The 2000 movie Bring It On about rival cheering squads fighting for a national championship spawned four sequels and grossed just over $68 million dollars domestically. Now it's on the road as a musical - and Fort Worth's Courtney Corbeille is in the ensemble cast.
Give us some school history. I attended Country Day from kindergarten through my senior year in 2006, which equals 13 years in a plaid uniform. I was a middle school cheerleader at FWCD for two years and then cheered on the varsity squad all four years of upper school. I danced for the Gayle Corkery School of Ballet from age 4 to 18 and was on the FWCD dance team my last two years of high school. I was also involved in choir and theater at FWCD.
Tell us about getting the part. I was reading The New York Times Arts & Entertainment section in between journalism classes my senior year of college, and the words "cheerleading" and "musical" caught my eye. I read that the popular Bring It On movies were being turned into a musical. I was instantly inspired and found out more about the auditions that were taking place in New York, Los Angeles and Atlanta. I figured that I would stand out the most in Atlanta, so I flew there during my last semester at [the University of Oklahoma]. Before auditioning, I had never thought about pursuing musical theater professionally.
How did you prepare? I Googled the lyrics to Popular from Wicked in between classes. I was too embarrassed to practice my singing out loud, so I memorized the lyrics and just went for it in the audition. Little did I know, but Alex Lacamoire, who was the pianist at the audition, did the original arrangements for Wicked on Broadway. Needless to say, I was intimidated about the singing part of the audition, but I made it through. Other than "preparing" my song, I simply dressed and acted like an All-American cheerleader at the audition. Thankfully, that was exactly what they were looking for.
What do you do in the show? I dance, sing, act and cheer throughout the whole show in the ensemble. During the show, I play a high school student, a cheerleader, a fast-food customer and even the Goth girl at school. Usually, I am portraying a student or cheerleader at Jackson or Truman High, the two rival schools in the musical. I have three different wigs in the show, not one similar to my real hair. I have over a dozen costume changes and change my wig about a dozen times every show, too!
Goth girl? My favorite costume is definitely my "Goth Girl" costume because it is the most unlike what I would wear day to day. I have lived in polyester cheer uniforms and big hair bows my whole life, so when I get to wear a black wig, a black dress, a black coat and tall, black lace-up Converse boots, I feel completely transformed.
Why are some people disdainful of cheerleading and cheerleaders? Several teen movies and hit TV shows such as Glee depict cheerleaders as the ditzy, happy-go-lucky girls that have it all together and never have to work for anything they have. I sometimes find this frustrating because I do not know a single person who I have cheered with in all-stars, high school or college who has not had to work for what they have. In fact, the hard work that goes into landing a new tumbling pass or sticking an elite stunt is reflected in a cheerleader's work ethic in other parts of his or her life. … Many TV shows do not go behind the scenes to show the sweat, bruises, blood and even tears that can accompany just a single cheer practice.
What advice would you offer younger women who are dreaming of a performing career? Stick with ballet. Ballet provides such a solid foundation for all other types of dance and even improves gymnastics and cheerleading technique. Expose yourself to all kinds of dance and music in as many studios as you can. Travel to summer dance camps, and take advantage of master classes taught by the best in the business. Anytime you visit a big city such as New York or Los Angeles, stop in and take a class. Most likely, your teacher is currently performing in a Broadway show or has extensive experience in the entertainment business. You never know what connections could be made if they see you dance.
What do you get from performing? The most rewarding part of being on tour is touching the lives of people all around the country. As cheesy as it sounds, there is no better feeling than signing a playbill for a little girl after the show and hearing her mom say that she wants to be just like you one day. We have performed for school groups in several cities, and receiving letters from the students after the show is also really neat. Even if only one person walks out of the theater inspired, happier, or changed for the better, then we have done our jobs as performers.
Is this the start of a career? If I have the opportunity to work for a member of our creative team in the future on Broadway or even on the West Coast, I would definitely consider continuing in this new world of show business.
