Performing a scene from "The Fantasticks" are Anna Beth Bonney, left front; Brady Smith, back left; Daniel Jordan and Tim Brosnan. The play opens Thursday at Centre Stage -- South Carolina. BART BOATWRIGHT/Staff

Published: Sunday, October 7, 2007
By Ann Hicks
ARTS WRITER
ahicks@greenvillenews.com

Anna Beth Bonney is the girl next door to the boy next door who loves her.
Not in real life, though.
There, she scarcely has time to gobble down her veggie burger, do her homework and attend nightly rehearsals to do triple duty for hours: acting, dancing and singing.
Meet the petite brunette, a 21-year-old Dallas native, a senior at Furman Unviersity, who will star as Luisa in "The Fantasticks," Centre Stage -- South Carolina's season opener on Thursday night. This is her first-ever starring role in a musical. The internship
Bonney worked all summer as an intern at Centre Stage in order to become somewhat familiar with all that goes into running a theater. Her involvement included production design, assisting with marketing and advertising. Still, her "most daunting task" was helping with the avalanche of ticket orders for the theater's summer blockbuster, "The Buddy Holly Story."
She counts it as 15 times 250 seats sold, one or two tickets at a time for four weeks. Whew, she says.
Bonney chalks up the experience as a good one. Among other benefits, it helped her to improve her phone and her diplomatic skills as she handled such inquires as, "Is Buddy in concert?"
"No," she'd answer sweetly, "he's dead. This is a show about his life and times."
The best part of her internship, she says, was bonding with her co-workers and learning the value of teamwork. More bonding
As "Buddy" exited, the new buzz at the theater surrounded auditions for "The Fantasticks," a special production. It is the opening show marking the 25th anniversary of Centre Stage, Greenville's youngest, brashest theater.
Bonney was encouraged to audition for the role of Luisa.
While she's never had a starring role in a musical, she has a dossier of acting credentials, including recent appearances in "Ragtime," "Urinetown" and "Translations" at Furman's Playhouse.
Long before she'll be seen on stage, Bonney was seen as the poster girl for Centre Stage's 2007-2008 advertising campaign.
She says walking into the theater and meeting her 3-foot tall poster self in the lobby put the pressure on her to do well in three auditions for veteran director Benjamin Robinson.
Now that she has the lead female role, the challenge is to keep from being totally exhausted by its demands that she sing, dance and act.
"I've got to have a huge burst of energy at 7 p.m. every night, which is when the rehearsals start, with the same kind of energy I have when I get out of bed at 7 a.m.," says the diminutive actress.
To keep fit, Bonney takes a nap after classes and before she has to be at Centre Stage. She also sticks to a vegetarian diet, as meat makes her "feel heavy and sleepy." After graduation
While Bonney is uncertain what the future will bring, she says you never waste your time acquiring knowledge.
Many of the skills she's honed at Centre Stage, including marketing, teamwork, public relations and technical applications, can serve her in a number of fields, not just the theater, she says.
She plans to test the waters in a number of different areas, and theater work is definitely one of them, she says with a smile.
"I feel like I'm in a very blessed part of my life," Bonney says. "To know I can take any avenue I care to take is a huge gift."