New Britain Actress Starring in "Educating Rita"

Alexis Newbauer was late for her audition.

Although armed with directions to a theater in Philadelphia, “I somehow wound up in NJ,” said the bubbly 24-year old brunette from New Britain. “I’m a half hour late for my audition. I burst in saying, ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry.’

Producer-director Rich Rubin graciously accepted Newbauer’s apology, but said only one word – “Interesting” – after she auditioned for the role of Rita in Willy Russell’s classic comedy, “Educating Rita.”

Newbauer figured she probably didn’t have a shot.

But she got a callback, and after three rounds of auditions, Rubin, of Quince Productions, called Newbauer himself to offer her the role.

“I’m in the middle of the grocery store doing the happy dance,” she said. “People are looking at me.”

Which isn’t such a bad thing for an aspiring actress.

Newbauer had graduated from college and was working in retail when she decided she missed performing. She had studied voice at the Community Conservatory in Doylestown while growing up and performed in some musicals as a student at . She was part of the first graduating class at Central Bucks South in 2005.

At West, she appeared in the chorus for the musical “The King and I” as a sophomore and as one of the supporting leads in “The Music Man” as a junior. At South, during her senior year, she said “no” to a place in the chorus.

“It sounds like me being a brat,” she said as she sipped an iced coffee in a Doylestown coffee shop. “Later I kicked myself…Performing in any capacity is better than not performing at all.”

After high school, Newbauer went on to study theater at Farleigh Dickinson University, but transferred after one semester to Millersville University, where she earned a degree in anthropology.

“I realized this probably isn’t stable,” she said with a laugh, recalling her decision to transfer and change majors to one that also doesn’t lead to abundant job opportunities.

At Millersville, Newbauer was active in student-run theater and dance organizations and had parts in “Urinetown” and “The Vagina Monologues.”

After graduation, she moved back home with her parents, Lisa and Steve Henze, and two younger brothers, Matt, 18, a senior at South, and Jake, 14, an eighth grader at Unami Middle School. Lisa Henze works in an office at a shopping mall and Steve Henze is a police detective.

Newbauer said her parents never questioned her choice to pursue acting. “They’ve been really supportive,” she said.

“I feel like this is something I should be doing. I want to pursue this.”

She spent a year as a personal care assistant at after college and currently works in retail sales at Willow Grove Park. She hopes to get a job as a nanny and move in with a friend in Philadelphia in a few months. “This commute is killing me,” she said.

Newbauer turned to the Internet when she decided to return to acting. There she found The Village Players of Hatboro, an all-volunteer community theater. She has performed in two shows there, “Earth and Sky” and “Out of Order,” and served as an assistant director for two others, “I Didn’t Do It” and “Wait Until Dark.”

“It feels like everyone’s a family,” she said. “We’re so close knit.”

Newbauer also auditioned in New York, without success, and then decided to try her luck closer to home, in Philadelphia.

She saw the posting for “Educating Rita” on the Theater Alliance website.

“It’s my first show in Philadelphia. It’s very exciting. I really hope that the audience loves it.”

It’s also her first paying acting job.

A play with only two actors, Newbauer as Rita and Michael Hagan as Frank, “Educating Rita” is about what happens when a Liverpool hairdresser who wants more out of life and a cynical professor with a fondness for alcohol are brought together.

“It’s a big role with 50 pages of dialogue that is so beautiful,” Newbauer said. “I think the audience will walk away feeling enlightened.”

To prepare, Newbauer has been traveling to Philadelphia five days a week to rehearse. And she’s working with a coach from Temple University to get the Liverpool dialect just right.

“I think she’s going to quickly make her way to the top of the Philadelphia theater scene,” Rubin wrote in an e-mail.

“Ms. Newbauer is an actress for New Britain to be proud of. Cast over many well-known Philadelphia actresses, she’s exactly the spark of life and wonderful spirit that’s needed for the very demanding title role of Rita.”

"Educating Rita," by Quince Productions, is scheduled to open April 7 at Walnut Street Theater Studio 5, an intimate 40-seat venue located at 825 Walnut Street in Philadelphia.

Preview performances begin Friday, April 1. Tickets are $20 to $25. For tickets and information: contact Quince Productions at 215-627-1088 or www.quinceproductions.com.