Lakeshore Weekly News: Mother, Son Star in Different Stages Shows

By Ed Huyck, Reporter

Commuting to work is about to get easier for Gretchen and Theo Emo.

The mother and son actors are both cast in shows at Stages Theatre Company. Gretchen is performing in the title role in "Miss Nelson is Missing," while, starting this week, Theo will be one of the leads in "Bridge to Terabithia," which will run in the Hopkins Jaycee Studio at the Hopkins Center for the Arts.

At present, Gretchen's show is up and running, while Theo's is still in rehearsal.

"There's been a lot of driving, but starting the 14th, we'll be here almost always at the same time," Gretchen said.

"Bridge to Terabithia," an adaptation of Katherine Paterson's Newbery Award winning book about the friendship between Jess and Leslie, two youngsters who bond and create a magical imaginary land between them.

"He's misunderstood," Theo said about his character, Jess. "He's always drawing and nobody gets why he is drawing. When he meets Leslie, she lets him express himself."

The story turns tragic near the end, but there is also hope for Jess, who has started the story as a lonely, angry and depressed boy.

"The director is always saying it's such a sad story, but it is amazing the way she teaches him," Theo said. "When Leslie dies, he is able to go and live life the way you should."

"Miss Nelson is Missing" is an entirely different beast - a farcical look at a school room thrust into chaos by the "loss" of their teacher.

The work "has been fun, if a little tiring. It's very physical. That's a little different for me, but it has been a lot of fun," she said.

Gretchen has been acting for most of her life and has been a steady presence at Stages in recent years.

"I've been acting here since 2000 and think this is my ninth show here," she said. "It's just a great theater and one of the best non-Equity [the professional actors' union] places to work."

The younger Emo is an eighth-grader at Cologne Academy and has plenty of interests besides acting, from baseball to skateboarding.

"She's always a big help whenever I'm in a show. She helps me to get a character and helps me with lines, but I also help her do that," Theo said.

While acting is a big part of her life, Gretchen hasn't forced it onto her children.

"I've wanted them to do what they've wanted to do. I didn't push any of them into acting, but I encouraged them to try it. My older daughter did a small thing once and enjoyed it, but I'm not going to push it," Gretchen said. "Theo seems to have been bitten."