With less than a week to go until opening night, Heidi Michelle Thomas is starting to feel the crunch.
Since getting the part of the mother, Rose, in Scarborough Village Theatre’s production of Gypsy (opening Oct. 30), the 33-year-old has immersed herself in the role. Now, curtain is near.
“I’m a little freaked out about my lines,” Thomas says. “It’s a very draining show. She [Rose] goes though huge emotional journey in this show and everyone leaves her one by one, so it’s really sad.
Thomas has buried herself in the part to the point of trying out a new hairstyle she thinks her character might have worn. This night, her short jet black hair is in waves reminiscent of the 1930s.
Gypsy’s producer, Michael Scott, says that when Thomas auditioned for the part of Rose along with Natasha Negovanlis, who plays her daughter and the title character, the chemistry was outstanding.
Although from an onstage perspective harmonization has come easy, he says backstage can get hectic.
“Oh it’s community theatre, there are always hitches in the production,” Scott says.
He says the most difficult part of putting a show together in community theatre has been coordination with the production staff backstage. He has been between his other job and the show for the last 15 hours.
As all of the staff that work behind the scenes are volunteers, Scott says that it is difficult to synchronize everyone’s busy schedules with regards to work and school commitments.
With time running out before opening night, Scott thinks that his actors are ready to impress the audience.
“The audience can expect quite a good show I think. It’s a Broadway classic and there is a lot of very familiar music to it,” Scott says.
“We have some really amazing women in the two lead roles, so I think they’ll be very impressed by the performances that they’re going to see.”
Gypsy will be playing at the Scarborough Village Theatre starting on Oct. 30 and running until Nov. 15. For more information, contact the theatre at 416-396-4049.