Get to know some more of our human characters in Charlotte’s Web! The next post will highlight the resident animals on Zuckerman’s farm!
Stacy Wilk (Narrator)
Who is your favorite character in the show? Why? My favorite character in the show is Charlotte. I really like her because she is kind and selfless. She does everything in her power to help others out and I really admire that.
What is your favorite line from the show? My favorite line is “At the fair!”
Did you have a favorite book growing up? If so, what was it? My favorite book growing up was the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling.
Who was your childhood best friend? What did you two do together? My childhood best friend was Bryce. She lived up the street from me and we would hang out almost everyday. We loved to play outside and put on little plays.
What are you most excited about with Charlotte’s Web? I’m excited to tell this well-known story and let it change people for the better.
Favorite animal? My favorite animal is a snow leopard.
If you lived on a farm, what do you think you’d like the most about it? If I lived on a farm, what I would like the most is being in the open, fresh air and also taking care of the animals on the farm!
Camilla Hodgson (Fair Announcer)
Who is your favorite character in the show? Why? I love Charlotte. She is graceful, smart, and completely selfless.
What is your favorite line from the show? After Wilbur faints at the fair, my character says, “Well, we can’t give a prize to a dead pig. It’s never been done.” That always amuses me for some reason.
Did you have a favorite book growing up? If so, what was it? Definitely The Two Princesses of Bamarre by Gail Carson Levine. I read it so many times, but it still made me cry every time.
Who was your childhood best friend? What did you two do together? Honestly, my three sisters were my best friends growing up! We did everything together. We had a secret clubhouse in our raspberry patch, a complex civilization for our Barbies, and original performances on our back porch.
What are you most excited about with Charlotte’s Web? I’m excited for families to come and see the show. I think that it is a really fun version of the story, and it will be great for all ages. Also, I’m excited to wear my hat. It is fabulous.
Favorite animal? Foxes!
If you lived on a farm, what do you think you’d like the most about it? I would enjoy getting to be outside most of the time.
Billy Dahle (Homer Zuckerman)
Who is your favorite character in the show? Why? Templeton, he has some of the funniest lines.
What is your favorite line from the show? “It’s the Buttermilk!”
Did you have a favorite book growing up? If so, what was it? All of the Goosebumps books by R.L. Stein.
Who was your childhood best friend? What did you two do together? Tejay. We did everything together.
What are you most excited about with Charlotte’s Web? Being in a show with my son and working with Shawnda and Bradley again.
Favorite animal? Monkeys.
If you lived on a farm, what do you think you’d like the most about it? All of the bacon I could make!
Richelle Sutton (Edith Zuckerman)
Who is your favorite character in the show? Why? It’s hard to choose… I’ve really fallen in love with my character because all of her lines are so great. Other than that, it would probably have to be either Wilbur or Charlotte. Their journey together is really sweet and heart-warming.
What is your favorite line from the show? “It’s the buttermilk!” Literally, I feel like this could go almost anywhere, it’s really fun to quote in everyday life. “Your hair looks nice.” “It’s the buttermilk!” or “the basketball team lost.” “It’s the buttermilk!” or even “Why is the sky blue?” “It’s the buttermilk!” It’s just too fun…
Did you have a favorite book growing up? If so, what was it? Oh man, I just struggle with favorites. I think the first book I ever considered a favorite was called Escape From Exile, it was a fantasy book, action and adventure, the works! I haven’t read it since grade school, but I’ve always loved fantasy/adventure type stories. Currently, my favorite fantasy series is The Codex Alera by Jim Butcher, which I am also rereading this summer.
Who was your childhood best friend? What did you two do together? Other than my sister (who will always and forever be better than any friend), my cousin Sarai has been my longest standing friend. We played a lot of make-believe games together, mostly. I remember we fought a lot too, we had a very strong love-hate relationship, since we’re both pretty assertive personalities. But we would cry our eyes out when we had to leave each other (she lived in Wyoming and we were in Idaho, so we only saw each other on family get-togethers). Currently, she’s on a mission in Seoul, Korea.
What are you most excited about with Charlotte’s Web? I am so excited to be able to perform in this production at BYU! It’s my first mainstage production here at BYU, and I’m excited to share this experience and we’ve all worked on here with my friends and family. It’s an awesome production and it’s been super fun to be able to work and perform in.
Favorite animal? Eh, again with favorites…. I’ve actually never really had a favorite animal. I think wolves and foxes are beautiful. I prefer dogs over cats, although my cat at home cuddles with me the most and I appreciate his love. Yea, that’s about it, there’s no burning in my soul for any specific kind of animal.
If you lived on a farm, what do you think you’d like the most about it? I’ve been to a good few farms in my life, and I can probably say that my favorite part is the open land, being out in the country. I’ve never been much of a city person. Although I don’t know that I could truly live out in the boonies, I do love living in more open spaces with many beautiful scenic views. (My family lives in Brigham City, Utah, and I feel like that place fulfills this ideal pretty well.)
Taycen Timothy (John Arable)
Who is your favorite character in the show? Why? I’ve always loved Charlotte’s gentle patience she uses in calming Wilbur’s anxieties, but I especially enjoy her little bit of sass and humor she uses to keep herself entertained. The way she talks to Wilbur is actually quite similar to the way John, my character, talks to his children and I think they’re both very good at being fair and encouraging at the same time.
What is your favorite line from the show? Wilbur’s line from the chase sequence: “It’s either freedom… or the frying pan!” My favorite lines from the book that unfortunately weren’t included in the script are a part of Charlotte’s introduction to Wilbur: “Well I am pretty, there’s no denying that.” and from a conversation between Mr. and Mrs. Arable about Fern’s active imagination: “Maybe our ears aren’t as sharp as Fern’s.”
Did you have a favorite book growing up? If so, what was it? Too many to count. I developed a fantastical imagination very quickly when I was young, and was entranced by the Harry Potter books as early as the first grade. I re-read the first half of the series multiple times waiting for the later books to be released. I loved Inkheart by Cornelia Funke, a story about a girl who is able to bring characters from books to life by reading out loud, and the clever escapades in small-town late 19th century Utah by Tom Fitzgerald in The Great Brain series by John Dennis Fitzgerald.
Who was your childhood best friend? What did you two do together? Most of my time spent with friends growing up was talking about all the characters and worlds we’d seen in books and video games or coming up with our own. We had a lot of “what if” conversations back then. Honestly, not much has changed.
What are you most excited about with Charlotte’s Web? I’m still excited to see Charlotte’s aerial silks performance! At this point the rest of the cast hasn’t seen it yet and I’m really excited to see what Meagan’s hard work and training has created and how the audience will respond to it.
Favorite animal? Whenever I get stressed I go online and look up videos of baby elephants and they usually make me laugh and feel better.
If you lived on a farm, what do you think you’d like the most about it? I’ve actually had the opportunity to spend a couple summers working on my grandfather’s ranch and what I think I enjoyed the most was the sense of accomplishment I’d feel after working all morning with my hands and being able to relax in the afternoon knowing that I had finished all of the day’s work. I also loved the fresh air, wide open sky, and the quiet peace of living away from the rush of a city.
Elyse Allen (Fern Arable)
Who is your favorite character in the show? Why? My favorite characters are Charlotte and Wilbur. Charlotte is so selfless and willing to help save the life of a friend, even when she faces death herself. She spends a good portion of her relatively short time on earth working to save Wilbur. Wilbur grows so much in the show and I love to see that. He grows from an innocent, naïve, little pig, to become a brave and responsible pig that helps those around him grow as well.
What is your favorite line from the show? It’s Charlotte’s line near the end of the play, “After all, what’s a life, anyway? We’re born, we live a little, we die. By helping you, perhaps I was lifting up my life a trifle. Heaven knows, anyone’s life can stand a little of that.”
Did you have a favorite book growing up? If so, what was it? I had lots of favorite books – and at one time it was Charlotte’s Web. A few of my go to books were The Crayon Box That Talked, The Christmas Oranges, and The Persian Cinderella.
Who was your childhood best friend? What did you two do together? I had a best friend named Sarah from Kindergarten. We would make up stories and run around and play at each other’s houses all the time. I think one thing we did a lot was play house or princess something. We also played a game that was sort of like the game of life but it was more video game-esque and we got to choose professions and pretend to be teenagers/young adults. (I always picked musician/actress.)
What are you most excited about with Charlotte’s Web? Getting to perform with these wonderful people. Every rehearsal is so fun because of the amazing people in this show. I’m so excited to share our little piece of the world and this story with audiences and especially kids so that they can see the magic and fun that comes from all of this hard work.
Favorite animal? My favorite animal for most of my life has been the okapi – it’s a cousin of the giraffes and it lives in Congo. It’s pretty cool looking with a brown body, zebra legs, and a really long purple/blue tongue. Now, I don’t really have one favorite animal, I just like them in general.
If you lived on a farm, what do you think you’d like the most about it?
Definitely talking to the animals! I love to make up stories and I think I would spend most of the time in the barn playing with them and talking to them (I did that with my cats a lot when I was little anyways).
