Article January 19, 2009 ISSUE

CURTAIN CALL

IN PROFILE: BRITISH ACTRESS VALERIE HERMANNI

Devoted to the stage, devoted to glorifying God.

BY TONY LOBL

EIGHT HUNDRED thespians applied. Four hundred were auditioned. Twenty-five would make the cut to perform during the inaugural 1962 season of the pioneering Chichester Festival Theatre under its renowned director, Laurence Olivier.

The final audition included the daunting prospect of performing before the great actor/director himself, who would soon become Sir Laurence. While some of the auditioners leaned on whatever brought them calm under stress, Valerie Hermanni clung to the prophet Jeremiah's words: "The Lord said unto me. Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord" (1:7, 8). She went on to prove the value of God's Word to steady one's nerves in the pressurized world of drama, and was one of those chosen by Olivier to perform during a part of that groundbreaking opening season.

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