MSN_111518

22 | November 15, 2018 | Malibu surfside news life & arts
malibusurfsidenews.com
Thatcher sisters stay true to family legacy
MHS graduates
continue to impress
on stages near, far
Barbara Burke
Freelance Reporter
Born, bred and educated
in Malibu, while also being
immersed in the dynastic
creativity inherent in their
mother Maria’s famous
Newman clan, Isabella
and Martha Thatcher have
soared since graduating
from Malibu High School.
The sisters grew up with
their family’s iconic musical
legacy and were immersed
in the family’s Montgomery
Arts House for Music
and Architecture in Malibu.
There, the pair’s mother,
Maria Newman — an acclaimed
classical composer,
conductor, violinist, pianist
and violist — and her husband,
Scott Hosfeld — a
conductor and music director
for both the Malibu
Coast Chamber Orchestra
and The Idyllwild Arts —
host concerts, orchestras,
vespers and films.
“I love Martha and Isabella
Thatcher and their
lovely mother Maria Newman,”
said MHS theater director
Jody Plaia, who noted
that the sisters “always give
it their all for the good of the
whole.”
Martha graduated from
Malibu High School in
2014, and Isabella in 2016.
Now, they are taking the
theatrical and musical
worlds by storm.
In September, the duo
performed at MAHMA in
“The Newmans of Hollywood
– Tales of the Newman
Dynasty,” an extravaganza
featuring works by
their grandfather, Alfred
Newman, the clan patriarch
who was nominated for an
astounding 45 Oscars and
who received nine Academy
awards; their mother,
Maria; and their mother’s
cousin, Randy Newman, a
singer and composer of film
music as well as pop and
rock songs.
As one sat in the MAH-
MA great room, listening to
Martha and Isabella perform
songs composed by their
forbearers, the fluidity of
the music, augmented by the
glow on the young women’s
faces, manifested the gifts
with which the Newman
family has been blessed.
“When you grow up hearing
stories of the family legacy,
it becomes clear, very
quickly, that your family is
something very special,”
said Martha, noting that
such awareness is “something
to be worn with pride
and with caution.”
Independently, Martha
and Isabella are, indeed,
accomplishing amazing
things, garnering accolades
galore. Martha appeared in
a television episode of “The
Middle” (Season 8, Episode
1). Indeed, she had her own
trailer on the Warner Ranch
movie lot, a coveted coup at
any age.
Connie Boylan, who recommended
Martha to the
talent scouts, had glowing
praise.
“During the summer of
2016, I was in a temporary
position in the music
department of Warner
Bros. TV, and I was asked
to help cast a vivacious college-age
woman with a
great personality and singing
voice for a scene in
their show ‘The Middle,’”
Martha Thatcher, a 2014 graduate of Malibu High, has been keeping busy through the Theatre Arts Program at
Southern Oregon University’s Oregon Center for the Arts. Photos by JuanTallo.com
Boylan said. “Martha immediately
came to mind and
right away, she submitted an
audio demo, then aced the
in-person audition and was
chosen by the producers
from among several other
candidates.”
True to the Newman
tradition, Martha’s performance
awed.
“Although it was her first
foray into network TV and
involved learning choreography
as well as singing,
Martha captivated everyone
on set with her enthusiasm
and spirit,” Boylan said.
Both Martha and Isabella
attend the Theatre Arts Program
at Southern Oregon
University’s Oregon Center
for the Arts.
Behind the scenes with
Martha
Jackie Apodaca, who is
in charge of the acting program
at SOU and serves
as Martha’s primary acting
teacher, has had the good
fortune of watching Martha
grow over the past several
years.
“I have seen her grow into
a sophisticated actor, able to
access true emotional depth
and humor,” Apodaca said.
“I had the pleasure of recently
directing Martha as
Tilly Evans, the lead, in Qui
Nguyen’s ‘She Kills Monsters.’
She created a poignant
character, flawed but
effervescent and open.”
The play tells the tale of
a woman coming to terms
with her 15-year-old sister,
Tilly, dying by playing the
role-play game “Dungeons
and Dragons.”
“Tilly is an immensely
important character to me,
as I believe it is vitally important
to portray young
women who are strong and
self-possessed and creative,”
Martha said. “Tilly
is all of these things and
more.”
For the role, Martha explained
that she “did a huge
amount of sword fighting
and hand-to-hand combat,”
as her character was a paladin,
a holy warrior in “Dungeons
and Dragons.”
The role earned Martha a
Kennedy Center American
College Theater Festival
Irene Ryan nomination —
her third such honor.
This past spring, Martha
played Sally Brown, Charlie
Brown’s excitable younger
sister, in “You’re a Good
Man, Charlie Brown”/“Dog
Sees God.”
“I was able to sing the
iconic song ‘My New Philosophy’
in the role made
famous by Kristin Chenoweth,”
Martha said. “In
‘Dog Sees God,’ by Burt V.
Royal, I also played Charlie
Brown’s sister, an older incarnation
of my character in
‘You’re a Good Man.’”
Both shows were directed
by Nolan Sanchez and were
put up against each other to
show the parallels between