Local performer Lola Kennedy is brushing off her dancing shoes as she prepares for opening night. Last September Kennedy headed across the river to audition for the Sault Symphony production of “Hello Dolly.” And to no one’s surprise, she came back with a leading role!
Kennedy, a Sault Ste. Marie native and Soo Theatre ‘alum,’ will be playing hat shop owner Irene Malloy in Jerry Herman’s hit show.
I got to sit down with Kennedy on break at a recent “Hello Dolly” rehearsal.
What was your first association with the theater?
“I started taking lessons at the Soo Theatre (with you!) and then immediately got involved in the shows. I even helped with some toddler classes the first year.”
What was your first show with STP?
“It was the opera. I played the Sand Fairy.”
What other roles have you done at STP?
“I was the Rose Seller in “Oliver,” Mrs. Pugh in “Annie,” Adelaide in “Guys and Dolls,” Barbarina in “The Marriage of Figaro,” The Narrator in “Joseph,” and last summer I played Audrey in “Little Shop of Horrors.”
You studied in New York for a time after graduating from LSSU.
“2011-2012. I studied Musical Theatre – singing, dancing and acting.”
And what’s the biggest thing you took away from that experience?
“Professionalism. For me it’s no back talk, just being there – showing up.”
Let’s talk about “Hello Dolly!” What is your favorite part of playing this character?
“I like that she is hopeful and spunky. And that everyone else thinks she is wicked.”
She’s wicked?
“She owns her own hat shop which is considered to be provocative. They think that because she is a milliner, she is wicked. That’s just what people at the time thought.”
What’s your favorite scene in the show?
“Motherhood. We are trying to hide two men who are hiding in the hat shop.”
Kennedy plays in that scene with Sue Barber who plays Dolly Levi. Barber weighed in at rehearsal on what is it like to work with Lola. “She is amazing, sweet, wonderful and delightful.”
And that is what you will get to see in her upcoming role, Lola’s delightful personality and vocal prowess shining through as she sings the hauntingly beautiful ballad “Ribbons Down My Back.”
Other favorite scenes of Kennedy’s include “Hello Dolly” and “It Takes a Woman.”
What is the one thing you want people to know about this show?
“You will be entertained the entire time. There’s not a single moment where you will not be entertained.”
Don’t miss the chance to be completely entertained and to see our lovely Lola in “Hello Dolly” which runs February 26, 27, and 28 at 8:00p.m. and March 1 at 2:00p.m. at the Kiwanis Community Theater Center in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. Tickets are available at the KCTC box office or at the Station Mall.
And on this side of the river TODAY, seating is still available for the final showing of “Murder at Mardi Gras” at 5:30p.m at the Elk’s Lodge in SSM, MI.
