Transformed

A young woman dressed in rags with long, tangled blonde hair timidly walks out onto the stage, whispering to herself. At first glance, she seems harmless, but soon a crazed look comes into her eyes and she starts screaming hysterically at anyone and everyone.

Years ago, this girl was beautiful, bright, and happily married. After being both assaulted and having her daughter taken away by the villainous Judge Turpin, however, she poisoned herself with arsenic, and descended into madness.

“The character is so deep–I’ve never played a role so complex. She is this crazy lady that everyone is afraid of,” Georgia Peterson–the girl behind the deranged beggar woman in this year’s school play, Sweeney Todd–said. “She’s hit rock bottom, and she’s just trying to survive.”

With a lead in the school musical, a theater scholarship to Utah State, a strong group of friends, and a drive to succeed in Highland’s most rigorous academic program (IB), Peterson is anywhere but rock bottom.

But things haven’t always been so happy…Peterson moved from Ireland to Utah at the age of 10, and the transition was not an easy one.

“It was a very fast move. We had nothing here; no family here, no friends here. I didn’t fit in very well because I wasn’t Mormon, I was from Ireland, I talked differently, and I ate weird things,” Peterson said.

She started school at Highland without knowing anyone. Her mom wanted her to get involved in some sort of activity because she knew that her daughter was shy, so she signed Peterson up to audition for musical theater to help her meet new people.

In Ireland she had been in a few shows with the Speech and Drama club of her elementary school, but she had never sung in front of anyone before. The theater teacher that year, Phaidra Atkinson, saw something in Peterson, and decided to give her a solo in the Musical Review.

“I was so nervous about it at first, and I didn’t want to do it, but I did it. And when I did, I was just like, ‘Oh my gosh. This is insane,’” Peterson said. “It helped me so much.”

Theater helped her come out of her shell, and she found something she loved doing. The other students in the drama program warmly welcomed Peterson, and gave her a place to truly grow into herself.

“Now I’m so much more confident. Theater is that type of environment where everyone feels accepted and welcomed, and I had never felt like that since I moved here,” Peterson said.

Atkinson was right to give Peterson a chance because on stage she absolutely shines. Her love for acting along with her beautiful voice and great understanding of the characters she portrays make her stand out from her peers.

“[Watching her perform], it’s amazing. I cry!” Peterson’s mother, Claire, laughed. “Being able to see her up there doing something she loves is great.”

Her talent and passion for acting and singing has caught the eyes of many. She performed a duo scene in french at the Utah Shakespeare competition during her sophomore year, and was awarded first place, as well as a scholarship to USU. She has also been cast in several shows outside of school. Last summer she was in an original musical at the Off-Broadway Theater in which she was a French Maid. She considers this her favorite role that she has ever played because she was able to be outrageous, and just have fun with the part.

“It was so sassy,” Peterson said. “In school, I’m not very outspoken. But when I got to play this character I got to be big and extravagant. I got to see what it was like to be this different person.”

Highland’s new theater teacher Mikell Price also sees a lot of potential in Peterson. The role she assigned Peterson in Sweeney Todd is very challenging both vocally and acting-wise. The beggar woman is an incredibly complex character because of her tragic backstory. Once upon a time she was normal and happy, but all of a sudden, all of that is ripped away from her. Then she goes insane, and everyone is terrified of her, so when she realizes that Sweeney Todd and Miss Lovett are baking people into pies, no one will listen when she tries to tell them. Because of this, playing her requires Peterson to go out of her comfort zone in order to embody all of the different sides of her personality.

“She’s obviously very talented, but I don’t think she had ever been tested or stretched before.  This would be a very challenging role for her. I picked her because I wanted to stretch her and help her rise to the occasion because I knew that she’d be able to,” Price said. “By the time the show actually goes up and the adrenaline is there she will absolutely shine.”

Completely embodying the beggar woman has been a struggle for Peterson in many ways because of the intricacy of the role. Becoming a different person is a difficult task for anyone, but accurately portraying someone who’s backstory twisted them to the point of insanity is hard for even the most talented of actors. During one performance, Peterson managed to do this after suffering through a painful broken nail that happened while she was on stage.

The role is also higher than Peterson’s vocal range, and it has been tough for her to let herself make mistakes while singing in front of her peers. Despite these challenges, Peterson’s experience as the beggar woman has been extremely rewarding.

“The hardest and most amazing thing about acting are the same, and that’s just letting yourself go,” Peterson said. “When you completely submit yourself to your character, you think the thoughts your character would be thinking, and you don’t see the audience, you don’t see the lights. You can just totally escape everything and be someone else.”

Theater isn’t the only place where Peterson is gifted, she is also extremely self-motivated academically. She is currently in Highland’s IB program. Not because her parents pushed her to do it, but because it’s what she wants to do. IB is notorious for its heavy workload, and is extremely hard for most people to do without any extracurriculars, let alone the commitment that a lead in the school play requires.

“We are here every day until 8 o’clock. Week of the show we’re here until 10 or 11. It’s really hard to try and stay on top of things. I’m trying to prioritize because obviously my grades are very important to me, seeing that I’m in IB, but the show is my life when it comes time,” Peterson said.

Looking towards the future, Peterson isn’t really sure what she wants to pursue, but theater is a definite possibility. It is very satisfying and freeing for her, and she loves that she gets to experience what it’s like to be all different kinds of people.

She looks up to and aspires to be like actors Johnny Depp and Leonardo Dicaprio because of their versatility and their ability to connect with and fully become their characters.

“There’s this moment in theater. When you get that moment, it’s just like, ‘this is why I do this,’” Peterson said. “This is art. We are art.”

After all the blood, sweat, and tears that Peterson has put into her character, finishing the show has been rather melancholy for her. Going from that high feeling that performing brings to having nothing to do every day after school is almost torturous for her.

“There’s thing in the theater community: post-show depression,” Peterson said. “This show is your life for months, and you are so emotionally exhausted, but you don’t know what to do with your time anymore!”

Although she won’t get to yell “Mischief! Mischief!” in people’s faces anymore, Peterson certainly has a lot to look forward to in the world of theater. If she so chooses, she’ll be able to spend a lot more time experiencing what it’s like to be all different sorts of people, and maybe even delve into the depths of madness once again.