Around the World in 80 Days

Noelle Gunn says she often feels as if she’s doing something wrong if she isn’t studying lines for an upcoming show.

That’s not a feeling she’s likely to have any time soon.  The Odenville native is preparing for what she describes as a fun but demanding performance with the Leeds Arts Council next month, then preparing for a performing arts camp and looking ahead to working some haunted houses and murder mystery shows later in the year, all while developing an arts-related publication.

“If things go as planned, I’ll have no free time until November,” she said, going on to describe her upcoming show and reminisce about her beginnings as an actress.

Next month at Leeds:  ‘Around the World in 80 Days’ opens April 11 at the Leeds Theatre and Arts Center, running through the 19th.  Two shows are scheduled for the final day of the run.  For times and ticket information, call 205-699-1892.

The play:  Adapted by Mark Brown from Jules Verne’s 1873 novel, it is set in Victorian London, where Phileas Fogg believes that, with the modern transportation of the day, it is possible to circumnavigate the globe in 80 days.  “It’s a very British, very fast, very slapstick type of comedy,” Gunn said.

Her roles:  She has the part of Aouda, Fogg’s romantic interest, as well as three other character parts.  “One of the fun things about this script is that it has 39 characters but is written to played with as little as five actors.  For our production, we have a cast of eight.”

Has she ever played more than one character in a show before?  “I’ve picked up parts for other people before, like at the last minute when someone comes down with the flu, but I’ve never done a script that was written for multiple parts before.  I like really having time to prepare each part and decide how to do the bit parts.”

This summer:  Gunn has been asked to serve as vocal coach for the Broadway Stars Camp, set for June 23-28 in Trussville.  The camp, a collaboration between Chanel Wood Acting and the ACTA Community Theater, offers students ages 7 to 18 an introduction to musical theater through a study of music, acting, and choreography.  

“I’ve never had this opportunity before, but I know how much I enjoyed the camps I went to as a kid, so I’m really looking forward to it.”  For more information about the camp, visit www.chanelwoodacting.com.

Another new endeavor:  “A few of my friends have been trying to write like-minded blogs that we hope to turn into an online arts magazine.  The Birmingham area is so rich in the arts, and we’d like to bring it all into the spotlight.”

Her first time on stage:  “I was 4.  I did a musical production at church about the story of Jonah.  The bigger kids did most of the actual acting, but I had a couple of lines.  I remember standing there on stage wearing my tie-dyed t-shirt that said ‘Jonah.’  I didn’t do much beyond church productions for the next several years.”

The acting bug bites:  “I was 11, and it was my first year at a new school, where they were doing a production of ‘The Pirates of Penzance.’  I told my mom about it, and she said, ‘That was the first production I was in. You should try out for it.’  I was a little dubious because it’s such an old production, Gilbert and Sullivan wrote operettas, which involve a lot more singing than musicals.  But I rented a video of the show and loved it.  I thought, ‘Yeah, I can do that,’ and I ended up being the youngest one put in the cast.”

Trodding the boards:  Gunn went on the appear in such shows as ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ and ‘Pride and Prejudice’ – “all the classic standard school productions” – which led to her landing the role of Frenchy in the Leeds Arts Council’s production of ‘Grease.’  “I knew I was entering a whole new ball game, but I’ve done at least two shows a year since then and loved every minute of it.  I don’t know what I would have done without theater.”

Roles on her resume:  She has taken on such well-known roles as Fanny Brice in ‘Funny Girl,’ an evil stepsister in “Cinderella,’ Caroline Bingley in ‘Pride and Prejudice,’ The Ghost of Christmas Past in ‘A Christmas Carol,’ and Corie in ‘Barefoot in the Park.’

On playing comedic roles:  “I enjoy it.  If I had to pick my absolute favorite favorite, it would be singing, but I like comedy because there are so many facets in it.  Being a good comedienne is something I aspire to as a performer because I think it’s a very practical way to connect with an audience.”

Why she considers theater to be magic:  “No matter how simple or complicated a show may be, theater is all about transformation.  I’ve done haunted houses wearing full make-up and prosthetics, but I still think back to the time when I played the title character in ‘Agnes of God.’  I was playing a novice nun and wearing no make-up at all, other than ordinary stage make-up.  People walked straight by me after the show and didn’t even recognize me, even thought they’d sat 20 feet away from me and looked at me for two hours.  I think that’s an interesting place to reach as a performer, when you can become that dedicated to your craft that you can make such a transformation take place.

“And it’s not just the performers who make it happen.  With sets, even in small community theater there is amazing craftsmanship that goes into creating the sets.  It’s so amazing to see how a bare stage can become a totally different place when it’s time for the show, and that happens four of five times a year at Leeds.  I consider Leeds my home as far as theater goes.  It’s really special.”