Sofia Candela, 11 years old, recently played the lead role of Gertrude in Suessical the Musical at Golden Elementary. Sofia takes over four hours of classes a week at Stagelight Performing Arts, including Acting, Jazz, Musical Theatre, and Vocal Music private lessons. We at Stagelight have had the privilege of watching Sofia grow as a performer over the last two years, so we wanted to hear more about her role as Gertrude!
SPA: What do you have in common with Gertrude, the bird?
SC: Gertrude and I are both very dorky, and we both have our own sense of style. We don’t really go along with what the majority does–like Mayzie and the Bird Girls with their giant tails. Gertrude wears Converse and has her own style.
SPA: How did your Stagelight classes help you prepare?
SC: My Stagelight classes really helped because Gertrude is a big character, but she also has times where she is serious and sentimental. My Acting classes really helped with that. My Dance classes helped because Gertrude dances with very precise movements.
SPA: Did you do anything specific to prepare for this role?
SC: I watched, I’m going to say, 10s of 100s of videos of different productions of Suessical to find out what the pool of characters was for Gertrude! When I saw Gertrude, I just fell in love with the character. I’m embarrassed to say I knew all the songs, like, 6 months in advance before auditions!
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