Down The Rabbit Hole

Actress living in wonderland as Alice

There was no rabbit hole. Neither was there a looking glass.

Instead, Lisa Fischel went through two sets of magic doors -- the Unified Professional Theatre auditions and the New England Theatre Conference auditions -- to find her way to wonderland.

FAQ

Hampstead Stage:

‘Alice in Wonderland’

WHEN — 10:30 a.m. Saturday

WHERE — Bella Vista Public Library, 11 Dickens Place

COST — Free

INFO — 855-1753

FYI

Wrapping Up Summer

Aug. 2 — Jerry the Bug Man, 10:30 a.m.

Visit bvpl.org for more information.

Now the 25-year-old, who just earned a master of fine arts in theater performance at the University of Southern Mississippi, is wrapping up a two-month tour of the Mid-South with New Hampshire-based Hampstead Stage Company. A brunette, she's faced some challenges playing Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland." "She's not blonde," she's heard children whisper. It's no good to tell them Alice Liddell, the real Alice, was a brunette.

Most of her performances have been in libraries, as will be Saturday's show at 10:30 a.m. at the Bella Vista Public Library. That means she's been nose to nose with her young critics.

"The biggest thing I've learned has been if you don't believe it, they won't," she says with a chuckle. "And they will tell you, out loud, at that moment.

"It's really my first time performing for children," Fischel says from Louisiana, where the company has spent a good share of the summer. "It's a different ballgame. If you can hold a child's attention, you can hold anyone's attention!"

Although Fischel's first love is Shakespeare, she "kept kind of persisting" in her quest for a job with Hampstead Stage Company. Founded 30 years ago, the company presents more than 2,000 shows a year across the United States -- which makes for about 20 million audience members over the course of its history -- and is best known for its original adaptations of classic literature. That was close enough to The Bard for Fischel.

"I think the best thing in life is just to grab the opportunities that come along," she muses. "Everyone kind of knows where they want to be and what they want to do. But it's important to keep yourself open as far as how you get to the destination.

"I didn't know how I would like the touring aspect," she adds. "I'm more a home-based kind of actor. I get very personal with the set and the lights and everything, and on the road, we're missing a set structure in lights and in space. We're constantly having to adapt. But it helps me as an artist and a person to think outside the box.

"I think the ultimate goal for me is to be able to keep doing what I love," she says. "I want to be able to use classical and Shakespeare as my home base. But I also love producing things and directing, and I have an interest in sound design, and I want to teach as well. I taught voice and movement in Mississippi. I also do stage combat.

"I just want to keep doing live theater. I think it's really important right now because, with all the technology, we are losing the ability to make a human connection. It's wonderful to be able to be involved with the audience."

Fischel found her niche as a storyteller growing up in Utah and Las Vegas.

"I always kind of wanted to be someone else," she admits about her childhood. "Eventually that evolved into this deep love of being other people and experiencing other lives. It's really wonderful to be able to study people who are just different, who come from different walks of life.

"In this one life I have, I'm getting to live thousands of different lives! And that's just so exciting."

NAN What's Up on 07/25/2014

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