St Andrews’ Rising Star: Vicki Robertson

E. Egan interviews one to watch for the future

One of the first things that Victoria Robertson mentions is the love she has for the popular musical show Glee. Now, even in the theatre scene, it takes guts to admit that you do like the popular show Glee. In general people tend to fain a yawn and casually let you know that the show might ring a bell, rather than blowing the whistle.  

It would be interesting to trace the history of the idea of doing a Spring Awakening musical in St Andrews because it may actually come from Glee: both Lea Michelle and Jonathan Groff, lead actors in Glee, found their breakout roles as leads in Spring Awakening on Broadway. Slightly surprisingly, Vicki is a medical student which is not a very common thing to be in the theatre world. Yet she is not a stranger to the stage and much of this is due to her musical appetite.  Singing is what she does most; she is a member of the National Youth Choir of Scotland and will even be performing this Christmas in Dunfermline. Even her idols: Idina Menzel, Eddi Reader and Eva Cassidy, are vocal virtuosos; and what is more she can even play piano.

But yet she makes it clear that she has perceived a difference in the two crafts; especially in the case of Spring Awakening with its motif of self discovery. The director Adelaide Waldrop has also mentioned the songs being somewhat similar to soliloquies. But right from the start Vicki knew what she was auditioning for: she knew about the play because a friend of hers was helping with the famous Fringe production that was on this summer.   Though she is predominantly a singer  she has some experience in acting; having done some shows with adult companies such as Wizard of Oz and playing various Disney Princesses. But this is the first deep role she has taken on and she was not abashed to say that both the director and the musical director had given her plenty of help.

So the Wendla Bergmann of St Andrew’s Spring Awakening is a composite of Vicki’s instincts cultivated by both directors. There are deep poetics at play in the musical, especially with the characters and you are to judge it: success or failure. But as for Vicki, she thinks she’s up to it and to top that she says she will most definitely be in the next JustSo musical production.