Centerstage with: Rose Lee-Alliston, of ACU's 'Light in the Piazza'

Editor's note: Coming Sunday in print and online at reporternews.com is a look at the 40-plus-year career of Adam Hester Jr., who is directing "The Light in the Piazza."

You are: a senior theater major, with emphasis in acting and dance. She came to West Texas as a freshman from the United Kingdom (Newcastle area).

We've seen you before in: "Beauty and the Beast," as a member of the ensemble, the 2020 pandemic Homecoming film "Cinderella" as the mean stepmother and then, last fall, in Homecoming show "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" and "God's Favorite," as the maid Mady in the Cornerstone Series offering.

Role in "The Light in the Piazza": She is Margaret Johnson, the mother of romantic lead Clara. They are on a trip to Italy. "To me, the first word that comes to me when I think is beautiful. I think she is incredibly exquisite. I am very elegant," Lee-Alliston said. Clara's mother is protective of her daughter, who is mentally and emotional lagging in her years because of a childhood head injury. "But throughout the story, you also see some faults of her. Very human faults that everyone can relate to. She's very real." Are the actress and the character similar? "I think so," she said, laughing. Besides the age difference — Mrs. Johnson is more than twice her age. "I do definitely see a lot of myself in her. She puts on a brave face a lot of the time and, ultimately, she wants the best for her daughter. But you can also see a sense of longing for what her daughter has," she said. That would be love, which Margaret once had falling in love with her husband, Roy, in Italy years ago. They still are together, but separated emotionally in their relationship. "I sing a song called 'Dividing Day' after a phone call with Roy," Lee-Alliston said. "They are divided in many ways. I think Margaret on this trip realizes she will be OK without Roy."

What you've learned about yourself playing this character: "I've definitely learned a lot about myself through the process of kind of living this role every day for the past few weeks," Lee-Alliston said. Also, she never has sung classically before this show. "This is a more legit soprano kind of sound. It actually took me by surprise to be cast but I couldn't imagine it any other way. We've done a lot of training with my voice. I think that's a good thing to have in my toolbox going out into the world." As for playing a mother in her 40s, Lee-Alliston said she employed "a lot of observation."

What the audience will get out of this production: "A big takeaway from the show is that it's OK for love and relationships to be a journey, no matter what the relationship is. It's not easy to be in a relationship. It's a lot of hard work. It has to be intentional. Throughout the show you see the different seasons of love," she said. Clara is living in her spring; her mother, likely in fall or winter. "It's such a packed show ... very, very deep. You realize, 'It's Ok for my relationship to be different from this person's relationship.' It think it's a story no one is immune to. "

What's next for you: Following "Piazza," Lee-Alliston will focus on her role as one of six hosts (three men and three women) for ACU's Sing Song, which is scheduled for April 1-2.

"I'm excited," she said about that plum role. She also has plans to showcase her work to agents here in March and to go to New York City during spring break "for callbacks and stuff. I'm just trying to see what comes of that," she said. After graduating in May, her goal would be to get into film, but landing work on a big stage, such as Broadway, would be nice, too. "Broadway definitely is a big, big aspiration but I definitely want to try it out," she said. "There's part of me could never ever leave live theater."

Greg Jaklewicz is editor of the Abilene Reporter-News and general columnist. If you appreciate locally driven news, you can support local journalists with a digital subscription to ReporterNews.com.

If You Go

What: "The Light in the Piazza," directed by Adam Hester Jr. with music directed by Dr. Chris Hollingsworth

When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Saturday, and again Feb. 25-26. The Feb. 26 performance also is a dinner show. There will be a talkback after the Feb. 25 performance.

Where: Fulks Theatre, Williams Performing Arts Center on campus.

Tickets: Open seating. $25 per person, or $50 with dinner. Go to acu.edu/theatre or call 325-674-2787 for information and to order tickets.

Note: This show is recommended for audiences age 10 and older.

This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Centerstage with: Rose Lee-Alliston, of ACU's 'Light in the Piazza'