stage


AN AMERICAN IN PARIS


ESTY AS “LISE”


SARA by bill biss A little girl from Maine, U.S.A. dreams of being


a professional dancer. Over many years and with a lot of hard work, she trains, devoting her time and talent to the art. Sara Esty has her dream come alive as a ballet dancer. This is where the Broadway musicalAn American


in Paris enters in and her lead role as “Lise” in the show’s national tour. The famed musical is up on its toes and on the stage at Downtown San Diego’s Civic Theatre during the month of September.


You’ve been in this production as both an alternate and a standby since the inception. When did they decide to have you lead the touring production? There was some talk while we were on Broadway


and about the rumors of there being a tour. All that stuff, the normal chatter. But, I remember one of the lead producers sat me down before the New Year and said, “We’re set for the tour and we would really love you to lead it.” It was a huge honor being bestowed upon me and I felt a really strong sense of responsibility to my director and to the family that we had created, to carry on the vision of the show. I wanted to go back in your career and ask you about receiving a Princess Grace Fellowship Award for Excellence in Dance. It was in 2006 and I had been in the Miami City


Ballet for a couple of years. I got a letter saying that our artistic director, Edward Villella had nominated me for this award. I did some research on the foundation and discovered this was a big deal. A lot of up and coming artists, dancers and playwrights… all sorts of people from the artistic world were nominated. If I were to win the fellowship award, the founda- tion would provide the ballet company with a year’s


worth of my salary, which was amazing. I wrote an essay and put together a dance video with different choreographers and sent it in…I’ll never forget it. I was at home in Maine and I got a phone call from a number I didn’t recognize. Sure enough, it was the lady I had been working with, saying, “You won. You won an award!” I remember my mom crying. It was a whole big thing and we got to attend a gala in New York City which was incredible. A surreal moment and a real turning point in my career. That’s excellent. I’m very familiar with all the music inAn American in Parisbut have not seen the show, yet. Is your stage introduction when you perform “The Second Prelude?” It is! They kind of meet Lise in the opening ballet


but she doesn’t talk at all. You see her and you get intrigued as to “Who is this girl?” Then, she disappears again until “The Second Prelude” and there’s a ballet studio scene where you meet her officially. Is there a musical number inAn American in Paris that you most get a kick out of? I actually adore doing “The American in


Paris Ballet,” it’s kind of what I’m used to. It’s a seventeen-minute long ballet and just strictly dancing at the end. It’s such a release and it is so much fun. The audience has been through this


sara esty and garen scribner in an american in paris


photo by matthew murphy


People will come and


think, ‘I’m not really a ballet fan, I don’t


know if I want to sit through that.’ Then,


they leave and say, ‘Oh my gosh, I didn’t know that I love ballet.’”


essentially, two-hour long musical and with all the elements and then we’ve


added another element of ballet. It’s just such a ride. We pull out our ballet technique and show another side of ourselves. Please share your thoughts on the choreography of Christopher Wheeldon. Honestly, it is just a joy to dance and it is just


so organic and feels wonderful. I think he’s done a remarkable job in showcasing the time period, where art was starting to be more modern with Picasso and all of those artists. He took a very traditional but neoclassical approach to this and it really shows. People will come and think, “I’m not really a ballet fan, I don’t know if I want to sit through that.” Then, they leave and say, “Oh my gosh, I didn’t know that I love ballet.” He has done something remarkable to make non-ballet lovers, love ballet with his choreography. It’s breathtaking and I’m so honored to be able to do it. He’s a big deal in the ballet world and becoming a big deal in the Broadway world, which is awesome. The show requires a lot of energy and a lot of stamina. It is so gratifying.


An American in Paris plays at the San Diego Civic Theatre, 1100 Third Avenue fromTuesday, September 5 through Sunday, September 10. For tickets and more information, call 619.570.1100 or go tobroadwaysd.com.


52


RAGE monthly | SEPTEMBER 2017 | APRIL 2017


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64