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DCDC’s Payne shows new moves in ‘Gypsy’
From her early days performing at Wright State University to her last concerts with the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company in 2008, Susanne Payne made a strong impression onstage.
She was a slashing, athletic dancer.
Sitting it out for more than a year can’t have been easy for the 2006 WSU grad, who returns to the local stage Friday, May 7, in a new role: featured musical theater performer.
She plays Louise, who blossoms to become the one and only Gypsy Rose Lee, in a production of “Gypsy.” Directed by Brian Sharp, it stars Renee Franck Reed as Mama Rose.
Payne left Dayton and DCDC to pursue a dance or musical theater career in New York. Shortly after arriving, she beat out more than 200 other hopefuls for one opening in the Nai-NiChen Dance Company. Three weeks later, she injured a big toe seriously during a performance and is still on the mend.
She tried physical therapy for several months before returning home to consult physical therapist Carol Fisher at the Kettering Sports Medicine Center and a surgeon in Cincinnati.
She was advised to have the toe surgically repaired and is recovering.
Meanwhile, she’s studying voice (with Jamie Cordes at WSU), teaching dance at Stivers School for the Arts, the Northern Cincinnati School for the Arts and Terre’s Dance Workshop in Kettering, judging dance competitions and working as a freelance choreographer.
“Gypsy” marks her first featured role in a musical.
“This has been a great way to validate my life without DCDC and performance dance in general. I have always wanted to sing and act, but never had the chance. I was too busy dancing,” she said.
“If my toe heals from surgery, what I would really like to do is dance again,” said Payne, who has received a scholarship to the month-long summer intensive workshop of the Deeply Rooted Dance Theatre in Chicago.
“Gypsy” will be presented at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays, May 7- 23 at the Playhouse, 1301 E. Siebenthaler Ave. Tickets are $10-$15 at (937) 424-8477 or www.daytonplayhouse.org. The cast also includes Mary De Matteo as June, Lucian Smith and Dave Nickel.
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