Maine West teen adds to impressive acting resume
When Maine West senior Elizabeth Stenholt recently was honored at a school board meeting as "District 207's Best" for excellence in the performing arts, Principal Audrey Haugan urged everyone to watch for Elizabeth in the future because "she's going to be a star."
At 18, Elizabeth, who plays the lead in West's upcoming musical, "Aida," already has built a resume of more than 40 performances in stage productions, independent feature films and shorts.
In "Aida," she joins the rest of the cast and directors in embracing the challenge of being among the first Illinois high schools to perform the Tony-nominated Broadway hit featuring music by Elton John and Tim Rice. Elizabeth calls the vocal range required of her character "insanely high" and adds that "It takes a lot of effort to keep my voice up that far."
"Aida is also a very complicated character," Elizabeth adds. "She wants to be strong for her people, who are enslaved by the Egyptians, but also feels like she's betraying them because she's fallen in love with an Egyptian captain."
Fortunately, Elizabeth has experience playing strong women. As a junior, she played Belle in Maine West's production of "Beauty and the Beast" and also played the role of a doomed factory worker who refused to quietly acquiesce to corporate pressure in the drama "Radium Girls".
"There are many roles where females are stronger than the men and able to lead," Elizabeth said, acknowledging that she enjoys the role and that she draws on the experience of each previous role she has played.
Elizabeth manages her time to star not only in Maine West productions and to carry a 3.64 grade-point average, but also to perform in Chicago-area professional theater.
Last summer, she landed the supporting role of Mallory in the full feature film "Swan Song," to be released this summer. She spent two summers in the Goodman Theatre's General Theatre Studies program and has trained with some of the city's top acting professionals.
Elizabeth recently completed a run in the Signal Ensemble Theatre's production of "Plainsong," for which she earned enthusiastic reviews for her portrayal of yet another strong female: a pregnant teen who slowly but surely finds the strength to take control of her life.
Elizabeth explains that these forays into professional theater are invaluable in learning from other professionals how to go about both developing a character and building an acting career.
She credits much of her success to her mother, Beth Pauze, who acts as her agent and has worked tirelessly to find prospective roles and auditions.
"She's very dedicated and has been my biggest inspiration," Elizabeth said. "When I was younger, she used to drive me everywhere, so she's always been there to see my plays. She warned me in the beginning that it might be difficult to handle everything because I would have a lot of travel time and sometimes get home late. But I actually find that I am more focused when I have a bunch of things going on in my life. I feel like the more I have to do, the more I have to live up to it, so I get my homework done on time and memorize my lines."
Elizabeth also credits her Maine West directors Carla Skiba and Brent Shaphren with encouraging her and giving her valuable guidance as a young actor.
After graduating from West in June, Elizabeth will attend Oakton Community College and continue to work in theater at both Oakton and in Chicago. She already has work lined up for the summer, including more stage work and a role in yet another feature film.
Working in both film and stage, Elizabeth says, makes her more versatile. "Film is a totally different world from theater," she said, "because instead of being out and big and open, you have to make it feel real. Otherwise, it's not believable. Plus, film lives on and the (stage) shows I do slowly die off, so film is good to have on your resume, too."