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| Tracy (Andrea Rutherford) is a teenager who wants to dance, love, and racially integrate the country. Photo by Nathan Willers |
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| Andrea Rutherford |
Singing, dancing, and all the while never mussing her hair, Andrea Rutherford brings the teenage heroine Tracy Turnblad to life in the FAC’s Theatre Company’s production of Hairspray (May 10–June 3, 2012), a big, Broadway musical comedy.
After seven years of living in New York, Rutherford — a Colorado native — moved back home. While in New York, she performed in children theatre productions including The Lion, Witch and The Wardrobe.
“I had just graduated school and decided to go New York to start auditioning,” explains Rutherford. When not auditioning or acting, Rutherford’s full time job was in the catering industry. However, she decided to return to Colorado because catering consumed more of her focus than acting.
“I was spending too much time on catering, more than on acting. I was the captain [similar to a manager] of catering events for Obama and the Queen of Denmark.”
After returning home to Colorado, she decided to direct all of her attention to acting.
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| Rutherford sings and dances throughout Hairspray |
Since it had been a while since acting was her sole focus, Rutherford is excited about being in Hairspray, sharing “I love all the music and it just a fun role to sing… I think that the show has a great message. It doesn’t matter what you look like, weight or color.”
Beyond loving the show in its entirety, Rutherford feels a special bond with her character, Tracy. “I think that Tracy and I have a similar spirit. We have a lot in common…She is just a positive fun character.”
Rutherford has been acting since she was three years old, and having a father who is an actor, has been exposed to the art form her entire life. Her love of acting stems from the strong sense of community she feels. She explains, “I love being around all of the creative people.”
Rutherford is excited to engage with audiences through comedy. She hopes that people in attendance like to laugh since there are many opportunities to do so in the show, and have an overall good time.
At the end of our conversation, Rutherford admitted, “I’m excited to find out what’s funny. Because you can laugh at each other in rehearsal, but it’s not till you get in front of an audience that it really counts.”
