Robin's Story - Appendix G
Just hasn't laid on the right Casting Couch Yet.
I was born in the base hospital at E.F. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming. My dad was in the Air Force, and we lived in base housing. And though we moved to California when I was seven years old, I have vivid memories of living on the base and starting my first two years of school there. The summers were hot, and the winters were bitter cold. But it was a wonderful tight-knit community and a great place for a kid to spend their formative years.
My dad was a Technical Sargent and a Maintenance Chief for the Minuteman rockets assigned to the 90
th
Missile Wing. The Minuteman are the intercontinental rockets that are housed in underground silos scattered across the Great Plains of Wyoming, North Dakota, and Nebraska. And as that was all my dad worked on, though he may have had to travel on a regular basis, we lived at E.F. Warren. So, unlike most
Military Brats,
our family never moved.
Southern Wyoming was all I knew for the first seven years of my life, and I loved it. But that all changed the summer between first and second grade. My dad was on a training mission in North Dakota when he was killed in a training accident. We were never told exactly what happened, or maybe I should say, I wasn't told. All I really knew was that dad was not coming home.
Needless to say, my mom was devastated. At least in the eyes of a kid, my mom and dad loved each other very much, and we had a very happy home. However, the Air Force was very supportive of us, and my mom must have received financial compensation, for we moved back to Southern California, where she was originally from. And we moved into a nice house in a good neighborhood in Glendale. Near my grandparents and where my mom had grown up. My dad's ashes were interned at the Los Angeles National Cemetery with full military honors. And my mom was given a folded American Flag that still rests proudly on our fireplace mantle, even to this day.
I didn't go to the same elementary school as my mom, but I did go to the same high school, Glendale High. It was a great school, with a great tradition. And there were even a few of the older teachers that remembered my mom. I never was sure if that was a good thing or not. But it certainly was interesting. I always wondered what stories they could have told if I could have only persuaded them to tell me.
And Glendale High had a fantastic performing arts department. I had always been a drama queen, even back in Wyoming, where I was always putting on
little plays
with neighborhood friends. My mom signed me up for
Theater Summer Camps
in the summers between school years. And during the school year, I always managed to get one of the lead parts in school plays. So, when I moved up to Glendale High, I took Musical Theater every one of my four years.
As you can imagine, in a community so connected to Hollywood, the other kids in Theater were all very talented. And though I always faced grueling competition for the best parts, I usually did manage to get lead roles and musical solos. I had a good singing voice, and my mom did pay for a voice coach during my last three years of high school.
In my senior year, the Musical Theater Department of Glendale High put on
Chicago.
Oh my God, that is absolutely one of my favorite Broadway Musicals. And I was determined to get a lead role. I wanted the part of
Roxie.
That was the starring role, and as this was my senior year, it was now or never. The auditions were the week before the Christmas break. And I practiced with my voice coach five days a week, every week, between Thanksgiving and my audition. I wanted the role of Roxie so bad; that I could taste it.
I won't tell you who got the part. She really was a good friend, and still is. But I was certainly disappointed. However, I did get the role of
Velma
. That is for sure the next best part for a female. It was almost like the play had two lead actresses, and though I didn't get the role I wanted, I certainly got one nearly as good. Velma has some incredible scenes, as well as several solos.
After getting the part, I watched the movie version of
Chicago
three or four times. The part of Velma was played by Catherine Zeta-Jones in the movie, and I did everything I could to become her. I'd always heard of
method acting,
where you live your character to the point where you
become
the character. And as a student of the
method acting
approach, I was determined to become Velma.
I already had dark brunette hair. But I had always worn it rather long. So, to
become
Velma, I cut my hair short into a
Page Boy
and dyed my hair