind. I figured, 'If I can follow in Kate Hepburn's steps with Philadelphia Story, why not follow Kate Mulgrew as well?' I decided I might as well follow in the footsteps of two great Kates. What's next? Maybe Coco. Q. A one woman show seems like a massive undertaking. How did you go about preparing for such a challenging role?
It is massive; more massive than I realized at first. I knew it was going to be a lot of work to pull off and that I was going to have to work hard, and I certainly have. It's daunting; really it is. Not only am I doing a show that was played across the country by one of Broadway, television AND Hollywood's greats, but I was going to play the one and only Kate Hepburn. The toughest part was making it a role, not an impersonation. I didn't want to impersonate Kate Hepburn; I wanted to recreate her. She had to be a character I was playing, and I felt that I had to make the role my own. I watched more of her films than I care to count in preparation. Not that I'm complaining. I watched her early films, many of which were described as flops. I wanted to learn her voice; the pitch, the quality, the inflection and emphasis on each word. It wasn't easy. There are so many nuances that just can't be recreated. I even read her autobiography, Me. I got to the point that I could hear her voice in my head and could see the look on her face as she moved from one topic to another. That's when I knew I was ready.
