BWW Interviews: Trista Dollison from the Cast of DREAMGIRLS at Maine State Music Theatre

Martha and the Vandellas. Gladys Knight and the Pips. Paul Revere and the Raiders. Bill Haley and His Comets. DiAnna Ross and The Supremes. The singer in the front always gets the recognition. But, what about the talented singers behind the "star"? What are their hopes and dreams, and do they ever long to be in the spotlight?

On a cold and rainy Tuesday here in the mid Coast of Maine, I took a trip to Brunswick. After navigating through the rain-weary travelers on Maine Street, I parked my car, and with my oft-ridiculed Fantastiks umbrella, I made my way to the Pickard Theatre. There I found Trista Dollison; the amazingly talented and personable actress currently playing Lorell Robinson in Dreamgirls at Maine State Music Theatre. A native of Winter Haven, FL now living in New York City, it seems she isn't overly fond of the rain and cold weather we've been experiencing either.

Trista grew up in Indiana, but spent her formative years in Florida, where she moved when she was 12. Though she pursued opera in college and as a career, she grew up doing summer theatre and community theatre productions. She considered it a creative outlet outside of opera. "Opera is my passion", Trista tells me, "But it's so much harder. I've come to learn more about music theatre, but I know more about opera, historically speaking. When I saw my first opera, I thought to myself 'I can sing....but not like that'. That is on another level that I would love to be on". Through that reverence for the art form, and because she loves a challenge, she got more and more into opera. She graduated from Florida Southern College's Opera Performance program and following that, she planned on starting graduate school in pursuit of another opera degree. But, Broadway had other plans. She auditioned on a whim for the 1st National Tour of Lion King, and was cast. So, as she said, "I took another path". Following her 2 and ½ year stint on the road, she moved to New York to continue her career pursuing musicals and opera.

But opera and music theatre aren't the only music that is near and dear to her. Through her father's work as a pastor, she spent a lot of time singing in and directing her church choir, often as a part of national conventions featuring church choirs from around the country. "I just love music" Trista comments. This melting pot of vocal stylings gave her an early music education, even before she started taking voice lessons in her first year in high school. It was at an Easter concert that her parents first heard her utilize what she had been learning in her classical voice lessons; they had heard her sing, but not classically, or in another language. "Yeah...my dad got misty...". He would no doubt be proud to see her in this production. Though her parents won't be making the long trek to Maine to see her in Dreamgirls, they were able to see her in the same production at the Fulton Theatre in Lancaster, PA. "Really the productions are identical" she tells me. "Our crew, of course, is from Maine State". Director/choreographer Marc Robin (who will also be lending his direction and choreography to MSMT's productions of Les Miserables and Mary Poppins this summer) brought the full cast from The Fulton where he serves as artistic director, to the Pickard Stage. And now, Maine audiences can enjoy Dreamgirls and Trista's inspired performance for themselves. The show is loosely based on real events, and the music certainly harkens back to the golden era of Motown, Stax and Chess records vocal groups. And again, growing up hearing that style of music made an impression on Trista as well. "My parents loved Motown and that whole era of music; The Temptations, Gladys Knight. My dad used to play all of that for me on his record player. That music is just classic; it transcends color lines. It doesn't matter who you are, it seems like it takes you back to 'childhood'." This additional music history prepared her for her role in Dreamgirls, as well as her stint in Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story at nearby Ogunquit Playhouse.

Unlike the other girl group members in Dreamgirls, Trista's character Lorell embarks on more of a personal journey as opposed to professional one. "Lorell is the youngest of the three (the Dreamettes, at show's start are comprised of Lorell, Effie (Bryonha Marie Parham) and Deena (Britney Coleman)), and she is more excited about singing with her friends, and is more or less along for the ride". But as internal struggles and egos threaten the group, Trista's character doesn't lose her head. She longs for the days when the three friends made music, and weren't caught up in the "biz". "She's tolerated the drama just enough, that by the time she (Lorell) has her moment to speak her mind she finally says, 'You know what? I've let people do whatever they want to do with me, but I'm a grown woman now". Lorell, toward the end of the show, finally stands up for herself and breaks off her 7 year relationship with married man and performer, Jimmy "Thunder" Early (Kelvin Roston Jr.).

It's at that point in the second act, that Lorell decides that NOW is the time for her; to step from out of The Shadows behind Deena, and to not let life pass her by. "(Lorell) wants it to be about her for once. She's growing out of being the woman that everyone just told what to do. And it's really a great evolution that I get to play". Through this evolution through tough times, drama, and some amazing vocal displays on Trista's part, the audience comes to fall in love with her character; almost as though they are rooting for the underdog. "I think Lorell really represents younger girls, and young love. She's in a relationship that is often typical where she thinks she can change the man she's with. And, she doesn't understand why the other girls want to leave the group; it's that naïveté that makes her endearing".

And her vocal chords of steel certainly don't hurt. She may not be the diva, or the "star", but Trista and her character are ANYTHING but a girl in the background. "For me, Lorell is really just excited to sing with her friends and Jimmy who she loves. It may be in the background, but it's more about the people she gets to sing with". Perhaps if the other characters had Lorell's outlook on music and friendship, the drama wouldn't have sullied the group. "Our director Marc Robin always wanted to make sure that we showed these girls had fun together; that they had a history before the first scene you see in the show". It's that history, that through it all gets Lorell through the hard times and by show's end even brings the girls back together.

"I just love this show. I love the big numbers, and that the girls have this great relationship. One of my favorite moments is when Bryonha (as Effie) and I get to fight a bit. Lorell doesn't have a whole lot of time to speak her mind; she stays out of it for the most part. But (at the end of the first act) I get to do that, and it's great". And Trista Dollison is great too. Don't miss her standout performance as Lorell Robinson in Maine State Music Theatre's production of Dreamgirls, playing now until June 22nd.

For more information and for tickets, visit www.msmt.org. And find Trista on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TristaDollison