West Jordan » Brittny Millington had her first nightmare a few days before opening night. "The theater had been constructed differently," said the 15-year-old, with the relief of knowing it was just a dream. "All the actors forgot their lines and they were improvising everything."
Writing a play is no easy task, let alone directing a musical with multiple acts and a cast of 40.
Brittny's musical, "The Crown of Lomiria," took first place in West Jordan Arts Council's 2008 scriptwriting contest. A year later, she was asked to direct the show.
In an afternoon rehearsal less than a week before the show's premiere, a cast of actors ranging in age from 7 to 16 roamed the stage and dressing rooms of the Sugar Factory Playhouse. Two little girls playing mermaids ran from one end of the theater to the next, comparing fins and waiting for their call. The atmosphere was chaotic, the air loud with the buzz of fearless youthful excitement.
The plot was conceived at the theater. "It just came to me like in a flash of lightning a year and a half ago during one show I was doing here," the young playwright said. "I wrote it down trying to figure out why the characters were doing this and that in my head. The story just sort of played out."
It's the story of what happens after three siblings are forced to go to another world, Lomiria, to rescue their parents, who have been kidnapped by an evil king. The kids also must rescue the crown from his oppressive empire.
Writing the show was one thing, Brittny said, and directing it has proved a different kind of learning experience. "It's kind of hard because I'm so young and not a lot of people pay attention to me," she said. "A lot of these people are my friends. It's different because I'm telling them what to do."
On the other hand, her youth helps her communicate stage directions with a more casual, personal tone, while she's backed up by mother Lara Millington, the show's assistant director. The mother-daughter team has been part of the community theatrical group since it launched three years ago under the umbrella of West Jordan Arts Council. "Brittny really has a vision of what she wants it to be and takes charge," said Lara Millington. "I'm more of a stage manager than an assistant director."
A 10th-grader at Sandy's Paradigm High School, Brittny has been acting since she was in elementary school. Her stage résumé also includes sound and costume design at the playhouse.
What she knows about directing, on the other hand, is gleaned from what she has learned from being an actor, as well as tips from her mother and her drama teacher, Rick Macy. "She is a great student and gifted actress," Macy said.
Up through the final days of rehearsal, Brittny has worked to make final changes in the script, while she's dreaming of future projects. "I want to be an LDS actor," she said. "But I also want to do community theater while I'm growing up and until I die."
