COUNTDOWN TO ALICE IN SLASHERLAND: Interview with Bonnie Sherman

Continuing our look at the sexy ladies of “Alice in Slasherland”, our next interview goes to another one of VC Nation’s freshest fan favorites, our lady of perpetual awesome, Bonnie Sherman. Bonnie first began kicking ass with the Cowboys as part of our Rabid Vamps Fight Studio where she immediately caught our attention with her stunning looks, amazing high kicks, and quirky sense of humor. With beauty, brawn, and brilliant acting skillz, she ran up the ranks of Vampire Cowboys fast and furious. First appearing in our Saturday Night Saloon series then onto the New York Comic Con and our First Bite workshops, it virtually took her no time before she would make her debut on our mainstage in last season’s critically acclaimed sold-out show, “Soul Samurai”, where she won the hearts of all of VC Nation. In an incredible performance, Bonnie tore it up as Sally December aka Lady Snowflake, the main bad guy and ultimate love interest for our lead girl, Dewdrop, in last year’s hit. Because of their nuanced and moving portrayals, VC’s ambitious blaxploitation/samurai/vampire play went on to get a surprising nomination from the GLAAD Awards for Outstanding Broadway/Off-Broadway Play. Since then, Bonnie also appeared in our sold-out remount of “Fight Girl Battle World” just this past summer and now sheds her bad guy ways to play one of Slasherland’s lead characters, Margaret, a nerdy cheerleader who gets caught up inside Alice’s twisted world.

In “Alice in Slasherland”, you play the role of Margaret, what can you tell us about your character?
Margaret is a fun-loving, yet ironically very book-smart, 17 year-old cheerleader. She speaks her mind without hesitation and is confident in what she wants in life. She sticks up for her friends as well as herself and cares very much for Lewis, her lifelong buddy and the only real friend she has at El Dorado Hills High School. Some challenges in creating this role will be to not fall into all the regular “traps” one can fall into when playing “a teenager” onstage. Also in finding ways to keep the character positive in such an extreme circumstance as the one she now finds herself in. All in all, it’s going to be a fun character to create.

If you were a slasher, what weapon would you use to conduct mayhem? Who would be your chosen victims?
I would definitely hook up my forearms with some retractable Razor Blade. Imagine you’re on a nice night out with this beautiful brunette. Things are heating up and then BLAM, out of nowhere, razor blades in your neck! My chosen victims would be sleeze-balls who hang out in the streets and expect women to respond to their cat calls.

What’s the scariest thing that’s ever happened to you (paranormally speaking)? Any good ghost stories to share whether a personal experience or a good scary story you’ve heard.
One night while I was in university, my friends and I decided to sling back some drinks, and in a drunken stupor, decided that it would be a great idea to sneak into the legendary haunted theater located down the street from our apartment. It wasn’t difficult to enter, no break-in necessary. Upon entry, we spent the time scaring each other for fun, going into the basement, hiding, calling each other out to come down and then jumping out with a loud BOO! We were intoxicated, having fun, and giving zero respect for anything remotely supernatural. Everyone was talking very loudly trying to challenge the supposed “spirits in the theater” to come out. After awhile, we decided to all gather into the main area to legitimately see if we could see anything. After about a minute of silence with the occasional giggle and comments like “this is boring” the clock located at the very back of this gigantic theater (approximately 5000 square feet) suddenly started ticking very loudly. We all got very freaked out and decided that this would be a good time to make our exit. However, one of my friends, in a last ditch effort to keep the night rolling, chimed up and started screaming taunting comments out to the “theatre spirits”. Then, out of nowhere, we all heard a very loud sound, slightly demonic in nature, with hints of technical fuzz saying “GET OUT”! Without pause, we all ran out of the theatre very very fast. When we returned home, the events that followed were self-lighting candles, the volume on our television sets rising up to their loudest settings randomly in the middle of the night, and very disturbing nightmares all around. (Not two minutes ago when trying to find the square footage of this space I came across this website)
Side bar: I want to apologize to any of my old teachers who are reading this right now. I vow never do such a disrespectful act ever again.

What is your zombie apocalypse escape plan?
Well, zombies aren’t really my thing, but for the holidays my boyfriend received an “Emergency Zombie Apocalypse Kit”, equipped with bottled water, protein bars, heat pads, a fully stocked first aid kit, an extra pair of socks, and - of course - a Louisville Slugger with the Pittsburgh Steelers Emblem burned into the handle (He’s from Pittsburgh). I just hope to be with him at the time of the Apocalypse. Especially because if I’m on my own, I’d be stuck having to defend myself with just my Mag Light and that means it wouldn’t be very long before my brains became zombie-food.

What scares you?
Oh, you know, nothing. Yeah, right. I am scared of singing in public. I attended the New World School of the Arts in Miami, Fl. My first year of high school, I was accepted into the musical theater program which I’m guessing was due to my acting and dance skills, though I suppose I can hold a note pretty well. Throughout the year I would have to perform a number of songs for my classmates. And without fail, before every song that was about to come out of my vocal chords, the tears would begin flowing, causing my stage fright to hit maximum velocity, resulting in a very hasty and dramatic exit out of the room. Thankfully, I was able to switch into the regular acting program for the remainder of high school. To this day, the only person I can sing in front of is my dad.

Why should people see “Alice in Slasherland”?
Do you love to laugh? Do you love your life? Do you hate your life? Are you an awesome person? Are you not an awesome person? Are you a boy, a girl, a man, or a woman? Do you love violence? Do you love “love stories”? Do you love Sesame Street? Do you hate Sesame Street? Do you love theatre? Do you hate theatre? If you answered yes to any of these questions then you HAVE to see this show. Plus you’ll be way cooler when you leave.

For more info on “Alice in Slasherland”, CLICK HERE!