Whitney Blethen
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Video Text: Voice off-camera: "Can
you count to five for me?"
Whitney Bleven, Senior Theater Major, Cherubino: "The Marriage of
Figaro": "One, two, three, four, five.
"So, I'm looking at you and ignoring the camera. Well. I guess I'll go
back to the movie, 'Wizard of Oz.' Great movie. What didn't you like
about it? It's so fanciful and fun. The first play I saw was 'Oliver
Twist,' and it was actually the first play I was ever in, as well, years
later, and I loved how raw that musical is.
"There were a ton of challenges in doing 'Figaro.' We have to make it
really fun and show everyone a different side of opera and that it can
be fun. I think people think of it as daunting sometimes.
"I think the costume is the piece that brings it all together, because
you have this character in you, and then you get that costume on and it
just, everything falls into place--all the gestures you've been working
on, especially when you're doing a period piece, it just changes the way
you move, the way you feel, and takes you back.
"I mean, I've been acting since before I ever knew what acting was. It's
intrinsic to human nature. I was a middle child, so I always wanted
extra attention, so if there was a camera or anything or any family
members there, I was the first one to jump up and say, 'Look what I can
do!' or 'Wanna hear a story?'
"Everyone's performing all the time, and you can take little bits of a
person's personality and see... I like really dry humor, you know,
really sarcastic. I think sometimes people try too hard with comedy and
it winds up being campy.
"It's been a real challenge for me. I'm playing a 'pants role,' a man,
which is not at all like any role I've ever played before, so it's come
to mean, for me, taking my entire college experience and really working
at a role that doesn't come naturally to me.
"Non-musical sounds... um, laughter, but then I guess that could be kind
of musical. Five, I have to think of five? I'm up to one so far, so. The
crackling fire of the fire, a woodstove--I grew up with that. Rain on
tin roofs--little pitter-patter puts you to sleep. I guess
silence--that's not really a sound, but when it snows and everything's
just blanketed and it's almost like the sound is insulated, you hear
nothing when you're outside. And just the sound of people talking--a big
group of people laughing and sharing stories and being ridiculous.
"My hopes for acting are pretty realistic, I think. I'm just hoping to
be able to act--to be anywhere where I can act, even if I have to have
another job in addition. Ideally, I would love to be able to make a
living doing what I will be doing anyway--you know, I'll always be
acting.
"Nerves and excitement, and I just try to stay focused and to think, 'Do
this for yourself, ignore the audience, this is you and the ensemble and
you know what you're doing, so just do your best.'
"Obviously my parents have been so supportive, which is really amazing.
I think a lot of the time you don't get that kind of support when you
say, 'I'm going to be a theater major.' I think the normal reaction is,
'That's not really practical,' but they've been super supportive. And
Julie Andrews is a huge influence of mine. From the minute I saw 'Sound
of Music,' I knew that I just had to do that. I had to.
"I think they should see it because it's a great opportunity--an
opportunity to see a production like this does not come around that
often. Tom had to really convince people that this was a good idea and a
good project, and it's taken a lot of people a lot of work and it's
something worth seeing.
"It's something I've always felt. I used to put on these old dresses
that my grandmother had and run through her huge fields just singing and
spinning around like an idiot."
