Hurst theater gives students experience

By Ciaran Lambert/tr news editor

A few TCC students are learning about the theater on stage and off by taking part at Hurst’s Artisan Center Theater.

The theater is currently performing Annie, the story of a little orphan girl taken in by the wealthy Daddy Warbucks.

NE student Elizabeth Price plays Grace Farrell, Warbucks’ faithful secretary, who loves Annie right from the start.

“Artisan is a sort of a safe zone for me,” she said. “Performing there — or on any stage really — is an outlet at which I can release stress and temporarily set aside my other responsibilities as I delve into another character and portray her on stage.”

This isn’t Price’s first time on Artisan’s black box stage. She was seen last year as Jadis the White Witch in C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. She also performed in NE Campus’ The Female Odd Couple.

Also, three students are featured in Lerner and Loewe’s Camelot, which opens at Artisan on New Year’s Eve.

NE student Lindsay Hardisty will play Morgan le Fay, the evil witch who helps Mordred with his plan to destroy King Arthur.

Hardisty is not just an actress at Artisan. She is also one of the core personnel. She started with the theater as a volunteer until she was offered the job as stage manager for Cinderella in 2008.  

She has managed other shows such as My Fair Lady; West Side Story; The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe; Oklahoma!; To Kill A Mockingbird; and now Camelot.

This year, Hardisty became associate resident stage manager and customer service supervisor.

Assistant stage manager Michael Williams, another NE student, has worked the technical side on a few shows in the past year. Some of his credits include The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe; To Kill a Mockingbird and Camelot in which he serves as both the assistant and the character of Colgrevance.

Hardisty said Williams is being trained as her successor.

Anthony Sherrin, NE and NW student, has been on both the technical and acting sides in Artisan shows for just as long as Hardisty.

The two have worked together on Cinderella; My Fair Lady; West Side Story; The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe; Brigadoon; Camelot; and Oklahoma!.

Sherrin almost didn’t get the role in Camelot because he needed a babysitter for his two daughters. Then his mom, knowing how much he loves performing, came through and offered to baby-sit.

Sherrin has also been the assistant choreographer and occasional single-casted dancer.

“Working at Artisan helps me create a lot of friendships,” he said. “It gives me a place to unleash my frustrations as well.”

Sherrin also talked about the balancing act of being a student, a husband and father as well as an actor.

“It’s tough, but you gotta do what you gotta do for what you love,” he said. “It’s like my dad always says, ‘If you wanna do something, you have to make time for it.’”

Other TCC students have filtered through Artisan such as Michael Spencer, who played Will Parker this summer in the theater’s version of Oklahoma!. Spencer was last seen in NE’s An Evening with Samuel Beckett.

Annie runs until Dec. 23 and Camelot opens New Year’s Eve and runs through Jan. 29. Call 817-248-1200 to reserve tickets or go online to artisanct.com.