The actress<=
/span>
has turned down parts in =
New York
because her family wasn't ready to pick up and move.<=
/p>
"We don't want to split the
family up," said Geri Smith, Ellie's mother.
Every week, Ellie and her mother=
take
the two-hour drive from Southern Nevada to the town just outside St. George, Utah.
"I like to come home every =
week
so I can see my dog and my sister if she didn't come down that week,&qu=
ot;
Ellie said.
This is the =
first
time that Ellie, who is going into the seventh grade at St. Viator Cath=
olic
School, has performed at Tuacahn.
"It's awesome," she sa=
id. "I love singing, and I love how it's
outdoors."
Ellie has been singing the natio=
nal
anthem all over the country since she was 7 years old. She
is known as the "Star-Spangled Girl&quo=
t; and
has performed in plays locally.
Rehearsal started in Utah in May, and Ellie said she mi=
ssed
some school but got all her work done during the commute.
"I still made A
honor roll, but it was really hard," Ellie said.=
Ellie said it's difficult to be =
away
from her friends in Hender=
son,
but most of them have been to see her in the shows.=
She
said she has made so many friends at Tuacahn that
she loves being in both places.
"We're so lucky that we hav=
e the
opportunity to do things like this," Geri Smith said.
"We live like gypsies, but all the sacrificing is worth it =
once
we're up here."
Geri Smith said her younger daug=
hter,
Amy, 9, is going to try out next year, and, hopefully, both girls will =
be
doing the same thing in the same city.
Going to Tu=
acahn
is a big step, but Ellie doesn't want to stop
there.
"My dream is to be on
Broadway," she said.
Tuacahn has a 2,000-seat outdoor amphitheater, t=
he
300-seat Hafen Theater, an indoor dance stu=
dio
and classrooms, and an outdoor plaza.
"The Sound of Music" w=
ill
end on Aug. 15, and "Les Miserables&qu=
ot;
will go until Oct. 18. "Big River: The
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" also will be on the stage from Aug=
. 27
to Oct. 17. Tickets are $20 to $36. Tuacahn Amphitheatre=
and
Center for the Arts is located at 1100 Tuacahn, Ivins, Utah.
For more infor=
mation,
visit www.tuacahn.org.