Mirror, Mirror

About the author:
Jacquelyn Piro is not one of those actresses who loves starring into a mirror, but for her current role as Sariah in the new off-Broadway musical comedy The Ark, she might have to start looking at her reflection a little more often. Her character is highly concerned about appearances. Piro's stage Broadway and off-Broadway credits include Les Miserables the tour as well, Miss Saigon, Suburb and Under the Bridge. She has also performed in the national tours of Sunset Boulevard and The Secret Garden. Find out about how Piro's shallow character in The Ark deepened the actress' confidence.

Oh my God! Talk about myself? Never! Oops, I guess I can't use "God" in this context being that I am currently performing in The Ark off-Broadway at 37 Arts… you know, The Ark as in Noah? I suppose one should be careful when referring to God, you never know how much more it will rain if you do!! Can you believe the timing of our show with all of this rain? That's a little bizarre, huh?

Anyway, I am already off the subject. So, about my role in The Ark. I play Sariah, who couldn't be more the opposite of me! Her main concern in life is what she looks like--and that is my last concern. I know--odd for an actress, right? Not so strange when you consider that I am bald. Yes, indeed, you read that correctly.

When I was eight years old, I learned that I had an auto immune disease called Alopecia Areata. I had the most common form of the disease, which is bald spots all over my head the size of quarters. OK, The Reader's Digest explanation of the disease is for an unknown reason, your body starts to believe that your hair is a foreign entity that is attacking you, so it gets rid of your hair to "save" you. I know… weird! So, now that you know I am not dying, it is, to say the least, a challenge. At 10, all my hair came back, and I had no sign of the disease for 25 years! Then, of course, it came back in spades and left me completely bald and with no eyebrows. You cannot imagine what a freak you look like without your brows! I now have tattoos--very cool! That was over five years ago.

Well, one has to reevaluate oneself when life throws such curves. Like I said, I have always been low maintenance when it comes to grooming, but, that is not to say that I did not identify my beauty with my hair. Yes indeed, I had thick, curly, long, beautiful Italian hair, and I truly believed it made me beautiful. After a few years of being bald, I came to the conclusion that my personality was what really made me unique and beautiful. I know it sounds corny, but I never said I wasn't sentimental!

Ironically, after years of serious shows and making audiences weep, I have now found so much humor! This past year has been filled with comical roles. This brings me full circle back to The Ark and Sariah. My interest in this role was the opportunity to exploit the often-misguided nature of women, and poke fun at it. We all have to learn to laugh at ourselves! Sariah is the quintessential body conscious woman who believes if she looks good enough, her husband will stay in love with her. She learns that her inner beauty is what really makes her unique--not unlike my own experience. It took losing my hair to understand that.

I am having such a blast with this character--playing opposite the dreamy Rob Sutton doesn't hurt either! This show is truly an ensemble piece, and what a group we have. Everyone, including all the creative staff, have a good laugh at one another. It has been such a pleasure to go through this excruciating period called Previews unbelievably exhausting! But, we are all hanging in there, learning more and more about our fabulous little show. I am happy that a character like Sariah came along. She has pointed out to me that I understand myself better than I realized!

So, the moral of the story: learn to be yourself! Live is always better than Memorex!