Date: Fri 18-Aug-1995

Publication: Bee

Author: SHANNO

Illustration: C

Location: A-7

Quick Words:

Brett-Galotta-Actress-Broadway

Full Text:

From Cinderella To Agnes, Brett Is Bound For Broadway

(with photos)

By Shannon Hicks

Paul Zindel's play, The Effects of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds is

about the quintessential dysfunctional family. There is no father, just

Beatrice, the mother, who takes care of a nanny for $50 a week to bring money

into the household, to lead the family. There are two sisters: Tilly, who is

very quiet and into science but her mother won't allow her to go to school

much; and Ruth, who desperately wants to be popular in school and who may or

may not be an epileptic. Ruth has seizures, but she could be doing this only

for attention. The trio lives in a house that is in shambles, with a nanny who

is deaf in one ear.

"The whole family is just a wreck. It's a mess," says Brett Galotta, a Newtown

actress who plays Janice Vickery - another somewhat off-balance character in

this cast of interesting downfalls - in the upcoming TheatreWorks New Milford

production of Zindel's Gamma Rays ..., which opens next month in Brookfield.

Brett's character is in just one scene, but she is an important part of the

play. And knowing Brett's penchant for putting her heart into everything she

does on stage - big part or small - seeing Brett as Janice will certainly

leave a lasting impression.

Janice's character is the exact opposite of Ruth and Tilly, which was one of

the reasons the playwright created the character. Her popularity comes easily,

her clothes are easily thrown together into more contemporary outfits

(although no specific time frame is given for the play), and although it may

be easy to dismiss a character who appears in one scene as non-essential,

Brett sees it otherwise.

"You might think that I'm not necessary in the play, but everything that was

written into the play [by Zindel] has a reason for being there," she says.

"The nanny doesn't talk at all, but there is still a specific reason why she's

there.

"She's there, I think, to show the death side of the play. I'm there to show

the contrast between the girls and the outside world, I think, because they

are just so different from everyone else."

Janice Vickery isn't exactly the picture of normalcy, either. Also a student

of science, Janice enters the play carrying the skeleton of a dead cat that

she has skinned for a science project because, she says, "It looks good on

college applications."

Janice is something of a snot, an object of competition. It's hard to imagine

the soft-spoken, polite Brett taking on a role like this until one realizes

the most important part of all: Brett Galotta is an actor.

Brett began acting almost by a fluke. As a youngster, she loved singing,

joining her first choir and attending summer camps by the time she turned six.

Once she and her parents, Albe and Daryl, made the move from Fairfield to

Newtown when Brett was in seventh grade, she was off and running, literally

signing up for "anything Mom would let me take."

Early classes began combining singing with acting, which often go together

onstage anyway - especially on Broadway, which happens to be Brett's ultimate

goal - and a young actress was born. Her first role was as Cinderella, at age

nine, in a drama class production.

She continued with school in Newtown until she was a freshman at Newtown High

School, but after her first semester, she made a transfer that would change

her life, well, dramatically.

Now a junior at the Connecticut Conservatory in New Milford, Brett is one of a

handful of full-time students at the private performing arts school, but she

wouldn't have it any other way.

"Going to a private school was a big change," Brett said last week, getting

ready to take a break from acting after a year and a half at the school, and

12 months of constant auditions, rehearsals and performances. "I love it

there! It has everything I need right there."

Everything, including her mentor, Conservatory executive director Julianne La

Fond. Ms La Fond, says Brett, is someone that most of the students look up to.

Brett's schedule this past year has certainly kept the actress busy. She has

not had a break since last summer, because while one production would be in

the midst of performances, Brett was already auditioning - something she loves

to do; "I could go to auditions for fun!" she claims - for her next work.

"[Brett is] very talented," says Conservatory artistic director Julianne La

Fond, a former Newtown Middle School teacher. "She is pleasantly and

appropriately ambitious. She is a lot of fun and is sometimes mischevious, but

she is a very hard worker.

"She has certainly flourished in our environment," Ms La Fond continued.

"Brett is the kind of person we're geared toward."

Last summer Brett played Moth the Fairy in the Newtown Little Theatre

production of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream . It was a huge

departure for the theatre company, but brilliant direction by Ruth Anne

Baumgartner brought rave reviews, both from media critics and the cast,

including Brett, who returned this summer to follow Baumgartner's guidance in

the Little Theatre production of As You Like It .

In between, there have been parts in the operetta The Snow Queen , mounted by

the Conservatory; Belles , a comedy that was directed by Conservatory drama

teacher Ronnie Whiting, in which Brett found herself playing "the campus

sexpot"; the musical comedy Really Rosie ; and this spring's Conservatory

production of Agnes of God , with Whiting directing again. Brett shared the

title role with Erin Murphy, a senior at the Conservatory, who also happens to

be one of Brett's best friends.

Also this year, Brett was in the TheatreWorks New Milford production of The

Diary of Anne Frank , directed by Richard Pettibone. Brett played the role of

Margot, Anne's sister, which was another smaller role for her, but one the

director can easily recall.

"It was a small role, but she really took it and made it her own," Mr

Pettibone said this week. "She really brought a lot of life to the production.

"She has a lot of heart, and that's what it takes to make it as an actor."

Brett certainly wants a career that will keep her on stage, although she is

looking into directing for a little while as a break from the lights of the

stage. Rehearsals are not easy for anyone to fit into an already active

schedule, and classes and rehearsals at the Conservatory usually run from from

9 am to anywhere between 7-10 pm, six days a week, sometimes seven. It's time

for a change, just for a little while.

She has been reading a lot of plays during her summer break, and this fall

Brett will embark on directing a play for her junior project. According to Ms

La Fond, junior projects can be anything from research projects,

apprenticeships, performances or community services. "Certainly they should be

related to one's talent and goals," she said earlier this week.

Brett isn't sure yet which play she will use, but finds the idea of directing

very exciting.

"I like the idea of creating the entire play, versus just creating one

character," she says enthusiastically. "I want to be able to give my ideas to

other people, and love the idea of guiding the actors through everything ."

She's not ready to give up acting altogether, and her talent and enthusiasm

show no signs of dimming. Her past work has already been noticed in reviews,

and her future holds a lot of promise if she continues to work off the inner

fire she keeps burning.

"Brett has a lot of potential," director Richard Pettibone says, "and if she

sticks with it, she can take her acting pretty far."

From his lips to Broadway's ears...

The Effects of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds will open September 8

at the Country Players' Playhouse, Route 25 in Brookfield. It continues

through September 30, with regular performances Friday and Saturday evenings

at 8:30 pm. Call 775-0023 for reservations, information on tickets and

specially-scheduled performances.