Domestic goddess
2/02/2011 12:01:00 p.m.
SHE’S not just a cheerleader. Gabrielle Stewart is busy, she’s a single lady on the field, but in her other life on stage, she’s a married woman.
On top of that her day job is in the Beehive as an executive assistant to Taupo MP Louise Upston.
Her latest lead role as Nora Helmer for Henrik Ibsen’s classic play A Doll’s House at Gryphon Theatre, is a long way from dancing along to Beyoncé’s hit song Single Ladies.
“It’s a fantastic play for women and in 1879, when it was written, it was really quite shocking because it was the first time the institution of marriage was ever questioned on the stage,” she says.
A Doll’s House traces the awakening of Gabrielle’s character, Nora Helmer, from her previously unexamined life of domestic wifely comfort.
“She’s been ruled her whole life by either her husband or her father. She is a complex character and she questions everything she believes in. It’s like she is a doll in a house. It was written in a time when women had no rights and she makes the decision to leave.”
Helmer becomes single - fitting for Stewart’s chosen cheerleader dance track Single Ladies.
Stewart entered her team’s video audition in the NZI Cheerleader Squad competition and her squad (including Mahinaarangi Baker and Acushla Dee O’Carroll) was selected, along with 15 other teams, out of 45 entries.
“It’s a big undertaking moving from a nineteenth-century period piece to a leotard,” she says laughing.
“We chose the USA team because we made up this chant to Beyoncé’s track. We learnt the moves and just want to have some fun. Hopefully everyone will enjoy it.”
They will be up against professional cheerleading squads but Stewart is not fazed.
“The Sevens is all about having fun so that’s what we’ll do,” she says.
The best cheerleading squad can be voted for via text message and will win $7000.
A Doll’s House, Gryphon Theatre, 22 Ghuznee Street, 16-26 February.
On top of that her day job is in the Beehive as an executive assistant to Taupo MP Louise Upston.
Her latest lead role as Nora Helmer for Henrik Ibsen’s classic play A Doll’s House at Gryphon Theatre, is a long way from dancing along to Beyoncé’s hit song Single Ladies.
“It’s a fantastic play for women and in 1879, when it was written, it was really quite shocking because it was the first time the institution of marriage was ever questioned on the stage,” she says.
A Doll’s House traces the awakening of Gabrielle’s character, Nora Helmer, from her previously unexamined life of domestic wifely comfort.
“She’s been ruled her whole life by either her husband or her father. She is a complex character and she questions everything she believes in. It’s like she is a doll in a house. It was written in a time when women had no rights and she makes the decision to leave.”
Helmer becomes single - fitting for Stewart’s chosen cheerleader dance track Single Ladies.
Stewart entered her team’s video audition in the NZI Cheerleader Squad competition and her squad (including Mahinaarangi Baker and Acushla Dee O’Carroll) was selected, along with 15 other teams, out of 45 entries.
“It’s a big undertaking moving from a nineteenth-century period piece to a leotard,” she says laughing.
“We chose the USA team because we made up this chant to Beyoncé’s track. We learnt the moves and just want to have some fun. Hopefully everyone will enjoy it.”
They will be up against professional cheerleading squads but Stewart is not fazed.
“The Sevens is all about having fun so that’s what we’ll do,” she says.
The best cheerleading squad can be voted for via text message and will win $7000.
A Doll’s House, Gryphon Theatre, 22 Ghuznee Street, 16-26 February.
