Maria-Christina Oliveras Takes Us On the Trail of "Breadcrumbs" to the New Musical Amélie, Starring Samantha Barks | Playbill

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Maria-Christina Oliveras Takes Us On the Trail of "Breadcrumbs" to the New Musical Amélie, Starring Samantha Barks

Now Samantha is beautiful and super talented and blah blah blah, but she gets the most props from me for being, on her own, the only person crazy enough to do 6:30 AM yoga with me…

Maria-Christina Oliveras Takes Us On the Trail of "Breadcrumbs" to the New Musical Amélie, Starring Samantha Barks

"We form a trail of breadcrumbs, but what are they leading to?" So asks the story of Amélie. Maria-Christina Oliveras, currently appearing in Berkeley Rep's new musical adaptation of the beloved French film, attempts to answer that question in this exclusive backstage feature. She introduces the cast of characters who inhabit the Montmartre world and explores the breadcrumbs that each had dropped in the past, changing the trajectory of their lives and leading them to this current artistic endeavor. Welcome to Amélie!
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Now Samantha is beautiful and super talented and blah blah blah, but she gets the most props from me for being, on her own, the only person crazy enough to do 6:30 AM yoga with me…
Bonjour! Thrilled to be offering some tidbits and adventures from the magical world of our Montmartre and Berkeley, and a glimpse into some of the breadcrumbs that have brought us here….
“We form a trail of breadcrumbs, but what are they leading to…” Allow me to start with a gnomenclature (sorry, couldn’t resist) of the <em>Ame&#769;lie</em> family…
This fine gnome (not to be confused with a smurf or a dwarf) watches over our green room and a bevy of snacks for those of us not "glutton"-free…
Alas, I digress…Meet the brilliant Savvy Crawford—our resident genius—she is the cast’s go-to acting coach, but sorry folks, she’s pulled a <i>Hamilton</i> and is booked through the next decade.
Here she is giving notes to Randy Blair as he signs in…
Don’t fret--If he can’t live up to Savvy’s exceptionally high standards, he’s also a fantastic writer—his production of <i>Gigantic</i> will be going up at the Vineyard Theater later this winter—check it out!
And here is Tony Sheldon, spreading his dazzling love and light in our dressing room pre-show… he is originally from Down Under…
http://cdn-images.playbill.com/ee_assets/Aiken/ameri/aaaaaa/am/fff/ameliefeature-08.jpg
We also have another import from across the Pond, specifically from the Isle of Man, Samantha Barks.
Now Samantha is beautiful and super talented and blah blah blah, but she gets the most props from me for being, on her own, the only person crazy enough to do 6:30 AM yoga with me…
Pre-show primping with Paul Whitty…
…whose birthday we just celebrated…we’ve had many birthdays this run, but the highlight…
July 19th, 2015: Paul was unable to attend rehearsal in NYC. He was en route to Berkeley and landed just in the nick of time for the birth of his first born child, AMELIE MICHELE WHITTY, who has blessed us with her beautiful presence throughout this proc
…along with Lola, Paul’s canine…
We have two back to back matinee-evening days—David Andino calibrates his energy with two cups of coffee (at least I think that’s what’s in there)…
In any event, Andino is covered by one of our fabulous swings, Jacob Keith Watson.
Forward…Time to beat the face alongside these extraordinary women, gorgeous inside and out...
…Alyse Alan Louis
…Carla Duren
…Alison Cimmet
Side bar: Alison is the queen of banana grams, and throws the most killer game nights…
…Shannon O’Boyle
The transformation begins with Angela on mic duty…
Trump, this hairpiece.
Meet the hair rat—a lady’s secret since the Victorian Era (though not Victoria’s).
One rat…
..and two tats later…
Meet Suzanne.
We just had opening, so our dressing room is full of all sorts of balloons and flowers and gifts…including a huge dolphin balloon which may or may not absolutely terrify some in our cast…namely one with the initials, SB
…we occasionally get visits from the wonderful Adam Chanler-Berat, stopping in tonight for a little pre-show nuzzle…
..while Savvy warms up with our incomparable musical director, Kimberly Grigsby…
who conducts these awesome rockstars, awaiting us backstage as…
Our stage manager extraordinaire, Bonnie Panson, calls “Places” and sends us into the hands of…
This fine gentleman, Michael Suenkel…
…and our fantastic crew, whose set and costume changes are so magically executed…
..including for this guy, John Hickock, our resident outdoors warrior—he sometimes clocks 4 hour bike rides on a show day!
Side bar: Berkeley is an amazing cycling city, so many of us bought bikes and commuted to work together. BEWARE of tracks in San Francisco though…
Ding ding ding went the trolley, down down down went THIS GIRL! All good now, but I don’t recommend dislocations, particularly during tech.
Back on target, we meet the mysterious and debonair Perry Sherman…
The Lovely Glass Man…
Shannon is shadowing me tonight not photobombing…
A little break in the socialist snack room…
Waiting…
I am one lucky girl!
More snacks…
The Ladies of the Café de 2 Moulins
Randy stole my camera..
And so did Sam?!?!?
They will all require penance from Savvy…
As will these clowns…
Tommy with his gun…
Want a Fanta? Don’t you want a? Or a Starbucks iced coffee?
Apparently, David did, despite his pre-show fix, but they ran out…
A good weave is hard to find…
Toggles and I discuss this, and also the possibility of a bathroom break...
I visit the hydration station often…
Denied?!?
The ever empathetic Tony feels deeply for me…
But all discomfort is forgotten when you get to play onstage with this beauty…
Bonnie in the booth…
…Remnants of quick changes gone by…
…free from the hair rat!
Post show sometimes includes talk backs...
..discussions of our next communal juice cleanse…
…live music—the boys are recording on BUD MUSIC, an app that Perry developed himself! Get. It.
…revelry…”La vie est trop courte pour boire du mauvais vin.”
…perhaps toasting the mystery/magic(?) of what has brought us all here…
Many of us were on each other’s trails way before <em>Amélie</em>. These beautiful people first met over 4 years ago on <i>The Fortress of Solitude</i>.
Chanler-Berat gets around though—he and I also did a brief stint in Crete with <i>Zorba</i> at City Center Encores before coming to Paris. I suppose I can’t talk: Craig who’s doing sound on this and I first met on <i>Here Lies Love</i> and…
…Alyse and I got <i>Pretty Filthy</i> with each other earlier this year with The Civilians, playing a range of porn personnel….
…while Paul and Shannon met </i>Once</i>.
However, this extraordinary artist and human being, Kimberly Grigsby, seems to have left the most breadcrumbs, leading many of us here. Kim’s musical hand with Alison started early in classes at Stage Door…
…and she did <i>Fortress of Solitude</i> with Adam…and <i>Fortress of Solitude</i> and <i>Brooklynite</i> with Carla…
… She and Paul bore their creative all in <i>The Full Monty</i>…she then had a <i>Spring Awakening</i> with Perry….
and we had <i>Here Lies Love</i>…BREADCRUMBS!
“When the booth goes bright, it’s what you can’t see, it is everything that brought you here.” So grateful to be here, and to share a brief glimpse into our world. Join us in Montmarte if you can!
Merci and Mangez bien, riez souvent, aimez beaucoup. (Taken directly from google but indeed, “EAT WELL, LAUGH OFTEN, LOVE ABUNDANTLY.”)
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