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Since she set upon her professional path while a Temple University registrant, Emilie Krause could not comprehensively consider a career trajectory. Admitting her journey has bred better results than any she could have imagined, the 27-year-old is enjoying her casual yet committed crusade by playing Belle in Arden Theatre Co.’s production of “Beauty and the Beast.”
“I love the work, period, and see as bonuses having a long run and fraternizing with a generous audience,” the resident of the 900 block of South Bodine Street said of making her third turn in an Arden Children’s Theatre offering. “It influences my interests in displaying simplicity on stage and endeavoring to be present in the moment.”
Through Feb. 8, the Queen Village inhabitant is addressing adventure and acceptance with revered cast and crew members, including fellow South Philadelphian Matteo Scammell as the titular titan and director Whit MacLaughlin, also her peers within New Paradise Laboratories. Having inspected beautifully illustrated versions of the fairy tale as a girl, she is delighting in directing attention to the story’s emphasis on acknowledging and welcoming one’s growth and admiring others’ ability to derive strength from struggles.
“Whenever I work on a project, I want to support the other artists and help them to feel as if they are in a safe place to create,” Krause said of seeing her colleagues’ chief chore being the need to know their importance in inspiring ingenuity. “That’s particularly true when dealing with children’s theater.”
As the medium allows for artistic interpretation, the theatrical entity has made modifications to the account, leading to the emergence of “its own Belle,” the female lead noted. The portrayer added crowds have included enraptured reactions from children, who have often come to know the creation only through film.
“I’ve really enjoyed helping them to see the play involved in putting on a play,” Krause said, with a nod to the interactive post-staging exchanges with youngsters as a boon to the run. “As a theater professional, there are so many things to work on, but at the end of the day, the room is shared and that notion includes the audience because we’re looking to instruct as much as we are trying to entertain.”
Having entered into the world of children’s theater for the Arden’s 2011 rendition of “Charlotte’s Web,” the thespian confessed to an initial inability to realize the scope of the genre but through the company, for whom she also appeared in last year’s “Sideways Stories form Wayside School,” she has comprehended the professionalism and artistry necessary to mount a monumental production. With that awareness, she finds herself nourishing notions of novelty, much like Belle.
“I’m grateful for the freedom within children’s theater,” Krause said. “The whole concept of this type of storytelling goes a long way to helping people know that no matter what age we are, we need interaction to encourage new ways to appreciate the world.”
Having always identified as an artist, the Ambler product explored ballet, music and painting as a youth yet came to think theater could complement another childhood interest.
“I was a huge bookworm,” Krause said of regarding reading as a huge help in fostering her focus. “I was a shy kid, so I saw books as being invaluable. As I grew older, I started to believe in theater as a way of living inside a story in a very palpable manner.”
Also seeing the discipline as engendering empathy and compassion, she decided on the City of Brotherly Love as a compelling location to capture the essence of her budding enthusiasm. Choosing not to obsess over how she might advance through the ranks and become a renowned hire, she elected to treat forecasting with all due neglect.
“My only plan is to become better,” Krause said. “What I’ve experienced is superior to what I could have conceived anyway, so I’m taking each opportunity as a chance to grow.”
She secured her first role through Brat Productions, appearing in ’08’s “User 927” and helping the company to terrify locals in ’09’s Whitman-situated “Haunted Poe.” Since her ’10 graduation from Temple, the performer has established fruitful relationships with PlayPenn, the Philadelphia Theatre Workshop, People’s Light & Theatre, Simpatico Theatre Project, the Wilma Theater, the Philadelphia Artists’ Collective, Inis Nua and Lantern Theater companies and Theatre Exile, 1340 S. 13th St. While she loves honoring the impact of traditional theater, she has honed fascination for the devised variety through her company member status with New Paradise Laboratories, which creates “surprising, meticulous, spiritually challenging and wholly distinctive experimental theater productions that investigate physical expression, on stage and in life.”
“It requires a different sort of artistry,” Krause said of her nearly three-year commitment to the company, which has yielded duties in “Prom,” which took the troupe to North Carolina; “the Adults,” a FringeArts show that offers a spin on Anton Chekhov’s “The Seagull”; and “27,” another FringeArts piece that looks at musicians who died at the title age. “Going in, we’re without the support of a script, and that can be terrifying, but Whit does a brilliant job of guiding us. I think the freedom I find in devised works helps me with more traditional pieces.”
Having starred with her in customary and conceived efforts, Scammell has earned her respect, with Krause saying she envies him as the Beast because he is able to drive the action rather than be a reactionary presence.
“I want to chew on characters like that going forward,” she said. “I know I can’t force anything, though.”
Krause will continue to concretize her evolution come April, when she stars in Theatre Exile’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” alongside East Passyunk Crossing’s Jake Blouch. Add work with Lightning Rod Special, another New Paradise Laboratories creation and preparation for this year’s FringeArts pageant, and one can definitely say she has benefited from choosing dedication over consternation.
“Philadelphia is an incredible place for artists,” Krause said. “I love being among so many enthused individuals. They’re as inspirational as the plays we perform.” ■
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For tickets, call 215-922-8900, or visit ardentheatre.org.
Contact Managing Editor Joseph Myers at jmyers@southphillyreview.com or ext. 124.
Portrait Photo by Corey Carter | Production Photos Provided By Maura Roche
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