It's nine in the morning and Kelsey Schuurman (aka Annie) is just getting her eyes focused for the day.
Never a morning person, the freedom of home schooling allows her to get a later start on the day than most and sleep in a little later after a tiring long practice. She needs all the rest she can get as rehearsals for Annie get more intense and the countdown is on until opening night. Kelsey, 11, has two younger brothers Eric, 9, and Dirk, 7, who are also part of the cast in the upcoming Annie performance.
Eric plays a homeless boy as well as Wacky the puppet, while Dirk is the lovable dog Sandy that Annie befriends in the show. Eric loves all the dancing and singing, while Dirk prefers his scene as the dog with no big lines.
I’m in the chorus with various appearances in the show.
It's a lot of driving in and out from Lone Butte, but it is so much fun that it’s more than worth the effort. Having everyone in the play is a laugh each day to see which song is stuck in each other’s head throughout the day. Kelsey's love of acting started when she was very young, and with some of my influence, had a dress-up box of costumes well before she was able to fit into any of them.
As a home-schooling family, the children were always encouraged to "act" by having a stage curtain up and ready for any performances they wanted to do for family, friends, or company who showed up at our door in Chilliwack. The children would often put on plays of their own creation and sing songs with some interesting choreography, too.
One time Kelsey’s home-school accountability teacher came to visit and she "acted" out the water cycle for her science report.
At the age of six, Kelsey landed the shared lead role of Becky Thatcher in the musical Tom Sawyer (after talking the director into auditioning her, you were supposed to be at least seven to have any part in the play), and this launched her dreams and aspirations of acting and singing. She performed amazingly, and even though she couldn't really read, she used her memory to recall the lines and songs she was to sing.
Kelsey is absolutely thrilled to have the opportunity to play the role of Annie with the 100 Mile Performing Arts Society this year along side her mother, brothers and the other well loved cast members. She is really enjoying the opportunity to get to know some of the other orphans.
Last year, Kelsey was part of the Sound of Music cast where she played Brigitta von Trapp. Kelsey says her favourite thing is getting all dressed up and using makeup and acting like she is someone else. We have many friends and family members from Chilliwack, Kelowna, Salmon Arm and Saskatchewan coming to see the performance.
Tickets for 100 Mile Performing Arts Society spring production of Annie are now on sale at Donex, Didi's and Curves at $15 each. Performances are 7 p.m. nightly, Feb. 24-26 and March 3-5 at Martin Exeter Hall. Feb. 26 and March 5 will offer 1 p.m. matinee performances.