Actor Spotlight

This cosplaying Dallas actor doesn't shy away from outrageous characters

Dressing up and becoming other people is a way of life for Andi Allen — and we don't just mean onstage. The Dallas-based actor, director, and playwright has established herself on the cosplay scene, appearing as everyone from Wonder Woman to Doctor Who to one of the blade-wielding Bennett sisters from the film Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

Right now, however, Allen is preparing to wrangle another kind of horde: small children. She's playing ballet instructor Mrs. Wilkinson in Billy Elliot, the stage musical based on the popular movie. Firehouse Theatre in Farmers Branch is presenting the regional premiere from July 28 to August 14.

Before she dons the legwarmers, Allen took the time to fill out our survey of serious, fun, and sometimes ridiculous questions.

Name: Andi Allen

Role in Billy Elliot: Mrs. Wilkinson, the dance teacher

Previous work in the DFW area: Actor/director for many theaters around town, most recently seen as Yente in Fiddler on the Roof at Garland Summer Musicals, Joanne in Company for Brick Road Theatre, and Jessica Cranshaw in Curtains for MainStage Irving/Las Colinas.

Hometown: Dallas

Where you currently reside: Dallas

First theater role: I did roles in elementary school for school presentations, but in ninth grade I ventured out to audition for Junior Players and was cast in a production of Snow White (can’t remember the character).

First stage show you ever saw: I don’t remember specifically, but we had season tickets to the Dallas Summer Musicals when I was in a kid. What actually made me fall in love with theater, and musicals in particular, were the movie musicals I watched as a kid: The Sound of Music, Mary Poppins, Bye Bye Birdie, and so many others.

Moment you decided to pursue a career in theater: Not really a moment, but by high school, I knew I wanted to have a career in theater.

Most challenging role you’ve played: Different roles have presented different challenges. Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd (because of all those tongue-twisting words) and Veronica in God of Carnage (because it’s an emotional roller coaster for 90 straight minutes onstage that feel like running a marathon with the three other actors).

Special skills: I still remember a smattering of sign language from my days working with Callier Theater of the Deaf.

Something you’re REALLY bad at: Ironing. I always burn myself when I iron.

Current pop culture obsession: Anything Doctor Who and cosplay-related. I’m becoming a familiar face in the local cosplay community.

Last book you read: The Disaster Artist, a first-hand account of the making of the "worst movie ever" called The Room.

Favorite movie(s): Deadpool, Captain America: Civil War, Batman vs. Superman

Favorite musician(s): A.R Rahman, a Bollywood composer

Favorite song: "The Ladies Who Lunch." I loved it for a long time before I actually got to do it.

Dream role: I’ve been lucky to play some of my dream roles. I would love to do Dolly in Hello Dolly! and the title role in Mame.

Favorite play(s): Psycho Beach Party. I love Charles Busch.

Favorite musical(s): Xanadu, Nunsense, Mame

Favorite actors/actresses: Katherine Hepburn, Alex Kingston, David Tennant, Patrick Stewart

Favorite food: Mexican

Must-see TV show(s): Doctor Who, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones

Something most people don’t know about you: I’m a DC girl all the way, though I like Marvel.

Place in the world you’d most like to visit: The U.K.

Pre-show warm-up: I usually do a speed through of all my lines and songs on my way to the theater.

Favorite part about your current role: Performing the song "Shine" with my ballet girls and Billy.

Most challenging part about your current project: Being consistent with the Geordie accent.

Most embarrassing onstage mishap: Didn’t know the back of my dress was caught up in my pantyhose. Got the biggest laugh when I turned to exit the scene and found out backstage why. The show was Reefer Madness, so I’m sure the audience just thought my character was stoned.

Career you’d have if you weren’t in theater: Something working with animals.

Favorite post-show spot: Buzzbrews

Most memorable theater moment: Hearing audible gasps from the audience when I hit the high operatic note in "Gooch’s Song" in Mame after singing in the nasal character voice. They never expected that sound to come out of Gooch.

Westin Brown as Billy and Andi Allen as Mrs. Wilkinson in Firehouse Theatre's production of Billy Elliot.

Photo by Jason Anderson, Pendleton Photography

Westin Brown as Billy and Andi Allen as Mrs. Wilkinson in Firehouse Theatre's production of Billy Elliot.

qa theater interview

Movie Review

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is better than the first but not by much

Blumhouse

Five Nights at Freddy's 2

Blumhouse Productions first made their name with the Paranormal Activity series, establishing themselves as a leader in the horror genre thanks to their relatively cheap yet effective movies. In recent years, they’ve added on “soft” horror films likeM3GAN and Five Nights at Freddy’s to draw in a younger audience, with both films becoming so successful that each was quickly given a sequel.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 finds Mike (Josh Hutcherson) and his sister Abby (Piper Rubio) still recovering from the events of the first film, with Abby particularly missing her “friends.” Those friends just so happen to be the souls of murdered children who inhabit animatronic characters at the long-defunct Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, children who were abducted and killed by William Afton (Matthew Lillard).

A new threat emerges at another Freddy Fazbear’s location in the form of Charlotte, another murdered child who inhabits a creepy large marionette. Mike, distracted by a possible romance with Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail), fails to keep track of Abby, who makes her way to the old pizzeria and inadvertently unleashes Charlotte and her minions on the surrounding town.

Directed by Emma Tammi and written by Scott Cawthon (who also created the video game on which the series is based), the film tries to mix together goofy elements with intense scenes. One particular sequence, in which the security guard for Freddy Fazbear’s lets a group of ghost hunters onto the property, toes the line between soft and hard horror. That and a few others show the potential that the filmmakers had if they had stuck to their guns.

Unfortunately, more often than not they either soft-pedal things that would normally be horrific, or can’t figure out how to properly stage scenes. The sight of animatronic robots wreaking havoc is one that is simultaneously frightening and laughable, and the filmmakers never seem to find the right balance in tone. Every step in the direction of making a truly scary horror film is undercut by another in which the robots fail to live up to their promise.

It doesn’t help that Cawthon gives the cast some extremely wooden dialogue, lines that none of the actors can elevate. What may work in a video game format comes off as stilted when said by actors in a live-action film. The story also loses momentum quickly after the first half hour or so, with Cawthon seemingly content to just have characters move from place to place with no sense of connection between any of the scenes.

Hutcherson (The Hunger Games series), after being the true lead of the first film, is given very little to do in this film, and his effort is equal to his character’s arc. The same goes for Lail, whose character seems to be shoehorned into the story. Rubio is called upon to carry the load for a lot of the movie, and the teenager is not quite up to the task. A brief appearance by Skeet Ulrich seems to be a blatant appeal to Scream fans, but he and Lillard only underscore how limited this film is compared to that franchise.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is better than the first film, but not by much. The filmmakers do a decent job of making the new marionette character into a great villain, but they fail to capitalize on its inherent creepiness. Instead, they fall back on less effective elements, ensuring that the film will be forgettable for anyone other than hardcore Freddy fans.

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Five Nights at Freddy's 2 opens in theaters on December 5.

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