'Joseph' role a sign of 'good faith' for actress
Lara Filip has been performing at Drury Lane and Marriott theaters and the former Pheasant Run for years, yet she still gets tense before an audition. But she gets less nervous now than she did before she was diagnosed with early stage breast cancer in 2009 at age 37.
Pre-audition jitters are nothing compared to the anxiety the Naperville resident felt going through her first round of chemotherapy.
“Once you face something like that, fear takes on a whole new meaning. I'm not afraid of anything anymore,” said Filip, who returns to the stage after nearly a two-year absence to play the Narrator in Paramount Theatre's revival of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” opening Friday in Aurora.
A routine visit to her physician for an allergy prescription refill in late 2009 prompted Filip to inquire about a swollen lymph node under her arm. A mammogram revealed a tumor, which doctors removed. Chemotherapy and radiation therapy followed.
The process kept Filip off the stage, but her theater colleagues rallied around her. And she didn't remain idle for long.
“I didn't want to stop living,” said the fully recovered Filip, who describes her prognosis as positive.
During treatment, she directed Bohemian Theatre Ensemble's holiday show “Striking Twelve,” (which the company will remount this year under Filip's direction). She also became an artistic associate with Porchlight Music Theatre and indulged in a bit of contemplation.
“When this happened,” Filip said of her cancer battle, “I really thought about the things I love and what makes me happy, It sounds corny, but I thought about what I was put on this earth to do. It was clear it was music, singing and performing.”
Crossing her fingers that her hair would grow back in time for the January-February audition season, she decided to put herself out there and show directors what she could do.
Liking what he saw, Paramount artistic director Jim Corti cast her as the Narrator.
“Lara is regarded as one of the best singers in Chicago,” said Corti who knew Filip through reputation and auditions.
Earning the role was “quite a victory for her. It was a very competitive audition process ... she really earned it,” Corti said.
“She has technical skills, which are dazzling,” he said, “and she has great warmth and great intention in her singing to reach the audience and get the listener involved.”
Performing at the Paramount amounts to a homecoming for the Aurora native, who developed a love of music at a music store her grandparents owned there. It also means revisiting a role she previously played.
Filip describes “Joseph's” Narrator as a cross between Jiminy Cricket, the Cat in the Hat, and a guardian angel.
“This time around I'm finding different layers,” she said. Winning the role was a “sign or a symbol of good faith.”
“I have a chance to rebuild my life and my career.”
There was a time not so long ago, when Filip — a self-described “art-repreneur” — would lie in bed undergoing chemotherapy and wondering if she'd ever get the chance.
The role in “Joseph” and another in Marriott Theatre's upcoming production of “Legally Blonde” suggest her career is back on track. Now it's “full steam ahead,” she says.
“I'm so happy all of this work is coming her way, she absolutely deserves it,” says director Rachel Rockwell who has known Filip for 10 years.
“She has tremendous passion for things she cares about and for her craft,” said Rockwell. “It's great to see her take that positivity and passion and turn it inward instead of giving it to everybody else.”
Filip has always been a positive person, says Rockwell, but “she seems even more joyful now, and her joy is really palpable. You can tell she's grateful to be able to do what she loves.”
“Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”
<b>Location:</b> Paramount Theatre, 23 E. Galena Blvd., Aurora, (630) 896-6666 or paramountaurora.com
<b>Showtimes: </b>1:30 and 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday, 4 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 1 and 5 p.m. Sunday; through Sunday, Nov. 20.
<b>Tickets:</b> $34.90-$46.90