MARIA EBERLINE Takes the Stage in “South Street”

“When I was four-years old, I watched Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gelsey Kirkland in ‘The Nutcracker’ (1977) on TV and I distinctly remember turning to my mother and saying, ‘Mommy, I want to do that!’” recalls stage actor Maria Eberline, taking a break from a dress rehearsal at the Pasadena Playhouse. “I started out as a dancer and I think my passion for dance came out of a love of storytelling.”

Encouraged by her parents, the young San Diego native spent the next several years studying ballet before  theater after being cast in community  “Cinderella” and “Oliver.” “When I was about twelve, with my ballet body and gave me hips and boobs,” Eberline says with a laugh. “My dream of becoming a prima ballerina went out the window with puberty, but I continued to love the idea of creating a character and telling a story through that character. I loved making people laugh and watching people be entertained.”

Miss Eberline eventually made her way to Los Angeles where she studied voice, received a BA in Theater from UCLA (playing Pocahontas in a Disneyland musical review to help finance her education) and starred as Princess Winnifred in a UCLA production of legendary lyricist Marshall Barer’s “Once Upon a Mattress” directed by Carol Burnett. 

“She was such a generous spirit, with an explosive laugh that always made you feel like you were the funniest person in the room,” Eberline says of the show biz legend. “She taught me to follow my instincts and that your first instinct is almost always the right choice. She was all about the truth of a situation. Even her most over-the-top characters came from a place of utter truth. Working with Carol Burnett is about as good as it gets!” 

After polishing her chops at UCLA, the gifted and industrious performer toured throughout the United States and Europe, enthralling packed houses in productions of “Fame! The Musical,” “Grease,” “Evita,” “Carmen” and “Wicked.”

With a compelling theatrical presence and a “big and belting” set of finely tuned pipes, Maria Eberline is now primed to play the lead (a toughtalking ex-stripper/club manager who “works hard and learns fast”) in the world premiere of “South Street,” a musical comedy (with music and lyrics by Richard Addrisi and book by Craig Carlisle) that centers around a Philadelphia neighborhood bar, with an intriguing history and an uncertain future, where an eclectic mix of locals meet for drinking, dancing, and drama as the club’s ownership hangs in a precarious state. “It’s a warm, light-hearted, fun show with comedy, tenderness, dancing, great choreography, and a beautiful set. The characters onstage are very interesting people with very different lives who come together and have really beautiful relationships and rich friendships,” Eberline explains. “A nightclub that used to be a strip joint is a very unlikely place to call home, but it really does become a haven to these characters. A place for them to feel at home. Kind of like ‘Cheers.’ ‘South Street’ is a brand new show. It’s very exciting to be doing something that’s never been done before!” 􀀀

“South Street” plays September 16th through October 16th at the Pasadena Playhouse. Please visit www.pasadenaplayhouse.org for more information.