The Summer Theatre of New Canaan’s season drew to a close, but the future looks bright for the career of New Canaan High School graduate, Ali Tesluk, after a successful run with her own show. She made her professional directorial debut with the children’s musical, The Dancing Princesses, a play that aims to promote female empowerment to young audiences.
It’s no surprise that theater has been a prominent part of Tesluk’s life. Her first exposure came from participating at the Music Theatre of Connecticut in Norwalk, where she usually performed in three shows a year. She has worked with the New Canaan Summer Theatre since 2011, when she first started as an intern. She recently graduated as a drama major at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pa.
Tesluk reflected on the challenges that came with the production of her first directorial experience out of college. “It’s difficult, but it’s also fun,” she told the Advertiser. “The exciting thing about working in theater is how you run into challenges on the fly, and you need to have creative problem-solving right away,” referring to the rehearsal process. “When you’re on a deadline, you figure it out and move on.”
Thinking of the future, Tesluk said she would love to do more directing and also move into producing, where she would handle the financial and managerial aspects for staging a play. Her plans for The Dancing Princesses are to approach other theaters with young audience programs about the musical. “My goal would be to have another theater doing this show next summer,” Tesluk said.
The play
The play’s synopsis begins with an enchanting mystery for the kingdom to solve: why the young princesses awaken exhausted each morning with their shoes worn through. Out of concern for the girls, their strict queen forbids the rest of the kingdom from sleeping until the mystery is solved. When one suitor discovers the answer and finds that there is more to the princesses than meets the eye, they journey together to find a better understanding of who they really are, and who they should be.
Based off the fairytale The Twelve Dancing Princesses (a personal favorite of Tesluk while growing up), Tesluk conceived the idea for rewriting the original story and approached Nathan Fosbinder to pen the book, music and lyrics. Heavy revisions were made when she felt that some elements of the fairytale were too misogynistic. The play was reworked so that the female characters were more empowered, taking control of their own narrative rather than letting a man control all of it.
“I think it’s really important, especially in today’s world, for little children and families alike to have entertainment with female characters that are empowered. It’s so relevant right now,” Tesluk said.
“We have a lot of parents that come up to us afterwards and thank us for doing this,” the young director said. “They say that this is what their children need to see right now. That’s what makes it all worthwhile.”
Tesluk also noted that of the seven actors on stage, six of them were female. “That never happens. It’s usually the exact opposite. Having so many female protagonists is one of my favorite things about this show. These awesome women take control, they’re funny, and they do such a great job.”
Credits
When asked to name some of her own personal favorite musicals, Tesluk said that the first Broadway show she ever saw was the 1999 revival of Annie, Get Your Gun with Bernadette Peters. She then named a couple other contemporary works including The Last Five Years and Come From Away, the latter she appreciated for its diverse cast. Considering how the cast of her own show is female-dominated, she felt as though theater as an art form is moving forward in ways that other media have yet to follow.
Tesluk gave thanks to Ed and Melody Libonati (executive director and artistic director of the Summer Theatre, respectively) for giving her the opportunity and trust to direct the show. “They took a chance on us. Hopefully, they feel as though it’s paid off.”
She also felt that she was beyond lucky with the talent of the cast. She pointed out that they came from incredibly diverse backgrounds, with only one New Canaan resident in the show.
“At the end of the day, the show is in their hands,” Tesluk said. “When it’s running, I can only sit back.”
A successful Summer Theatre of New Canaan run points to a promising future for Ali Tesluk. Pictured is: Ali Tesluk on the Summer Theatre of New Canaan stage before a performance last month. — Wesley Orser photo
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