Rumors- meet crew member Larissa Norris!

Tell us a little about yourself. What are you doing on Rumors? My name is Larissa Norris. I'm more known in the theatre community for working behind the scenes: costumes, makeup and hair...every so often assistant directing or producing. But people often forget that I'm an actress, too. Every few years I pop back up on stage and surprise everybody! For Rumors, I'm designing the makeup for the cast!

What is it like being back in the theater after the long Covid-19 hiatus? Did you do any theater during the Covid-19 shutdown? My first time back in a theatre since Covid was for the designer run for this very show. It was actually thrilling! It was so nice to see people after so long and to feel the creative energy in the room like before! During Covid, I have been participating in virtual readings with a few different groups and that led to me being cast in a couple short plays for the Prince William Little Theatre virtual Original Works Festival, which is coming up this July!

How does this show differ from other shows you have worked on? Every show is different and has it's own creative look and feel. This is fun because it's more than just basic stage makeup, especially for the women. This is heavily inspired by the 1980's tv series "Dynasty" and it's stunning leading lady Joan Collins. Can't wait to get some super dramatic makeup on this stage!

What made you get involved in theatre? How did you get involved with LTA? I've been performing in one way or another since I was 3 years old. When I first moved to the Nova area almost 15 years ago, I had no idea how prevalent the arts community was in the DC area. But I quickly learned and realized that I needed to start volunteering so that people could get to know me and want to work with me. Word of mouth was everything for me and it's how I kept being offered more opportunities with various different groups! Eventually that led me to LTA and I've been here several times in various capacities! Most of the awards I've won for makeup design have been from my work with LTA, which is just a fun way to celebrate these awesome experiences.

What do you want the audience to experience/take away from this show? I just want them to get a great cathartic laugh. It'll be so nice to be in a theatre again, to experience something as a collective again. And this show is already hilarious and then you add the brilliance of Matthew Randall and this cast and crew...I hope they just have an incredible theatre experience.

What advice would you give others who are interested in working in theatre? Start volunteering in any way that you can. Let people get to know you and make sure they know your talents and interests. Offer to be someone's run crew or assistant. That's so much more valuable than most people realize. Jump at opportunities and be flexible and open. Just make sure to set boundaries for yourself or you could find yourself working on a ton of shows all at once and burn out really quickly. But otherwise just know that while we work really hard in this local theatre community, hopefully you'll also find that it is open, friendly, accepting and super talented.