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It's surely no secret that we live in an age where broadcasting oneself online can lead, in some cases, to instantaneous and spectacular success. Recent cornerstones of this phenomenon include twelve-year-old pop singer and pianist Greyson Michael Chance, whose performance of Lady GaGa's "Paparazzi" in a school talent show, had within days, landed him on Ellen DeGeneres' program, in a highly-lauded appearance (and an opportunity to converse with the pop diva live on the air).
Haven, Connecticut. Having spent most of her life as a theatre performer in school musicals and other local productions, and after years of uploading her favorite clips onto YouTube, she has begun to come into her own as possibly one of the brightest new talents upon which to keep an eye for eventual greatness on Broadway and similar. A recent school production of Gypsy, in which she portrayed the lead role of Mama Rose and culminated as always with "Rose's Turn," proved a performance with such potential star-power that it was not only a blink of an eye before her clip was accumulating views by the thousands, but the news was almost instantly picked up by Playbill.com and elevated her into a national spotlight. As if this wasn't enough, she received a singular honor with a nomination for Best Actress in the prestigious Connecticut High School Musical Theatre Awards, which will be announced in early June at a black-tie banquet. All this, plus the customary trappings of being a senior on the verge of graduation, such as final exams and getting ready to attend college in the fall, might be just a bit much for anyone to handle. DeFlumeri, however, proves that she isn't just anyone, and is up to whatever challenges life might throw her way, as well as remaining extremely focused and ambitious besides humble and, quite simply put, a nice normal teenager who just happens to have a sensational amount of talent.There was already a strong degree of talent in her bloodline; her mother was a singer all through high school and college, and an uncle is an extremely successful bassist and songwriter residing in New Orleans. But even if that hadn't been the case, she knew this was her true calling. "I've been performing for as long as I can remember," she says, "starting with when I was in the city as a kid once, staying with my family at The Plaza Hotel. And I jumped right on stage with the band and made them play 'Tomorrow' from Annie, just so I could sing it. There has never been a doubt in my mind about what I wanted to do." And she's had many favorite experiences on stage, but Mama Rose holds a special place in her heart. She says, "I never thought, at this age, I would be able to play such a rich, deep and fulfilling role. An eighteen-year-old playing a sixty-something-year-old is NOT easy, and I knew I had to convince the audience. I have never, ever worked so hard in my entire life, and I have also never felt so satisfied as an actress. I literally poured blood, sweat and tears into this role, and that's not an exaggeration." The attention for her performance, however, also came with a bit of a backlash from some. "Many people have expressed in countless blogs, and YouTube comments, that I'm simply copying Patti LuPone. I would just like to say that I in no way, shape or form, copied her performance. Yes, Ms. LuPone is my idol, and nothing was so amazing as when I saw her as Rose. However, I made a point of not borrowing anything." She finishes, upon reflection, " Maybe some of the blocking is similar. But that is due to my amazing director, John Harned, not myself. I simply follow direction."
And like all young women with a dream of Broadway stardom, DeFlumeri has many other roles she dreams of playing one day. "I have a top-three dream roles, and Mama Rose used to be second on the list. My number one HAS to be Elphaba in Wicked. I would give my soul to play that part. That role is just so heartbreakingly honest and ferocious at the same time. My goal in life is to play that part somewhere. My new number two is Lucy in Jekyll and Hyde, and my number three is Belle in Beauty and the Beast, which are all very, very different. But I like to think of myself as a versatile actress, because I am a versatile person." She chuckles, "How else would I be able to play Sandy in one year and Mama Rose the next?"
Quite naturally, this begs the question of whether or not she's ever a victim of stage fright, or its even more terrifying cousin, audition fright. "Well," she says, "funnily enough, I only get really bad stage fright when I'm performing 'The Star Spangled Banner' or something of that nature. I'm so terrified I'm going to forget the words. Singing at weddings and events scares me so much more than doing theatre. However, right before I go on, I always get butterflies, but once the show gets rolling I feel invincible. My audition fright, though, is a lot worse. I strive for perfection and I am always, ALWAYS, trying to improve myself. This is why auditioning is so daunting for me. When I was going through college auditions, I traveled to ten different locations, auditioning at ten different schools. Nothing rocked my self-esteem more than that experience. Auditioning every week with basically the same material caused endless self-evaluation and sickening nerves. The best feeling for me is when the audition is over and done, and you can just walk away and say 'There. I put it all out there, and now it's their decision'."
Jumping back to the subject of her performance as Mama Rose, is DeFlumeri at all surprised by the flurry of reception the clip has received thus far? She says, "I couldn't be happier with the attention this video has received. I seriously never expected it; I've been posting videos on YouTube for some years now, with some limited exposure on blogs and such. When I read the Playbill.com article, I cried. I was so ecstatic to be recognized for my hard work, and I couldn't be more thankful. The Best Actress nomination also came as a very pleasant surprise. I have learned, as an actress, to never, ever expect anything. This is the first year my school has participated in the awards, so I really had no idea what the judges were looking for. I was just so incredibly happy that they respected my performance enough to nominate me. Another fantastic surprise was, a couple of days after the video hit the web, a casting company contacted my director expressing interest (David Clemmons Casting). They requested my information and said they would give me a call. Now, I was so pleased with this gesture but I was not expecting anything to come of it. They actually just called me yesterday and asked me to come and audition for Vivienne in Legally Blonde for the non-Equity national tour. Needless to say, I was, and am, speechless. Just being invited to audition is such an honor."
Interestingly, the first clip she posted on YouTube some years ago wasn't meant to be taken in any way seriously. "It was a total joke," she says. "I was a sophomore in high school, and my friends and I did this terrible version of 'Cell Block Tango' from Chicago. I actually never took the video down, and even though it's my oldest video it's only had six hundred views. Thank God," she adds. "My first really recognized video was 'Beethoven Day.' I played Marcie (an added role) in You're a Good Man Charlie Brown during my sophomore year. My director wanted to showcase my voice, so she put me on the song with Schroeder (played by Matt Madden). Then Andrew Keenan-Bolger, of Andrew's Blog, noticed the video and posted it on his blog; Andrew is actually the reason for all of my YouTube success. He has always been so encouraging, and he really helps get my videos out there. I cannot thank him enough."
Following graduation, DeFlumeri is completely excited about the prospect of attending Ithaca College in the fall as a Musical Theatre major. But she certainly has a concrete goal. "In five years," she says, "I would ideally like to see myself either on Broadway or on a national tour. I will definitely be living in the city, and hopefully at that point, I'll be working. In a show, not as a waitress," she smiles. "And I completely understand how difficult it is to crack into the business, but I am more than willing to do whatever it takes. If there is anything I can say about myself, it's that I am extremely motivated."
Motivated she most certainly is, besides really having her priorities together in a way that not many youngsters her age can boast. Not to mention a tremendous talent that should most certainly find her blazing across Broadway before long. In a business sometimes laced plentifully with jealousy, envy and cattiness, one can be reasonably sure that nobody could possibly wish Hannah Rose DeFlumeri anything but best wishes for a long and flourishing career, and the chance to dazzle thousands, as she already has.
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"UPDATE: Hannah DeFlumeri didn't in fact win the CTMTHSA Award for Best Actress for her performance, as was announced on May 26th, 2010. However, she has landed the aforementioned role of Vivienne in the upcoming National Tour of Legally Blonde, and looks very much forward to this opportunity.
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