A Dream Come True

Most actors, at one point or another, construct some sort of "discovery" fantasy. Spotted by an agent in a mall or in a school production, they dream of being whisked off to Broadway or Hollywood for a glamorous career on stage or screen. But not all stage success stories begin with a bang.

On a small scale, the dream of discovery slowly came true this fall for Nora H. Zimmett '00. Zimmett, a Mather House resident, recently appeared as Tinkerbell in the American Repertory Theater (ART) production of "Peter Pan and Wendy," which ran from December 12 to January 22.

Ironically, Zimmett's discovery story began with utter rejection--Tinkerbell was the part that she initially decided not to try, and when she finally did audition, she was not called back.

"I came to last semester's Common Casting, only to support a friend, and I saw that they were auditioning undergraduates for a professional piece at the ART," Zimmett says of the first time she heard about "Peter Pan and Wendy".

Zimmett eventualy decided in the flurry of Common Casting auditions to try for Tinkerbell. She, among many others, read for the part and at the end of the process one woman was called back--but not Zimmett. It wasn't until a few weeks later that Zimmett's stroll into stardom began.

"The director, Marcus Stern, called me and asked me to audition again for the part," says Zimmett of her recall. "I was surprised--I had thought that I was out of the running."

Zimmett auditioned four more times before finally getting the part of Tinkerbell. The performance may have marked her first experience with acting in a professional production, but stage acting is not a new vocation for Zimmett. The slight sophomore remembers performing for relatives as a child and appeared in high school productions before winning roles in Harvard productions of "Coriolanus," "Titus Andronicus" and "As You Like It."

"Acting is such fun for me...I love being part of a production--the team effort involved--and I love working with people," she says, using her expressive hands and face to lend as much feeling to her thoughts as the words themselves. Now this is a natural actor.

But wait! No snap judgements, please. Zimmett tries to avoid theatrical stereotypes, listing acting last among her interests when she first meets someone to avoid what she considers an egotistical or flighty drama stereotype. However, she does admit that her personality includes a flair for the dramatic, a tendency to play the prima donna.

But that's just acting. In reality, she's more of an ingenue. Zimmett says people describe her as a Demi Moore-type and once someone said she looked like Juliette Lewis, but she concentrates on a resemblance to Vivien Leigh. "Our facial tics are the same," Zimmett offers, convincingly.

Zimmett's take on professional acting is primarily positive--she says that actors receive frequent breaks during rehearsals at the ART, (partly because the actor's guild requires them) while student production rehearsals can be exhaustingly long. Those same Harvard productions, however, often fit student's lives. ART spells real world, a world where rehearsals rarely give classes and holidays low priority.

"I had to miss almost a week of classes during `tech week'" says Zimmett of the final week leading up to the show. At this, she has to giggle a little. Missing school for a play? "I had very understanding professors and TFs," she says. There were other advantages to being part of a professional production. Zimmett remembers that during one of her first days on the set, she noticed mugs with the stars' names on them.

"I was like, `Wow, someday maybe if I'm a professional actor..."

She first saw it near the coffee machine: her very own mug, with her name (not in lights) but at least on the cup's curve.

"I couldn't believe it!" says Zemmitt, and you can tell the excitement she's radiating isn't just another one of her striking onstage poses. "I called my mother."