Extensive research, rehearsal for 'Jean Brodie'
By: Emily Dale Swoboda
Issue date: 10/7/04 Section: Culture
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"Jean Brodie is a teacher with great charisma," said Doug Finlayson, head of the Conservatory's directing program. "She teaches outside the norm of teaching. She starts to try to live through her students in a way that is not completely appropriate."
Brodie isn't actually employed at Webster, just traveling through. She's the main character in "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie," the Conservatory of Theatre Arts' opening play of the 2004-05 season, which was written by Jay Allen.
Finlayson, who directs "Jean Brodie," chose the play because of the opportunities it provided in terms of roles for conservatory students.
"It's a great play with great women's parts," Finlayson said. "We currently have a very large population of talented women in the conservatory. So, in searching for projects for this year, we knew we had to find a couple plays that had strong women's roles."
The play opens in 1965, but the greater part spans more than half of the 1930s in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Senior musical theater major Sarah Anderson plays the title role. Anderson said preparing for this role required a lot of research to understand the multiple references made throughout the play.
"This play is rich with references to literature, art and history," Anderson said. "Jean Brodie rattles off names of dictators, artists, poets, progressive women and movements. She's extremely well-educated, so
I wanted to get a grasp on all of these references at the start."
Anderson caught the acting bug at 8 years old in a children's summer theater group in Woodstock, Ill. She played the forequarter of a dancing dragon in "Hey George, What do I do with this Dragon?"
Anderson has been involved in theater ever since. In high school, she was in several plays and musicals. Last year Anderson was in "Nine,"
