Main Line Times: Shaw ’11 Lands First Professional Role in Azuka Theatre's 'Hazard County'

June 27, 2012

Main Line Times reported on June 21 that Bailey Shaw ’11, who earned a B.F.A. in Acting from Arcadia University, is playing her first professional role as Quintin in Azuka Theatre's current production of Allison Moore's Hazard County. The production is part of the New Professionals Program, which affords recent college graduates an opportunity to unveil their talents in stage design and acting.

Shaw says that her mother attended the show's preview and felt that viewers could expect a 'heartwarming, funny presentation which will ignite a fire inside." In addition to providing her mother's perspective, Shaw replied, "It's a hard subject matter that's certain to spark conversation."

Preparing for this month's production inviolved a great deal of work, but Shaw expresses enthusiasm when she says, "Allison likes to have the play done word for word. We have to know the entire play rather than just memorizing the lines. Acting as an art is so much more than that.

"Althought acting is challenging, I like roles where I get to play an 8-year old, a 20-year old and 60-year old. We do change costumes, to help the audience track the character identity, but we can't rely on costuming. We adjust our voices to reflect the age of the character."

It was necessary for Shaw to become familiar with "The Dukes of Hazard, " which she hadn't watched much of when she was younger. Shaw feels the play in general is what motivates the cast and crew's interest and investment. She's loved every minute of it saying, "Hazard County" makes us think and will do the same for the audience."

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