Taking center stage

EAST COUNTY — Talkative 9-year-old Olivia Garland is currently out of her comfort zone.

She has the tears to prove it, although these tears are on-demand for her first leading role in the Manatee Players’ production of “Meet Me in St. Louis.”

“I love it (acting),” Olivia says in a matter-of-fact tone, adding it’s hard to cry on cue. “I like being able to play different characters. (To cry) I think about things like moving away from my friends. Or, even worse, my two dogs, Jack and Balboa, dying. I love them and that would be the worst. But, having to cry so much and always keep your eyes wet is hard.”

The Braden River Elementary student stars as Tootie in the show, which runs Dec. 4 through Dec. 21. Olivia shares the role with Alana Rife.

For Olivia, her current role has been one of the most difficult to portray in her theater career.

A 1944 drama/comedy/musical, “Meet Me in St. Louis” tells the story of the middle-class Smith family and the group’s love for St. Louis in the early 1900s. Tootie’s father, Alonzo, receives a job opportunity in New York, and the family struggles with the idea of leaving Illinois.

A troublemaker who is fascinated with death and burying her dolls after they “die,” Tootie has been a difficult character to play. Still, Olivia, 9, relates to someone with quirky behavior.

No matter where she is, she loves to sing. Now, Olivia can’t stop humming songs from the play, even in the hallways at Braden River Elementary.

Olivia has also been mastering juggling her hectic schedule of play rehearsals and homework by sacrificing sleep and time with friends.

“When she does a show, we don’t get home until about 10:30 p.m. or 11:30 p.m., and she has to be up by 8 a.m.,” her mom, Angela Garland, says. “We try to catch up on the weekends.”

Olivia has singing classes once a week and rehearsals five days a week.

She finishes her homework assignments in the car while her parents drive her to rehearsal or in the theater during downtime between sets.

“Being at the theater so much is a huge commitment, and you have to love it to be able to handle that,”Angela Garland says. “She does love acting.”

Co-stars
Olivia Garland has performing arts in her blood.

In the mid-’80s, her mother, Angela Garland, studied drama in high school and performed in a range of school and Manatee Players productions. 

But in college her passion for theater fizzled out — until two years ago when she noticed her then-7-year-old daughter singing around the house. She discovered Olivia also had dreams of being in the spotlight.

The Garlands started auditioning together for plays, such as “Les Miserables” in 2013. Now, both are involved with holiday productions throughout December. Garland is working behind-the-scenes as the stage manager of “Amahl and the Night Visitors,” while Olivia takes center stage as Tootie in “Meet Me in St. Louis.”

Although Olivia says she received her acting abilities from her father, who has mastered “making any funny face,” Garland knows better.

“I think it’s neat that she’s sort of following in what I did,” Garland said. “But, she’s much better.”

IF YOU GO
Olivia Garland performs in “Meet Me in St. Louis” Dec. 5, Dec. 7, Dec. 9, Dec. 12, Dec. 14, Dec. 17, Dec. 19 and closing night, Dec. 21, at the Manatee Performing Arts Center, located at 502 Third Ave. W., Bradenton.

Ticket prices range from $27 to $37.

Visit manateeperformingartscenter.com to purchase tickets.