She worked on United Way’s television ad campaign with the National Football League and got a crash course in the many facets of production. After graduating, Rivera started to work in editing and began her career with United Way, which brought her to Alexandria. Her degree also helped her get some experience working behind the camera, and she found that she enjoyed “the ability to tell stories electronically with media” in a way that differed from her performances. “I can perform in front of 1,000 people on stage, but this just felt bad.” It felt very cold, very impersonal,” Rivera said. Although she originally thought she wanted to enter Hollywood, Rivera quickly discovered on-camera work was not for her. She attended Towson University in Towson, Maryland, majoring in mass communication – with a minor in theater. They told her point blank that they would pay for her college education as long as she didn’t pursue a theater degree.ĭespite her consternation, Rivera mostly listened to her parents. When she thought about her future, she was certain she would be an actress, but her parents thought otherwise. Her love for theater grew as she continued through middle and high school. A gifted singer, Rivera first connected to musicals in sixth grade, but it was through her work on the middle school stage that she found a band of misfits just like her. However, the roots of Rivera’s love affair with the theater go back to her adolescence, when music and performance were an escape from “family issues” at home, she said. Her vivacious work on stage is matched by her work backstage: She won an award for her sound design on LTA’s 2018 production of “Dracula.” Rivera, who has performed at LTA and community theaters around the DMV, counts “Tommy,” “The Nance” and “Rumors” among her LTA credits since first stepping on the Alexandria stage 15 years ago. I love that we took all this energy and time and created something, and then it’s unique every single night.” Photo/Cody Mello-Klein “That kind of electricity that happens with the actors on stage, that’s my soul food,” Rivera said. For folks like Janice Rivera, who has been an actor and sound designer at LTA for 15 years, the experience is genuinely addictive. But what about the people on or behind the stage? On the other side of that curtain is a squadron of storytellers working in concert to bring life to words on a page. They are all here to see a show, to relish the collective joy of live entertainment.Įven if the venue is different, it’s the kind of moment most of us can relate to. A s the lights dim in The Little Theatre of Alexandria, the crowd hums with anticipation.
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