Going
out with a big role –
Emily Dickinson tackles Dorothy
by
Susan Stopford
On May 1, 2, 3, and 4, the North Frontenac Little
Theatre group is presenting the musical "The Wizard of OZ".
The lead role, that of Dorothy, will be played by Emily Dickinson
from Mountain Grove. Emily is not a housebound, poetic recluse like
her accidental namesake. Instead she is a bubbly, chatty, thoughtful
and exuberant young woman with a slight 'Valley-Girl' lilt, who has
just turned 18 and has a hard time being without her cell phone!
Keeping busy is important to Emily, who describes
herself as someone who gets "bored easily". Emily's busy
schedule certainly precludes boredom. She is in her last semester of
grade 12 at St. John Catholic High School in Perth where she
maintains a strong A-average. She is on the executive of the student
council and is the co-editor of the school paper “The Spartanews”.
She is also the co-chair for her school's “Relay for Life” event.
In addition to all of this, she also rides a school bus for 15 hours
a week and maintains a busy social life!
Emily
spent the first 13 years of her life in the Richmond Hill/Newmarket
area. Her parents, mum- Andrea Dickinson and stepfather Steve Duggan
moved their blended family to a house near Mountain Grove after
having bought Sunsets Restaurant in Sharbot Lake. Emily was
definitely not interested in leaving her friends, her urban existence
and especially her jazz, hip-hop, ballet and musical theatre dance
lessons, to move to the country. Though she felt some culture shock
on entering grade 8 in Land O' Lakes Public School, one of her
favorite sayings is "Things happen for a reason" and it was
while at LOLPS that she was cast as Jamal in Brian Robertson's
school production of "Aladdin's Magic Lantern". Emily
discovered right away that she loved theatre and loved performing!
"A live audience gives me energy and I feel calm and happy when
I'm onstage" laughs Emily as she admits to having always liked a
lot of attention even as a child, when she, as the only child in her
parents’ circle, loved to entertain the adults around her.
Emily
was encouraged by both her mother and Brian Robertson to audition for
parts in NFLT productions and she has had roles in five different
plays over the past few years, including that of Liat in "South
Pacific". Renny Stopford, who has performed with Emily in
various NFLT plays over the years, describes her as being "very
professional, quick to learn, easy to get along with and fun,
definitely fun!"
Emily
auditioned for the part of Dorothy because she wanted a large role to
mark the end of her years with NFLT. "One of the biggest
benefits of moving to this area for me has been my involvement with
community theatre. It has been a great experience for me and I've
learned a lot about myself and met people that I really like."
says Emily. Even though she is very happy with her part, Emily
admits that it's a big role. She's on stage almost all the time, has
many songs to sing and hundreds of lines to learn. Luckily she also
gets to indulge in her old love, dance.
Next
year Emily will be attending Carleton University where she will
pursue a degree in Journalism. She looks forward to walking to her
classes and is excited to be entering this new phase of her life. She
would love to be working in New York as an arts and entertainment,
broadcast journalist in 10 years time.
Tickets are available at Gray's
Grocery and the Sharbot Lake Pharmacy as well as Verona Rona
Hardware. Adults are $12, students $10 and on the Sunday matinee
there is a special $5 rate to encourage families with children to
attend. Don't wait to get your tickets at the door; they may be sold
out. Check www.nflt.ca for more information or call John at
613-279-2662. 