Hailey Rose stumbled into dancing when she was in high school for the simple reason that she did not want to take PE.
“Another option was to do a dance class,” the 21 year-old Upland resident said.
She had musical theater experience, having performed in her first show, “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” for Theater Experience Southern California when she was in eighth grade. Since she had never been into sports, it seemed like an easy choice.
“At first I was just dancing for the credit, but I slowly started getting better and soon I realized dance was my escape and my way to express myself,” she said.
Rose danced through high school and into her first year of college at Cal State Fullerton. After that, she could not continue to take dance classes without declaring the subject as a minor. As a history major, she did not think it would be possible with her heavy work load.
“When I had to stop dancing I felt lost and like I couldn’t find a way to work through my feelings in the same way that dancing allowed me to do,” Rose said. “One of the reasons I started to do theater again was so I could dance and feel like myself again.”
Last year, Rose jumped back into theater, playing Sharapy in BellaJohn Theatrical’s production of “High School Musical 2.”
“I loved the movie when I was little,” she said. “I always loved Sharpay and her songs. I remember dancing around my living room to them when I was 8. The character was just like me, although I hope I’m nicer. She helped me with my confidence and taught me more about myself, as cliche as it sounds.”
In November, Rose went to New York and performed as Elsa in a shortened version of “Frozen” for several children’s hospitals.
“Performing for children who are hospitalized and bringing some light and sunshine into their lives was one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever experienced,” she said.
Rose is no stranger to performing for children.
When she was 16, she began working as a cast member for Princess Pro Impersonators, which provides costumed characters for events such as children’s birthday parties. In April of last year, the company’s previous owner decided to go back to school.
“As her longest-running and most experienced cast member, she offered me the company and I took over in August at 20 years old,” Rose said.
Rose currently has 14 full cast members with another six on call. Each is a singer and actress. She said that the “mermaid princess” with a fin made to her measurements is their most popular character.
“The coolest part is that I do swim in the fin,” she said. “I go completely underwater with the wig and the makeup and everything. I usually tell people I can swim better in that fin than I can with my own two feet.”
Although the coronavirus pandemic has cut short the number of parties, there is still demand for princess appearances at virtual parties.
“I think people need princess magic now more than ever and I’m so happy to be able to still make that magic during a time like this,” she said.
In the future, Rose hopes to work as a curator in museums, putting together exhibits and events that get people interested in history by showing them things they may never have learned in school. She also sees herself working with historical artifacts and preserving places of historical significance.
“I would like to move to the East Coast and either live in Washington D.C. or New York, where all the big history museums are,” she said. “I also see myself continuing to run my company and possibly opening branches in the cities I move to.”
Information: @princessproimpersonator on Instagram.
Patrick Brien is executive director of the Riverside Arts Council.
"stage" - Google News
July 18, 2020 at 03:00AM
https://ift.tt/2OCoSha
Upland actress, 21, makes magic for children on stage and at parties - Press-Enterprise
"stage" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2xC8vfG
https://ift.tt/2KXEObV
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Upland actress, 21, makes magic for children on stage and at parties - Press-Enterprise"
Post a Comment