Raise the curtain and give a round of applause to junior Jillian Lawson a communications major who finds herself communicating mainly from onstage this fall.
This laid-back brunette will hop into character as Millie in the musical “Thoroughly Modern Millie” on Thursday Nov. 13. Lawson said she has felt at home in the theater since she was five years old and is now ready to show Pepperdine what she’s made of. Take a peek into the life of the thoroughly modern Jillian Lawson.
When did you know you were going to be Millie?
We had auditions the first week of school then we had two days of auditions and then one day of callbacks. They let us know the first Saturday of school.
Had you seen the musical “Thoroughly Modern Millie” before?
I saw the touring version of the musical. I listened to the CD. It’s one of my favorite musicals. I’m pretty familiar with it.How long have you been acting?
I’ve been doing theater since I was about five years old. My family is really involved in theater. My parents actually met in a musical. It’s pretty cheesy.
So theater is your thing. Do you have any other “things”?
I do but not right now. I don’t really have time for other hobbies when I’m in a show. But I really like going to Disneyland. I went last Saturday my one free day before the show starts.
How often do you rehearse?
We rehearse five days a week. So we do Monday through Thursday at night then we usually have Fridays off then Saturday during the day. But starting [last Monday] we rehearse every day until opening.
Are you nervous?
Yeah I mean I’m a little nervous. But the rehearsal process is pretty long so we have a lot of time to really prepare and get everything down really solid. So I think by the time we open I’ll be more than ready.
Would you ever want to be a flapper?
Actually [no]. I don’t think I could handle it. It’s a bit of a wild lifestyle.
How will changing costumes work?
The change is going to be quite a process – about 30 seconds to change the entire costume. I have people helping me. I actually have one person who helps me change my clothes for the entire show. I think I have 6 or 7 costumes. I have a lot of changes in the first act but in the second I only have two so that’s really great.
Do you find yourself singing the musical’s songs as you go about your every day life?
Actually they don’t get stuck in my head all that often. I do find myself repeating lines from the show in every day situations. But that’s something I do in every single show. You know you’re really in the rehearsal process when you start saying the lines. When you aren’t in the show people have no idea what you’re talking about. People are like “My name is not Miss Dorothy” and I’m like “Just don’t even worry about it.” But the singing has not been cursed by that yet. There’s a little bit of separation.
So you’re not in love with your co-star?
No but I like to joke about it a lot because my parents fell in love when they were playing opposite each other. I always tell the guy who’s playing Jimmy to watch out because I’m going to fall in love with him.
Do you want to be on TV when you grow up?
I wouldn’t be opposed to it. I don’t have any specific Broadway dreams. I want to sing on cruise ships. Anything else – if it happens it happens.
Any last words?
Come see [the show] because it’s going to be really really good. It’s a really fun musical. I think it’s pretty hard to not enjoy yourself while watching it.