Senior Amy Stockhaus is a familiar face to many Benilde-St.Margaret’s students. She has appeared on the school’s stage many times for the various school productions such as Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, and The Crucible. However, starting on September 19, Amy will begin her performances in a totally new setting: New York.
The reason that Amy will be leaving for New York is for a comedy production that she and only a few adults will be working on. This particular production that they will be performing is for a comedy festival that will also include other comedic shows to be performed around the New York area. Amy was picked for this role because the director knew her from previous experience when she was in ninth grade at Stages Theatre. According to Amy, the director of the show “came to the Fringe show that I was working on and asked if I wanted to do this show in New York.”
The cast of this show has been working since early August, and the entire script for this show, which is called “Bury my Heart at Dumb Ass Cowboy,” was completely improvised. The show is only about an hour in length, but the cast members all had a part in putting the show together. “The director chose the best comedic actors and we just improvised with the whole show and made it up,” said Amy. This particular comedy is a western, and Amy’s character is an “Annie Oakley type.”
On September 15, the cast will leave for New York to begin their rehearsals for their opening performance on September 19. Describing their schedule, Amy said, “We have rehearsals Monday through Thursday, and then we begin our performances on Friday and continue through Sunday.” Amy was not positive exactly what stage the shows will take place on, so they will find out when they get there.
The cast is doing this show to “get ourselves recognized, and we are getting interviewed by the New York Times while we are there,” said Amy. Sometime after the New York performance, the show will be coming to Minneapolis, but the time for that is yet to be determined. For Amy, this will be a great experience for her as she definitely wants to pursue a career in theater or acting.
