Palatine native makes leap to Porchlight's 'A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder'
Sometimes, a sudden impulse pays off.
It did for Palatine native Ann Delaney.
Last summer, she heard about Porchlight Music Theatre's auditions for the Chicago-area premiere of the madcap musical "A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder" after wrapping up a matinee of American Blues Theater's "Buddy - The Buddy Holly Story."
"Someone mentioned the auditions were happening," said Delaney, 26, who snagged a remaining audition slot online and went on to land the role of Phoebe D'Ysquith, a love interest of the titular gentleman, aspiring earl Monty Navarro.
"It's funny how these things work out," said the Palatine High School graduate, who describes her character as a Gilbert and Sullivan-style ingénue.
This show marks Delaney's first with Porchlight.
"I knew they were great," she said. "It's one of the companies you know about in the musical theater world."
"Everyone is so amazingly talented," she said.
Delaney's good fortune isn't a fluke. It follows years of work and study that began when she was 6. She took acting and dance lessons at the Palatine Park District and performed in children's theater productions there. In high school, she participated in show choir and musicals. But she was never really the star.
"I'm used to not getting the role I wanted," Delaney said. "At the park district, I didn't get a lead role until eighth grade and in high school I didn't get a big part until my senior year."
As her mom pointed out, rejection can be a good thing. It taught Delaney to work hard, to persevere and to refrain from putting on rose-colored glasses.
With her parents' encouragement, she attended Columbia College Chicago. Since graduating, she's worked professionally in Chicago, Indiana and Wisconsin.
"I spent four years learning about Chicago theaters and making connections," she said. "Most of the professors work in the city, so I had a leg up in that I knew directors, choreographers and music directors."
But familiarity doesn't guarantee a job. That requires talent and - occasionally - the inclination to act on impulse.
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"A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder"
Where: Porchlight Music Theatre at Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N. Dearborn St., Chicago, (773) 777-9884 or porchlightmusictheatre.org
When: Previews at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Jan. 25-26; 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 27; and 7:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 28. Opens Jan. 29; runs 7:30 p.m. Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday, 4 and 8 p.m. Saturday and 4 p.m. Sunday through March 10
Tickets: $39-$44