In my tireless dedication to highlighting the supporting cast of Hallmark movies, it was a joy and delight to uncover the talents and character of Sandy Sidhu. As a woman in the industry with considerable experience as well as a diverse background, Sandy is one who is just getting introduced into Hallmark circles, and after chatting with this sweet lady, I venture to say that we have not seen the last of this fabulous actress.
RH: Sandy, it's so nice to get to chat with you.
SS: Ruth, thank you for taking the time to chat with me today. It's just lovely.
You know, I love interviewing the leads, but I really enjoy getting the opportunity to chat with the supporting cast as well. And I think the fans are delighted that there are some great
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I got my degree in cell biology and genetics from the University of British Columbia in Canada. I was halfway through the program when I realized I wanted to be an actor. I had been in musical theater every year, but the first year of the university, I had to drop everything. The coursework was very intense and I didn't have time to focus on anything other than my studies. And during that first year, I found that I was getting very depressed and I didn't know why. I was thinking, "I am in this program, and I thought this was what I wanted to do with my life, so why am I feeling this way?"
In the summer, I went back to Vancouver Island, which is where I grew up. I was in my first professional production during that summer. It was Jesus Christ Superstar, and I got cast as Mary Magdalene and the chorus. If you know the play, it was the entire female ensemble that I got to do. And I was so happy, unbelievably happy. I noticed the difference in how I was feeling now that I was back in musical theater for the summer. I had missed that so much during my first year at the university when I was just focused on my studies. In fact, I went, "Hang on. Wait a minute. What's going on here?" It was the first clue for myself where I went, "Do I want to be an
Through my many years of school, kindergarten through high school, I have had countless numbers of people and experiences that have shaped me into the young woman I am today. My most recent experience that has taught me so much about myself and life is my first theater experience, UIL one act play. For years and years my parents encouraged me to try out for one-act play. They believed I would be a natural since I previously enjoyed public speaking contests. Because of my involvement in so many other extra-curricular activities, there always seemed to be a conflict that gave me a good excuse not to try out for the play.
After high school, I decided that going straight to college wasn’t the right path for me at the time. I wanted to sing and dance. Then my
CF: I decided to become an actor after stepping on stage for the first time in grade eleven. I was playing "Juliet" from Romeo and Juliet in a comedic retelling of the story. Basically,
After missing five years of formal education, I enrolled back in school for my junior year and knew almost instantly that I had made the right decision. I surprised myself by excelling in areas of study I never thought I would again have time to entertain. I saw my potential as limitless, with a whole world of possibilities opening back up to me. Even though it often felt like a vital part of my identity was gone, my thirst for knowledge in my new life had grown in its place. I tried desperately not to look at leaving ballet as a failure, but it wasn’t until recently when I returned to a ballet class after twelve years that I finally understood the gift it had granted me.
The play was Our American Cousin at Ford’s Theatre. I remember being so excited to go because I absolutely loved going to plays… Not anymore though. Abraham sat me down and told me that people at work had been trying to talk him out of going. He asked me if I still wanted to go, but I said yes. We were both looking forward to this for a very long time.
I began my undergraduate education at Colorado State University in 2004. I declared my major as Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing. At this point in my life, I had no clue what I wanted to do for my career and thought this would be the best option and give me the most diversity of career options. Going into my sophomore year, I began a job in the emergency department at the hospital located in the college town. During my first day, I got to see a variety of emergent and non-emergent medical procedures.
Which could help others become more involved if plays were more like this performance. Before seeing this musical, there were many moments that I was very skeptical. Never had I attended any, nor was I ever interested. For this reason, it had always been in the back of my mind, that all plays and musicals were dry, boring and pointless. Interestingly enough, that all changed as the performance was going on, and ended.
While being raised I was always pressured to do sports and such, although I was good at it and I liked it at the time; it didn’t feel right. I didn’t feel like this is what I needed to do, since I was expected to get a scholarship with it. One day I stopped and although my family was disappointed in me I one day picked up a guitar and starting doing more art related things. It felt right, I didn’t feel the pressure on me anymore and it felt more like
I had the opportunity to perform in Metamorphoses By Mary Zimmerman. This play tells many stories about the greek gods and goddesses. Some of these stories I found myself familiar with and some were new unknowns. This play features some greek characters that many individuals know of and consequently many individuals that I have never heard.
My experience in Pickering High School cabaret was extremely gratifying. During rehearsals, I made new friends and strengthened the existing relationships I had. Being an actor in this extracurricular taught me the need to manage my time, and helped me improve my memorization and learning skills. It pushed me to continue to excel in my academic classes, while balancing homework and leisure time with rehearsal time. Leading up to show dates, I was sacrificing my lunch hour everyday to improve the show to the best it could be.
The play that my teacher introduced to us was a year around tradition. One part that is sometimes not the same every year is she chooses the plays different, so that every year there's a variety of plays. Also different classes will sometimes have other plays than others. When I boarded the bus, I was thinking of what play I was going to do. I was really nervous.
I learned how hard it is to manage and run a company and how much work and time is put into the company. David Brown and David Townsend have so much on their hands juggling camps, plays, and cleaning up during the off season, it was great to be apart of helping the two of them complete jobs they wanted to finish. Even though most of the organizing and cleaning that was done while I interned will probably not last long, due to the craziness of finding and putting costumes together that have to represent certain character and have to fit specific actors/actresses. It makes me feel good because I know the work I’ve done will help and make things easier for all of the staff and actors/actresses at the Green Room. The majority of the kids my age don’t want to intern anywhere because they don’t want to work during the summer, but if if all intern sites were as amazing as the Green Room they would probably change their minds.
The thing was that I grew up in a small town, so the idea that I would do this as a profession didn 't really enter my awareness at all. It did not seem like a plausible path to take. But I went to the university and got a BFA {Bachelor of Fine Arts} in acting. That was really a conservatory program where you were training to become a professional actor. It was not going to be just a hobby.
I was excited but scared. I kind of wanted to leave but I wanted to stay and learn. My teachers and my studio/workshop thought I was ready. I did well in years before so I got moved up.
It was the first time I was able to sit in the audience and enjoy the life the actor’s breahted into it. I was able to sit back and fully enjy the play. It took a life on it’s own. I was able to remove my own ego from it. This was a great accomplishment.