Jennifer Grass spends more time with her stage boyfriend than with her real boyfriend. For most of the past month the Ball State junior has been preparing to take the spotlight in the Theatre Department's upcoming production of "The Boy Friend."
The musical-comedy spoof, set in 1920s France, stars Grass as Polly, an only child away at boarding school, searching for a man who's willing to look beyond her father's wealth.
"She's wants somebody who can support her, and who she can take care of," Grass said. "And someone she's in love with."
She meets Tony (played by senior Billy Blanken), a student who's runaway from school and is posing as a messenger to try and make a living. Her father, however, objects to any arrangement.
Originally from Beaver Creek, Ohio, Grass came to Ball State with the intention of becoming a University Singer, but never got around to auditioning for the group. Nevertheless, she maintained an interest in the performing arts.
"I'm such a goofy character," she said. "I have so much energy and it (theatre) is something I can do for the rest of my life, where I won't be stuck behind a desk or a computer screen. It's something where I can be up and active."
An acting major, she has performed in "West Side Story," "Picnic" and "You Can't Take It With You" at Ball State. She has also starred in commercials for FirstStar Bank.
She tried out for "The Boy Friend" last semester during a general audition and has devoted much of her time since early January to getting ready for opening night. Rehearsals run about four hours a night, five days a week - even more in the days leading up to the first performance.
"I haven't been home since the beginning of the semester, and I won't be home until Spring Break," she said. "I'd like to get to go out on the weekends but never get the opportunity to. If I have free time I'll normally go out to a movie with my boyfriend, or play cards or sleep. But what would I do if I had a whole day to do nothing? I probably wouldn't know what to do with myself. I'd probably be calling people asking them if they had a project I could work on."
Even she admits making it big as an actress is a long shot. She eventually hopes to settle down in Chicago, because of its nice balance between film, television and theatre, but has no illusions about success.
"They say theatre is the thing where you never make much money and rarely succeed. The taboo is you may always end up a waitress," she said. "Everyone has to struggle a little just to know how important things are going to be to them."
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