from the March 2010 issue of KC Stage
Natalie Weaver is an Equity actor, with a music theater degree from Southeastern Oklahoma State University, a “very long name for a very tiny school” as she says. Since getting her degree in 2003 she has worked on the education side of theater, as well as serving as the educational director for the Oklahoma Shakespeare Festival for several years, as well as directing their children’s theater. “This past summer I had 80 kids, ages 5-13, put on a full production of Beauty and the Beast. It was not an easy task, but it was very enjoyable.”
Weaver never intended to be an actor and didn’t start acting until she was a junior in college. “I was a music major and I was dead-set that I was going to go into music. I was going to sing and be a music educator. My daddy’s a band director and I thought that I would do something in his field. My sophomore year of college some of the music students were pulled to do a theater production of Grease in my little junior college. I caught the bug, and my junior year I flipped universities and went to Southeastern Oklahoma State University, became a music theater major and never looked back.” Now she’s part of the Blue Star Awards here in Kansas City. “I go to these high school productions and think ‘I never did anything like this in high school.’ It wasn’t until college that I said ‘Oh, what’s that? What are they doing? I want to do it!’ And that’s how it evolved.”
She came to Kansas City with the attitude, “Ok, KC, let’s go. I’m ready to work!” Her first gig in Kansas City was in American Heartland Theater’s (AHT) production of It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play where she played Lana Sherwood. Later this season (March 12-April 25), you can see her in I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change again on the AHT stage. “I am Woman 2, which is the lower voice, and it’s hilarious! It starts with a single 30-something and the first song is ‘Single Men Drought.’ Immediately, you know where we’re headed, ‘I can’t believe I’m on this date right now with the man who won’t shut up!’ It starts with 4 single people in the show and one of the couples ends up getting married, then there are kids, and by the end it’s this little old couple. You see the progression of relationships and how good or horrible they can be. I’m really excited about it.”
Besides the theaters, Weaver is an avid fan of both the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art and Nelson-Atkins Museum. “The pride that this community takes in their arts is quite incredible. The Kemper Museum’s my favorite to go to on a Sunday morning for brunch before a matinee. It’s such a small museum; you can have brunch and see everything in an hour. They currently have an instillation of Dale Chihuly, who is my favorite artist.”
When asked about favorite roles, Weaver admits, “I don’t really know why, I’m constantly cast as the bitch, the slut, or the slutty bitch. I’ve always wanted to play Belle from Beauty and the Beast, but I’m tall, and no one would ever consider me because they always want these little 5’4” princesses.” Oklahoma Shakespeare Festival’s artistic director told Weaver that they were considering doing Beauty and the Beast. Weaver replied, “Great! I want to play Belle.” When told she was awfully tall, Weaver quipped, “So you’ll hire a Beast who’s taller.” And they did! “I finally got to play the sweet princess. That was wonderful. I loved it because it was so different than when I’m usually cast. I love the roles that I play, I love that I’m a character actor. I love that I get to be sassy and spunky onstage, but it’s nice to be looked at for something different.”
Now that she’s crossed Belle off her list of dream rolls, her next target is, “Sally Bowles in Cabaret. I haven’t done it yet and the clock’s ticking. I like the vulnerability with strength that she has. She’s this complex character that possesses so many emotions, soft but hard, jaded yet incredibly vulnerable. I think that would be a challenge. And she gets to dance Fosse! How fun is that?”
For Weaver, theater is a therapy. “It’s really incredible to be getting paid to do something where you can let all your inhibitions go. You can explore different characters and emotions and thoughts, putting yourself in someone else’s shoes because in turn you learn about yourself. If you’re upset in your personal life and you’re playing this role where you get to scream and yell, you’re venting and letting it all out, but you’re just doing your job, you’re not really yelling at someone in your life. How many people can say they’re in a business where they get to do that? They get to explore and play dress up, and I think that’s amazing.”
“I am someone who is a huge advocate for education. I realize there are many actors who never had any training, but I would push for education. Even if you don’t end up finishing and getting your degree, being in that safe classroom setting where you can be completely vulnerable and just go there and let yourself explore so many emotions really helps. Once you have that safe place, that classroom, it’s so much easier to go to an audition and let it go. If you don’t book the gig, fine. Dust off your shoulder. You’ve already had that place where you can learn, grow, and train. It gives you a little bit thicker skin.”
Although an actor, one of her greatest memories came from one of her students. “When I started theater, one of the first big productions I did in college was a children’s show. I played Miss Mouse in Livin’ ‘da Life, the story of Brer Rabbit. One of the little girls who saw the show eventually became one of my students. She’s now a senior in high school and booked her first gig. She called me up and told me ‘All I could think about, all I told myself when I auditioned was smile like Natalie Weaver. Smile like Miss Mouse. Smile like Natalie and you can do it.’ That’s something I’ll never forget.”
A theater moment Weaver won’t ever forget is breaking her foot during the national tour of Grease. “Our Danny had on these big Harley boots, and in the middle of one of our scenes he runs across the stage, and crunch. I’m in these little nothing heels, and he crunches on top of my foot. I ran offstage, started crying, vomited, went back onstage and did the rest of the scene. It was a very interesting performance for me, but it was the middle of the show and we couldn’t stop. We took my shoes off after that performance and my foot was every color of the rainbow. That’s an experience I don’t want to relive.”
With almost a decade of theater experience Weaver has this to say to others pursuing an acting career, “We were told in college if you want to do anything else, if you think you could be happy doing anything else, Do it! I agree with that. If you don’t eat, sleep, and breathe this art form, do something else. You’re constantly being judged, you’re in and out of auditions, you’re being told you’re not tall enough, you’re too tall, you’re not thin enough, you’re too thin, you’re… It’s a constant battle but it’s the only thing that makes me happy. I want to teach and inspire young children to feel this way and to be as excited in their careers as I am in mine. I love what I do.”
When asked for her take on how Kansas City fits her future she had this to say. “I’m just really happy to be here. I really enjoy this city. I never thought I would be happy anywhere other than New York, but I think I could call Kansas City home. It’s a beautiful city. Its clean and nice, all the greenery and fountains. It’s so calm, yet it’s still a city. There’s everything you could possibly want, but it still feels like home.”
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