theater

“I grew up seeing The Nutcracker over and over, so I was excited to direct my own take. I thought, instead of Clara’s sweet little dream, I’ll make it a fever dream—one of those creepy delusions you have when you’re a kid and sick. They’re not exactly nightmares. They’re just weird.”

The Act II dramatics add up to a relentless rush as the plot—sorcery and love triangles and scapegoats, oh my!—corkscrews through one twist after another.

The native Hoosier and Ball State grad plays a character now who’s a far cry from the previous role she revealed to local audiences. See her thoughts on obsessed Wicked fans, life on the road, and more.

During its first two runs in Indy, Wicked cast a spell on local audiences, sweeping in 120,000 people and $8.6 million. Those numbers got us interested in other figures from the hit musical, which returns to the Murat Theatre on Nov. 13.

Not long ago, we in Indy bid farewell to her. But bringing the human condition of suffering to light and finding the humor within the pain are two reasons she says she couldn’t turn down the role of Sonia.

Regarding the Flowbee, no one remembers who won, but the auctioneer made good use of the “hair today, gone tomorrow” slogan.

A well-worn “tale as old as time” brought all of its truisms and talents to the Clowes Memorial Hall stage on Tuesday night. It was opening night for the NETworks production of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, which yet runs Oct. 13 through 16 here. This latest nationally-touring take on the show jump-starts both the Broadway in Indianapolis 2011-12 season and the source material itself.

As a Ball State musical-theater grad, Emily Behny was prepared for drama—and she got plenty of it last fall when she auditioned for the lead in the Broadway touring production of Beauty and the Beast. At the conclusion of one callback in New York City, where Behny was living, she was asked to return the next day and sing for a musical director. She already had plans: She was getting married. In a rather Disney-esque sequence of events, Behny spent the evening waiting tables, went out for her bachelorette party, made the 10 a.m. audition for the part of Belle, and dashed off to her afternoon nuptials at City Hall. When she and her Prince Charming returned from their honeymoon, she learned she had landed the role. “I heard the good news from my agent on the tarmac,” Behny says.