Local actress performing in Children's Theatre Company performance of 'Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas!'

Local actress making their debut in Children's Theatre Company's production of Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas. All right, so Gina, you had a chance to talk with her ahead of the performances. That's right. Alice Sheba Shire is her name, and she is a real talent. You can see it for yourself. And I love hearing how someone gets started in acting. Tell everyone your background. Sure, so I'm Alicia Vashoyer. I was born in Milwaukee and I spent my entire childhood there until I went to college, did a lot of theater. Went to the University of Minnesota slash Guthrie Theater's BFA training program and just graduated a few months ago. And now I'm sort of hopping between Milwaukee and Minneapolis doing theater professionally. Unfortunately, so. All right, I want to go back. How old were you when you first decided this is what you wanted to do? I was in high school. It wasn't until then. I think I was sort of not too confident in my abilities or the idea of making a life in this. It's not exactly an easy career path. So I was like, nah, I won't do that. You know, I'll do something normal. And then in high school, when I was, I went to Nicollet High School and I was doing Mamma Mia, the musical. And I was playing Sophie, and I remember one of my friends was like, what if you, do you want to do this for a career? And I was like, no, like what? Like how would I make that work? Like that makes no sense. And he was like, I don't know, he was kind of like, you could do this. And I was like, I could? That's good. Um. And I don't know, the idea just took off in my head. I love performing. I love singing. I love piano. I love acting. I love Shakespeare. And I started to imagine, you know, maybe this could be more than just a hobby. Maybe I could try, for real. I'm glad she took that leap, though. Look at the success. And she seems like she belongs, you know? That's right. Yeah, and you know what? You see something special in her, and, you know, I'm rooting for her. I want her to have a long career in acting. But she is doing something in Milwaukee, and she's going to tell you where you can see her perform. You're working, you know, you say it's a tough industry, it is, but tell everyone what you're doing. Yeah, sure. So right now, currently, I am part of, I'm one of four members of the Children Theater Company's cohort, sort of of young actors. At the beginning of their careers, and so I'm doing, right now, Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas at CTC. I'm playing one of the adult Who's, and I'm understudying Grandma Who. And it's been a ball of a time. I'm having a lot of fun. I think it's going to be fun. And it's really great to be in a professional theater setting that cares so deeply about... Bringing up the next generation of theater artists and not just the kids, but also, you know, us younger theater makers who, you know, they're giving us a lot of support this year. We get to do workshops and we get to be in multiple shows here. We get to understudy and to be part of such a big institution just a few months out of college. It's really nice to have this kind of support and, you know, stable work as a theater artist. So it's really special. You know, I interview a lot of young actors as they're starting out, actors and actresses, and I don't think any are as articulate as Elisheva is. She really knows what she wants, and I would say, put your money on her. She's going to really work in this business. Yeah, and you could definitely tell, you know, if this was just a little glimpse. I'd love to see her performance, so I'm glad we can have the opportunity. That's right. Thanks, Gino. See you soon. Thank you. Well, hey, coming up here on Real Milwaukee, we have simple ways to not show up empty-handed this holiday season. Entertaining tips and tricks coming up.