R.J. Morgan welcomes Hollace Starr and student actor Leyla Dillig, to share their experiences with the upcoming Pepperdine show, As You Like It, and why they believe the arts are important.

Hollace Starr (voice and dialects) is an associate professor of theatre at Pepperdine University, where she teaches, coaches voice and dialects, and directs. Recently, Hollace directed the West Coast Premiere of Mike Bartlett’s Earthquakes In London at Rogue Machine Theatre, and she wrote and voiced the original prologue, which will be published in the upcoming “Emergency” issue of Imagined Theatres, for the video version of Pepperdine’s COVID-cancelled The Cherry Orchard. Hollace’s acting credits include Yard Sale Signs and Milkmilklemonade at Rogue Machine, Small Tragedy at the Odyssey for which Hollace received an Ovation Award nomination, and more. She is a founding member of Rogue Machine Theatre Company and on the board of Trade City Productions, which operates Los Angeles’ very first mobile theatre truck. Hollace received her MFA in acting from UCLA’s School of Theatre, Film and Television.  She is a lifetime member of the Actors Studio and a designated Linklater Voice teacher.

Leyla Dillig is a Senior Theatre Major with an emphasis in acting from Stuttgart, Germany. Her Pepperdine credits include The Pirates of Penzance (Ensemble), Well (Ensemble Member B), Rhinoceros (Housewife), Stay Because (Erin), Falling (Lisa), Ragtime (Sarah), and Men on Boats (Dunn). In 2018 she was part of the world premiere of “The Abode” with Pepperdine's Edinburgh Summer Program. She is a recipient of the Theater Scholarship and a member of the Pepperdine Student Players.

If you are interested in being a part of this piece of the As You Like It performance, please do the following:

1. Watch this video and learn the dance.  Now, you can spend as much time on this as you would like.  You can go over it again and again and really get the steps down, or you can go through it once or twice and just try your best!  Go with what you have time to do and just try to have some fun.
2. (optional) Find a funny hat, jacket, or some fun glasses or a fancy ball gown.  It’s entirely up to you what you wear, but this part of the play is the celebration of a wedding, so wearing something festive is encouraged.
3. Record yourself doing the dance.  You can watch choreographer Kelly Todd and dance along with her while you record on your phone or computer  
4. Save and label your video.  Please label your file with your name, the date, and the words “wedding dance video submission.”
5. Upload your video to our Wedding Dance Video raw footage Google Drive folder by March 21.

More info about the Center for the Arts can be found: https://arts.pepperdine.edu/visit/digital-resources.html 

Music Composer: Jeremy Zerbe