Molly Karlin of Plainsboro has known that she wanted to be a performer since she was very young. When she was four, she told her mother that she wanted to be Mabel in “The Pirates of Penzance.” She began to practice around the house and landed her first official community theater show as an orphan in “Annie” when she was in first grade. “I have pretty much always loved to perform,” says Molly, who also enjoys dancing and singing.##M:[more]##
She has studied with the Dance Corner since she was four. Although she takes mostly ballet and pointe classes now, she has been tapping since she was four and has studied jazz. “I just love to dance so much I keep adding new styles of dance,” she says. Her next show is “A Winnie the Pooh Birthday Tail” at Kelsey Theater opening on Friday, August 15. Molly appears as Baby Roo and half of Kanga.
A member of Princeton Girlchoir for seven years, this is her third year in the Concert Choir. This summer she went on tour to New Orleans, and last summer she traveled to Ireland with the choir. “Both times I roomed with two of my best friends, so I had fun while I was singing and when we were just relaxing in the hotel.”
She studied performing arts at Community in seventh grade, and was in Rhythm Company in eighth grade where she had the opportunity to choreograph, dance, and sing. At Community she appeared in “Yard Sale” as Tourist 2 in seventh grade. Her next appearance was as Mona in “Flapper” where she sang a torch song and had her own back-up singers. She recently played Anne Gilbreth in “Cheaper By The Dozen.”
In her spare time she sings in Queenship of Mary Church Choir, attends vacation Bible school in the summer, swims on the Cranbury Catfish swim team, and helped with the pre-school dance camp at the Dance Corner.
Molly, a rising freshman at High School North, has plans to audition for the fall drama, the spring musical, and probably an after school choir.
Born in Torrance, California, the family moved to San Diego when she was one and to Plainsboro in 1996, when she was two. Her mother Rosie is a substitute Spanish teacher on long-term assignment at Wicoff and Town Center schools. Her father Scott is the manager for computing facilities in the computer science department at Princeton University. Both have been active on stage since they were very young and are part of the community theater family.
Molly has shared the stage with her parents several times in “Annie,” “Tom Sawyer,” “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” and “Annie Get Your Gun.” “It’s really fun being involved in things as a family. My parents are really supportive of me, especially during the pre-audition process,” she says. “I’ll work on songs with my mom, or run scenes with my dad, and vice versa. When we audition we always tell each other that we hope the others get in and we’ll be happy even if we don’t all get in. Also, how many daughters can ask their Dad if they can borrow make-up?”
The Winnie the Pooh musical, based on the characters of A. A. Milne, follows the exploits of Pooh, Piglet, Rabbit, Eeyore, Owl, Tigger, Kanga, and Roo as they try to find Eeyore’s tail in time for his big birthday party. The production is presented in the Bunraku Japanese style where the actors’s expressions blend with their puppet characters. “Doing a puppet-filled show has its own production process,” says director Diana Gilman Maurer. “The puppeteers are not hidden behind walls or under the floor.”
The cast did not work with the puppets until all of the songs, lines, and blocking was done. Workshops allowed actors time to work with their puppets and develop the character. Working with puppets is a new experience for most of the actors.
“It’s pretty hard. Kanga is heavy and I have to lift her so I’m definitely developing some more muscle,” she says. The actors attend puppetry clinics, do acting games with the puppets as the actors, improvisation with the puppets, and pantomime scenes as the puppets. Molly is multi-tasting as she is not only half of Kanga, but portrays and handles Baby Roo.
“Since I’m half of a puppet, my mom and I have to get coordinated on our every move,” she says. “It’s cool to share puppet responsibility her because we can practice anytime we want, not just at the rehearsals. We can talk out what we are going to do while driving in the car, or at dinner, or really anywhere.”
“I’d love to pursue a career in the arts but I’m also considering being a middle school guidance counselor,” she says. “I hope that all the kids out there get to do what they love to do, and have a great family and super supportive friends as I do.” — Lynn Miller
A Winnie the Pooh Birthday Tail, Kelsey Theater, Mercer County Community College, 1200 Old Trenton Road, 609-570-3333. www.kelseytheatre.net Maurer Productions Onstage presents musical with puppets. $10. Weekends, Friday to Sunday, August 15 to 24.
