Leading the way: Dos Reis takes on starring role for Mean Girls musical
Ava Dos Reis will star as Cady Jane Heron in the upcoming musical “Mean Girls” at Manteca High School. (Photo contributed)
By DANNY HORTA
The Tower
Ava Dos Reis has been acting since she was 6, drawing inspiration from one of today’s great comedians and actors.
“I love so many actors and actress and I take a lot of inspiration from them. It’s a little silly to say but one of my biggest inspirations is Adam Sandler,” Dos Reis gushed.
“I’ve loved him and his movies since I was a little kid and I hope to make people laugh the same way he does (and) have a lot of variations in my acting.”
Dos Reis is a diehard Adam Sandler fan, but in her next performance, she won’t be channeling the Big Daddy or Grown Ups star. She’ll be taking on the role of Cady Jane Heron of “Mean Girls” fame.
“I love my character,” she said. “Cady is definitely a character I relate a lot to. When I got the role, I rewatched the movie just to refresh my memory and I realized that I am a lot like Cady. … I love my character and I think everyone’s character in the show fits them really, really well. This is definitely great cast.”
“Mean Girls” will open on Thursday, March 30, and run through April 1.
Manteca High’s Ava Dos Reis has been acting on stages throughout the Central Valley since she was 6. (Photo contributed)
The Tower sat down with Dos Reis to discuss challenges of starring in her first musical.
The Tower: How difficult is it being the lead role on a play?
Ava Dos Reis: Having a lead role in a musical like this is definitely a challenge … but it is also one of the most fun theater experiences I’ve had. It is very fun to get to do this kind of stuff.
TT: Is there any pressure?
ADR: There is a lot of pressure towards this musical, especially being the lead. It’s a lot of pressure to do well. It’s good pressure, you know, but it’s pressure, nonetheless. It’s a lot of pressure on everyone really because of the type of show that this is. This is “Mean Girls” the musical, and “Mean Girls” is a very well-known fan favorite movie, and so we really want to try to recapture that feeling in this musical.
TT: Is there any challenge to bring this script to life?
ADR: I think that goes for any play or musical you do, but especially in this one because you don’t want to copy the movie directly. You want to make your own special thing, but you also don’t want to deviate too far from what the original story is. So, it’s definitely a challenge to really make that script come to life, but I think that this cast does a really great job of doing that.
TT: What do you enjoy the most about acting?
ADR: I love it as a whole. It is my passion. I hope to have it as a career one day, but the one thing I really just enjoy is seeing people feel things while watching me on stage. Whether they hate my character or they love it, I’m making them feel a certain way and I really enjoy having the ability to make people feel that way.
TT: How do you memorize all those lines?
ADR: There are a lot of lines to memorize. I use a multitude of different tactics. One thing I definitely do is I highlight my lines (and) go over them a lot. Usually what I do, I’ll take a snippet of a scene that I’m in and I’ll look at my script while reading the lines aloud, and then I’ll look away and try to read again off of memory and try to remember the line before it. It also really helps to read my lines at night, right before I go to bed, so they are the last thing I’ll think about right before I’m going to sleep.