Act Out

Who are you?  What year are you?  What are your interests?

I am Amelia Eichmeier! I am a junior this year. Outside of theater, I enjoy playing guitar and singing, writing songs (pure teenage angst), causing chaos in treble choir, crocheting, and cuddling with my two beautiful kitties (Stanley and Scout). 

What exactly do you do for Cinderella?

I am playing Ella!

What brought you to join the cast, crew, pit for Cinderella??

I have been a part of every show I possibly could have been a part of since I came to Homestead, so there was no doubt in my mind that I wanted to be in this show as well. And this show in particular is magical. It’s one of those feel-good shows that makes you feel on top of the world. When I listened to the soundtrack for the first time, there was one song that completely won me over: Loneliness of Evening. To me, it’s one of the most beautiful duets in the world, even in its shortness and simplicity. I knew I needed to be a part of that kind of beauty as soon as I heard it. 

Do you have any stories from rehearsals, practices or crew sessions?

I have trillions. I loved working on the stepfamily and I’s song “A Lovely Night”. We have these beautiful harmonies in it, but the best part is truly the antics that we all have with a broom. I also enjoy making the prince break character. One rehearsal, Grayson (our prince Topher!) and I were instructed to run around the stage to capture the right energy in a scene of ours. It was really freeing to just find the meaning of the text and the moment instead of staying confined to a small space on the stage. We ended up keeping the energetic blocking, which was awesome. I’m excited for people to see all of that! I am also excited for everyone to see our beautiful raccoon and fox, which we have named Momo and Kevin. 

Cinderella is about standing up for what you believe in, living with love and kindness and accepting you can always learn.  How have you connected to the story? 

I’ve always been quite an outspoken and opinionated person. I admire the way that Ella chooses gentle forgiveness (oops, spoilers!) in the end of her story instead of chewing her stepmother out. I think I could learn from her kindness a little bit. My mother does often tell me to “take the high road” and I think that is something that Ella does very well. It’s quite inspiring!

What is it like putting on a show in the time of COVID? How is it different?  How is it the same?  Other thoughts?

There have been many rehearsals in which one of our cast members is on zoom. It’s scary to know that at any minute you could be quarantined. Other than that, theater kids are theater kids. We’re going to have the same energy no matter where we are or if we have masks on our faces. I think that in the event we do the show unmasked, it is going to be fun to see what everyone’s been doing with their faces. I definitely am going to laugh. 

What’s one thing that is different in this play or rehearsal process than anything else we’ve done in the Homestead Theatre Department?

We’ve never had a Mr. O before! He’s our choir teacher and music director. I’m incredibly grateful for his patience with my voice and my energetic self. If you want to do something vocally, there’s a 99.9% chance that he can teach you how to do it. Also, I’ve never waltzed this much before! I love waltzing. 

Anything else you want to talk about?

Come see Cinderella at HHS!!