It can be fun being bad and Squamish鈥檚 Emma Wong intends to prove that.
Wong has been turning on the mean in anticipation of her role as Helen in the Fighting Chance Production of Carrie: The Musical, which hits the stage in Vancouver from Oct. 7 to 25.
The 2013 Howe Sound Secondary School grad portrays one of the popular crowd who bullies Carrie in the play based on Stephen King鈥檚 first novel. She said it hasn鈥檛 been too hard to let the 鈥渕ean girl鈥� out inside of her.
鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of easy as much as I hate to say it,鈥� she said, laughing. 鈥淚t can be easy to turn it on, but it helps because you鈥檙e playing off of other people who are also being negative, mean and judgmental.鈥�
Wong said her character is a follower and the themes of Carrie, like bullying and peer pressure, are very relevant to today鈥檚 times.
鈥淗elen is one of the sheep 鈥� she follows the crowd and doesn鈥檛 really think for herself,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e follow the ringleader and we want Carrie to be just like us and we鈥檙e all mean and scary.鈥�
The history of Carrie: The Musical is almost as interesting as the Carrie story itself. The show had a four week run in England in 1988 before being transferred to Broadway later that year where it had a short and costly run. It was revived successfully Off-Broadway in 2012 and has opened in several other cities in North America since.
Wong said Carrie: The Musical should be a nice treat for local theatre goers.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the kind of show that you鈥檙e not really going to see anywhere else,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 get produced that often and it鈥檚 really a rare show to see.鈥�
She may have had bigger roles with companies like Between Shifts Theatre and the Squamish Academy of Music but Wong said it鈥檚 been a fun experience.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been a different vibe,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not my biggest role, but all the plays I did before had some youth and some adults, this is all adults in the cast. The music and the show itself is more demanding and the subject matter is pretty intense.鈥�
Since graduating from HSSS, Wong completed courses at both the Vancouver Film School and Vancouver Academy of Dramatic Arts, so breaking into the Vancouver scene is the next logical step for her career.
The show takes place at the Jericho Arts Centre in Vancouver from Oct. 7 to 25, with daily performances at 8 p.m. There is also a special matin茅e performance on Oct. 18 at 2 p.m.聽
