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Dana Hooley’s acting bucket list
The veteran actor and Craig Noel Award-winner shares her rebellious aspirations
Dana Hooley as Daphne from Perfect Wedding
I’m asking veteran local actors to name five dream roles and say why. The answers not only reveal aspirations, they may put an idea in the minds of artistic directors and producers — even choices that may seem outside the box.
Craig Noel Award-winner Dana Hooley
Dana Hooley
“Here are the five, at this precise moment in time, that absolutely make my toes curl, my inner artist burn with excitement. Of course I’d love to play any of the fantastic roles the other actresses ‘of a certain age’ have already listed – Martha (!), Josie, Mother Courage, Mary Tyrone, Medea, etc. However, not wanting to risk redundancy, I’ve decided to stir the pot and add these beauties”:
1.) Alexandra Del Lago, Sweet Bird of Youth, by Tennessee Williams. “I’ve been attracted to the ‘Princess Kosmonopolis’ forever. I love her desperation, her crazed sexuality, pathetic dissipation and warped ambition. And the language of Tennessee Williams is JAZZ, baby. I love it.”
2.) Mary, The Testament of Mary, by Colm Tobin. “This is an intense, haunting narrative of the last days of the life of Jesus through Mary’s eyes. It is a raw and unforgiving portrait of a mother grieving the senseless loss of her son. It would be, I’m sure, a deeply spiritual journey for the actress.”
3.) Martha, That Face, by Polly Stenham. “Martha is an alcoholic, fading glamor queen. She wreaks havoc on her two teenagers in a self-destructive spiral destroying their innocence and hers. Stenham was 19 when she wrote this wild, wacky play that took London by storm. I’d love to play Martha, the mom from hell. I seem to excel in these roles.”
Dana Hooley as Grizzley Woman in Eternally Bad
4.) Lola Delany, Come Back Little Sheba, by William Inge. “Shirley Booth moved me so as Lola in the movie, and I’ve always wanted to take a shot at this tender, wistful, vulnerable yet resilient woman.”
5.) Titania, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, by William Shakespeare. “I will not let this lifetime pass without playing the Fairy Queen! And because Dame Judi recently played her in her late 70’s, I know there’s still hope. Titania’s powerful, proud, sensual, and passionate. And what a wonderfully comedic loving arc for an actress to play. And believe you me, I would give Oberon a run for his money. And Shakespeare’s words! Just saying.”
“After working on my bucket list I’ve come to realize as a theatergoer and artist, I’d love to see more new plays on San Diego stages with strong, middle-aged, complex women as main characters, preferably written by female playwrights. So often we’re regulated to the sidelines — nurses, maids, secretaries — as subservient, supporting characters. This gets old. The San Diego theater community is rich with talented actresses over 40. Why is it that after working on San Diego stages for over 30 years, honing our craft, paying our dues, growing as artists and now in our PRIME, we are so under-represented? Happily, this bucket-list business has fired up my inner rebel and I see a change a-comin’!”
Here's something you might be interested in.
Dana Hooley’s acting bucket list
The veteran actor and Craig Noel Award-winner shares her rebellious aspirations
Dana Hooley’s acting bucket list
The veteran actor and Craig Noel Award-winner shares her rebellious aspirations
Dana Hooley as Daphne from Perfect Wedding
I’m asking veteran local actors to name five dream roles and say why. The answers not only reveal aspirations, they may put an idea in the minds of artistic directors and producers — even choices that may seem outside the box.
Craig Noel Award-winner Dana Hooley
Dana Hooley
“Here are the five, at this precise moment in time, that absolutely make my toes curl, my inner artist burn with excitement. Of course I’d love to play any of the fantastic roles the other actresses ‘of a certain age’ have already listed – Martha (!), Josie, Mother Courage, Mary Tyrone, Medea, etc. However, not wanting to risk redundancy, I’ve decided to stir the pot and add these beauties”:
1.) Alexandra Del Lago, Sweet Bird of Youth, by Tennessee Williams. “I’ve been attracted to the ‘Princess Kosmonopolis’ forever. I love her desperation, her crazed sexuality, pathetic dissipation and warped ambition. And the language of Tennessee Williams is JAZZ, baby. I love it.”
2.) Mary, The Testament of Mary, by Colm Tobin. “This is an intense, haunting narrative of the last days of the life of Jesus through Mary’s eyes. It is a raw and unforgiving portrait of a mother grieving the senseless loss of her son. It would be, I’m sure, a deeply spiritual journey for the actress.”
3.) Martha, That Face, by Polly Stenham. “Martha is an alcoholic, fading glamor queen. She wreaks havoc on her two teenagers in a self-destructive spiral destroying their innocence and hers. Stenham was 19 when she wrote this wild, wacky play that took London by storm. I’d love to play Martha, the mom from hell. I seem to excel in these roles.”
Dana Hooley as Grizzley Woman in Eternally Bad
4.) Lola Delany, Come Back Little Sheba, by William Inge. “Shirley Booth moved me so as Lola in the movie, and I’ve always wanted to take a shot at this tender, wistful, vulnerable yet resilient woman.”
5.) Titania, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, by William Shakespeare. “I will not let this lifetime pass without playing the Fairy Queen! And because Dame Judi recently played her in her late 70’s, I know there’s still hope. Titania’s powerful, proud, sensual, and passionate. And what a wonderfully comedic loving arc for an actress to play. And believe you me, I would give Oberon a run for his money. And Shakespeare’s words! Just saying.”
“After working on my bucket list I’ve come to realize as a theatergoer and artist, I’d love to see more new plays on San Diego stages with strong, middle-aged, complex women as main characters, preferably written by female playwrights. So often we’re regulated to the sidelines — nurses, maids, secretaries — as subservient, supporting characters. This gets old. The San Diego theater community is rich with talented actresses over 40. Why is it that after working on San Diego stages for over 30 years, honing our craft, paying our dues, growing as artists and now in our PRIME, we are so under-represented? Happily, this bucket-list business has fired up my inner rebel and I see a change a-comin’!”
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