Review: “LET'S GET TO KNOW” LARA D. HERBERGER

It's the Buffalo Theater come back of 2021.

I've been a little out of touch this past year.

I'm feeing a little theater lonely but ready to jump back into the Art world with some "Let's Get To Know" pieces and interviews.

I hope you can welcome me back ... I am a little rusty at this.

Let's start with "Let's Get To Know" Lara D. Herberger.

I had a chance to interview the pleasant and friendly Artie nominated Director Lara D. Haberberger.

She is ready to Act, Direct and take your mind away from the not so fun and productive 2021.

MCL: Please let us know about yourself - your theater life.

LDH: The first play I was ever in was in a Mother's Day play in Girl Scouts. I was Mother Mouse and only messed up two lines! I only had four.

High school is when the bug really hit me. I was an awkward, lonely teenager and theater was my salvation. I loved feeling part of an artistic team that would work hard to create something greater than ourselves. I loved doing all parts: building sets, acting, running the light board.

For undergrad, I was a theater major at UB back when Stephen Henderson, Saul Elkin, Ed Smith, Linda Swiniuch, Cathy Norgren were all professors. They all had so much talent and passion. We used to do shows at the Pfeifer Theater downtown, before it became the Towne Ballroom. It was an incredible experience doing shows as undergrads in the Theater District.

After I graduated, I moved to Rochester and started working with the feminist theater troupe, wild wimmin. It was my introduction to working with an all-female group of artists. It was very empowering - not that there were struggles, there were plenty of those. But, it really opened my mind to what women can accomplish together.

While still in Rochester, I started doing shows at the University of Rochester's International Todd Theater. The program at that time was a minor, but they did some incredibly artistic work. I was completely in awe of the caliber of visiting artists that they would get to come to Rochester to work on shows. These artists were from England, Russia, Greece, Australia, Canada, and South Africa. The work broaden my horizons on what was capable to do onstage. Working at Todd made me realize that I wanted to get my MFA and try to pursue theater a career.

I ended up getting my MFA from the Catholic University of America. They had a rigorous academic program and the DC area is filled with theater. I was able to see so many shows and get internships at a lot of theaters in the area: the Kennedy Center, RepStage, Washington Stage Guild, Source Theater. I did get a wonderful paying gig as the Middle School Director for the Traveling Players Ensemble - a summer camp for students. I loved that so much, but it was really hard to live in DC. So, I decided to move to Buffalo to start a theater company.

MCL: You've been involved with The Brazen-Faced Varlets since it started in 2006.

The Varlets have a special occasion to celebrate and to be proud of.

LDH: Well, we just celebrated 15 years of existing which is a pretty big deal. It has been hard and sometimes, it felt like the struggles involved in running a theater company were too much to handle, but I am glad that we are still here. I am excited to see what we will do next.

Next up for Lara D. Haberberger will be Directing Brazen-Faced Varlets next

Production of "All Through the Night" by Shirley Lauro

Performances:

Alleyway's Main Theater - 1 Curtain Up Alley, Buffalo, NY.

Shows:

10/8, 10/9, 10/15, 10/16, 10/22, 10/23 at 8:00 pm and 10/24 at 2 pm

http://www.varlets.org/current-production.html

Shows: 10/8, 10/9, 10/15, 10/16, 10/22, 10/23 at 8:00 pm and 10/24 at 2 pm.