Thursday, April 24, 2014

Spotlight On...Molly O'Keefe

Name: Molly O'Keefe

Hometown: Baltimore, MD

Education: Middlebury College

Select Credits: Serious Money (Potomac Theatre Project), Harriman-Baines (Theater for the New City), A User's Guide To Hell and LoveSick (Project Y Theatre), We Run The Ship (Mohawk Arts Collective/Bowery Poetry Club)

Why theater?: Because storytelling is essential. That's what theater is. There's nothing more awesome than the pure human connection that results from sharing a story.

Tell us about If the Saints Arrive in Germany: It's a play about the struggles of personal faith, and the strength of communal faith. And it is simultaneously really heart-wrenching and really hilarious.

What is it like being a part of If the Saints Arrive in Germany?:
It's wonderful to be collaborating with such a talented ensemble of women on such a smart and imaginative piece. It's phenomenal.

What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: I'm interested in theater that challenges the audience to see the world differently without bashing them over the head with an agenda, theater that tells an engaging story in an imaginative way. I'm currently obsessed with Taylor Mac.

Any roles you’re dying to play?:
Mrs. Lovett (Sweeney Todd)

What’s your favorite show tune?: Impossible to choose! Eek! I love "The Miller's Son" from A Little Night Music and anything from Singin' In The Rain

If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?:
Audra McDonald.

Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: Liza Minelli, because she's my spirit animal. And it would be called "The Froyo Diaries".

What show have you recommended to your friends?: TV show? The Wire, duh.

What’s the most played song on your iTunes?: My top 2 most played are 'P.I.M.P' (50 Cent) and the choral interlude from Act I of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin…my taste is eclectic...

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: Those new B&J's flavors with 'cores'. And also the show Scandal.

What’s up next?: How Steve Died, a new play by the amazing Gillian Durkee, presented by Rhapsody Collective at the end of May. And then I'll be revisiting We Run The Ship (a choose-your-own-adventure musical for kids in which I play a spunky Russian shoe named Nina), at the Portland Fringe Fest (Maine).