The theatre is Nikki Webster’s second home and she’s returning to the stage over summer in The Wizard of Oz. Nikki invited Smash Hits down to rehearsal to see how the show is coming together…
What’s the first thing you do when you get the script?
Basically I just read through it and highlight all my lines.
How do you learn your lines?
I read it a couple of times and then the night before I came in to rehearsals I asked my Mum to read the other parts for me.
What’s your standard day at rehearsal?
When we first came in, we just started blocking, which is getting told where to stand and what actions to do, when to run and when to not run. Then we started running scenes together to see how it flows through and then we did a full run through.
Things were still being changed in rehearsal today. It looks like it’s an ongoing process?
Definitely. Things are always chopping and changing. They still might change when we get into the theatre depending on how it looks from above and below.
How do you get into character when you’re rehearsing out of costume?
It’s quite easy, you just snap into it. You just have to get into the character and play the character the way you think it should be played.
What do you normally do in the five minutes before you go onstage?
I’m standing by the stage ready to go and getting into character. I’ll think about my first lines and what’s going to happen onstage – going through it all really quickly in my brain.
Have you ever forgotten a line in a show and what happens if you do?
No I haven’t…touchwood. When you’re working with other people, there’s always someone who’ll jump in to help you out and improvise.
How does stage acting compare to screen acting?
Well, you just have to give it a lot more because you’re trying to get it across all the levels where people are sitting. You just have to act it as big as you can. And you have to go straight through, too.
Is each performance different?
It definitely is. As you get into the run of the show, you get to know everybody better and you bounce off each other. Also, you get different reactions from the audience. Some things that you might not think are funny, they laugh at. Also, having performances at different times of the day means different types of people come to each show.
What’s the first thing you do after you come off stage?
I unzip my costume coz I’ll be really hot, and take my mic off. Then I take my make-up off and have a drink of water.
What sort of things do you have in your dressing room?
Up until now I’ve always shared a dressing room because I’ve been with a lot of other kids. I don’t think I’ll be sharing this time so I don’t know what I’ll have in there. I’ll probably put up some fun stuff – maybe have a lolly jar, a CD player. A few bits and pieces.
Do you remember the first time you saw The Wizard Of Oz?
I don’t remember the first time I watched it but I never really understood that the Lion, the Tin Man and the Scarecrow were the men who worked on Dorothy’s farm. I thought it was actually happening and it was new things happening to her as she went along.
Were you a fan of the film when you were younger?
I was very into Dorothy. I had the ruby slippers and I had the dress made up as well.
Who is your favourite character?
I like them all because they’re all different in their own way – and with the actors playing the parts now, they do it so well, it’s like they’re the first ones to do it.
What’s your favourite song from the show?
Definitely Somewhere Over The Rainbow but I like a lot of the character songs like We’re Off To See The Wizard with the Munchkins – that’s a lot of fun.
What’s your favourite part of the show?
Oh gee, that’s hard because I love it all. I can’t wait to see what everybody looks like in their costumes in Munchkinland. They’re going to have such bright costumes and lots of colours. I think when Dorothy’s house lands in Oz, that’s going to be a great scene.
Is the play going to be exactly the same as the movie?
It’s the same storyline as the movie but there are so many new bits and so many exciting bits that are going to happen, and a few secrets! There’s quite a few funny bits with the Lion, the Tin Man and the Scarecrow – well we think they’re funny anyway. I can’t wait to get the audience into the theatre.
Is it hard to work with a dog?
Oh, they’re very good and have a trainer who helps me as well. They started rehearsals when we did and sometimes I think “They’re better than me! They know what they’re doing.” I have to be aware of them, that they don’t get stepped on by the cast, but I’m learning to control them and stop them from jumping up.
Source: Smash Hits magazine
View scans of this article
Nikki Webster is being swept off her feet. Two weeks into rehearsals of The Wizard of Oz, choreographer Kelly Aykers is nutting out a complicated dance number that sees the pocket-size Dorothy spun from partner to partner when one’s hands slip and Webster is flung into the air. She’s caught just before hitting the deck, but everyone gets a fright. “Be very careful with that young girl, please,” shouts Aykers over the piano that plays on in the rehearsal rooms at Gala studios in Sydney. “She’s very precious.” In fact, that this production is opening at all is due solely to the star power of this 14-year-old schoolgirl. “If she had said no, we wouldn’t have done it,” says Oz co-producer John Frost of the $6 million show, which opens on Nov 24 in Sydney before touring Melbourne and Brisbane early next year. “It has been done especially for her.”