“Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and
caldron bubble.” With those words, Grace Marshall made her southern
theatrical debut on the stage of Slidell Little Theatre in 1986.
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| GRACE MARSHALL Photo by Don Redman |
Audiences have been known to laugh before Grace
Marshall walks on stage, in the simple anticipation of what shenanigans she may
pull. Her characters are often larger than life providing audience
members with a magnified reflection of their own inner child.
Grace began acting in high school in her hometown
of Newport, Rhode Island. When she stepped onto the stage at that young
age, she knew she was home. At the age of 15, Grace became an apprentice
in summer stock at the Carriage House Theatre in Little Compton, Rhode
Island. That was the beginning of her professional career.
Since her SLT debut as a Shakespearian witch, Grace
proceeded to other roles and other stages throughout the region including
Playmakers, Mandeville Playhouse, the Northstar, Skyfire, Luke’s Brisket &
Broadway, Le Petite, and Cutting Edge.
With well over a hundred productions to her credit,
it is difficult for Grace to choose a favorite. Among those in the
running however are Nunsense, A…My Name is Alice, the female version of The
Odd Couple, Steel Magnolias and Greater Tuna.
In 2014, she received the St. Tammany Parish
President’s Performing Artist of the Year Award in recognition of her
theatrical contributions.
Grace also spent many years working with children’s
theatrical workshops and productions. It is common to have adults, eating
out with their children, spy her in a restaurant and call out “Miss Grace! Miss
Grace! Remember me!”
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| STEEL MAGNOLIASSLT's 2006-07 Season Photo by Paul Woods Photography |
Grace shared a few moments with us to talk about
her involvement in our community theatre.
Q: What brought you to Slidell in the first place?
I married a sailor from Picayune, Miss. A true Yankee from Newport, Rhode Island, the
South has been my home now for more than 40 years. I guess that makes me a Damn Yankee – no,
that’s the name of a musical…
Q: What were your initial impressions when you came
to SLT for the first time?
I was surprised to see how small SLT was when I
first saw the theater. I was auditioning
for the first time there, the “M” Shakespeare play, and I was very warmly
greeted. Then Margaret Rennie and
Christine Barnhill hit me with the Getting to Know You questions… wait – that's a
song from a musical….
Q: How did you become involved in SLT’s young
actors program?
Rita Stockstill was running the Children’s Workshop
single handedly. Beth Gendusa and Lonnie Haas were the administrators, but Rita
was dealing with 100 kids in one show.
Tracy Nugent and I were friends of Rita’s and the three of us teamed up
to break the group down into more work able numbers, do multiple plays and
designed training workshops of varying levels to be worked throughout the
program. We did this for some 15 or so
years. We learned as much as we taught
those years. There is still great pride
and pleasure when a Children’s Workshop graduate from years past runs up to you
with their kids in their arms, yelling Ms. Grace, Ms. Grace – you gave us such
a great experience, Thanks. Lesson: Be careful what you say: Children Will Listen. Oops – I’ve done it again….
Q: How did you get involved in the annual
Christmas show for STARC?
In 1999, the American Heart Association has a
fundraiser that included an unusual auction item table for silent bid. I was something on the board at that time –
can’t remember what – and I was asked to supply something from SLT for that bid
table other than just season tickets. So
I made a certificate for a “staged play reading in your home.” Almost a year past when Kathy Jones contacted
me. She was the winner of the bid that
included that certificate. She told me
she would like to donate the play reading to STARC. Wow!! What a concept. An individual donates to a nonprofit, then
takes the spoils and donates to another nonprofit. We performed Leroy and the Ark that year to
what we thought was a one shot gig. At
the end of the season, STARC surprised us by joining our Ginny Award
Celebration and presenting us with a plaque of appreciation for the event. In a very emotional acceptance by me,
something like “as long as I have breath in my body – this will be an annual
event” came out of my mouth and the rest, as they say, is History. That was 14 years ago and the beat goes on –
is that from a musical?
Q: What role does community theatre play in the
larger community?
If a community could be seen as a living entity,
then community theatre could easily be seen as the heartbeat. There are many activities families and
individuals can be part of in Slidell.
They can get involved in organized sports or join church groups. That is fine for those who want to learn the
rules of the game and follow it endlessly, or remain in a group of spiritually
like-minded people. But if you color
outside the lines, or like the unexpected, community theater might be the place
for you. Plays are constantly changing,
artistic need continue to evolve and the need to engage the community to support
our ever growing advances in technical feats has never been greater. The opening of the new shopping center has
really exposed SLT to the community in a wonderful way. Now people know where SLT is and the can
enjoy a meal across the street before going to the theater. Easy Street!
Oh no, I’ve done it again.
Q: Why does live theatre matter?
Live theater matters because there is no other
venue like it. Everyone enjoys a good
movie – but when you can physically see the performer up close and personal,
feel the emotion in a live setting, laugh freely and know a good actor will
time his pacing to let you get it out, and then you get to meet with them after
the performance – there’s no business like show business….groan…
