TFT alum answers casting call from ‘A Noise Within’
TFT alumna Alison Elliott stars in A Noise Within’s “The Tempest” and will assistant direct and perform in the company’s production of “A Christmas Carol.” (Heidy Cadena/Daily Bruin)
By Kristy Pirone
Nov. 21, 2014 7:14 a.m.
Although she grew up surrounded by the sights and sounds of the theater, Alison Elliott spent the ages of 10 to 15 trying to get away from it.
Elliott is the daughter of Geoff and Julia Elliott, the founders of A Noise Within, a repertory theater company that focus on classical plays. Elliott said the theater was so ingrained within her that she wanted to try something new.
“I just thought maybe I’ll do something else, maybe I’ll go save endangered species or something different. But I found that I couldn’t really escape that world,” Elliott said. “And I loved it so much that I accepted it and moved forward from there.”
Now, Elliott is in the midst of her second year as a resident artist at the company, with a starring role as Miranda in the production of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest,” which concludes its run on Saturday at the company’s theater in Pasadena. She is also preparing to begin rehearsals for “A Christmas Carol,” in which she will function as both an actor and an assistant director. “A Christmas Carol” will run from Dec. 5 through Dec. 23.
“Elliott has been with this company since she was three years old,” said Deborah Strang, a resident artist at A Noise Within. “She’s almost like a daughter as well as a partner in crime with all of us here. She’s literally grown up in the theater.”
Elliott graduated from the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television in 2010 before returning to A Noise Within.
Associate professor and head of UCLA’s undergraduate acting program, Joe Olivieri said he thinks Elliott is a child of the theater with a lot of natural ability.
“(UCLA’s theater program) is a very difficult program to get into, so her class was tremendously talented as well,” Olivieri said. “But she was certainly at the top of the heap and very versatile. She could do comedy on top of drama, and that isn’t very common.”
Elliott said TFT helped her learn to make her own opportunities when there weren’t any to be found on the main stage, leading her to creative outlets such as UCLA’s underground theater scene.
“I think that one of my favorite experiences here was when I was involved in the underground theater scene,” Elliott said. “Some of the students created this underground theater where they would rent out different spaces and do work that they cared about and wanted to do. (They) created it from the ground up, and everyone was super supportive.”
In addition to her education at UCLA, A Noise Within was another learning environment for Elliott, who said she had the opportunity to work one-on-one with people who have been involved in the arts and theater for years.
Elliott said she continues to learn as she encounters new experiences at the company, including juggling two positions in the upcoming production of “A Christmas Carol” – an opportunity that Elliott said will be fun to explore.
“It’s going to be super interesting being in the show and also (assistant) directing,” Elliott said. “I think it’ll work a muscle that I haven’t really explored all that much before and I think it will be also really helpful just to have another eye on the production.”
Outside of A Noise Within, Elliott is involved with the improvisational comedy troupe Groundlings and has written her own sketch comedy adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” called “Two Girls, One Bard” with fellow TFT alumna Peggy Sinnott.
For now, Elliott said that she is beginning rehearsals for A Noise Within’s production of “A Christmas Carol” while preparing to finish her turn as Miranda in “The Tempest.”
“This particular production was very special to me because there were a lot of people in it that I have worked with over the years,” Elliott said. “(I’m) playing Miranda (opposite) a Prospero, Deborah Strang, who I’ve admired over the years.”
Elliott said even though her time at UCLA was short, since she came into TFT as a transfer student, she remains constantly inspired by her former teachers and classmates.
“I feel like I’ve taken a great deal of what I’ve learned at UCLA in my different classes and how inspired I was from the people I worked with to A Noise Within theater company,” Elliott said. “It’s allowed me to feel more confident in my work (because) I’ve had a foundation of experiences that have helped guide me.”
