Yes, Virginia, There Is A Santa Claus

Andrea Borland at Corn Stock Theatre, Oct 2018 – Dec 2018

I was cast in a lead role as Andrea Borland in Corn Stock Theatre's Winter Theatre Center production of "Yes, Virginia, There Is A Santa Claus," written by Andrew J. Fenady, & directed by Amy De Trempe-Williams. This show combines two stories into one: that of 8 year old Virginia O'Hanlon, who sees her family struggling in 1897 New York, & begins to wonder & doubt if Santa Claus is real. The other story is that of successful newspaperman Frank P. Church, who is struggling with severe depression after losing his wife & child a year ago. The two cross paths when Virginia writes a letter to The New York Sun, & Frank Church responds back, on the front page of the paper on Christmas Eve.

I played the role of Andrea Borland, the only female newspaper reporter at The New York Sun. Inspired by Church's past lectures, I pursue the same career as him, & continue to look out for him & encourage him throughout the play.

As well as acting in this production, I was also the dialect coach for the show, & taught 4 different dialects to 10 different actors. The dialects included Irish, German, Yiddish, & Russian (the Russian dialect ended up getting cut from the show). As a dialect coach, I worked with the actors to enhance their pronunciation, enunciation, & overall sound. I spent extra hours at the theatre to teach the actors these dialects & help them rehearse their lines, so they would have a realistic sound, based on their character's origins.

One year later, I was honored with an award for my work as Dialect Coach for this production.

[ Production photos courtesy of Micah Hancock. ]