THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, April 4, 1996 TAG: 9604020143
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JOAN C. STANUS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 96 lines
IT'S ONLY play-acting, but sometimes Norfolk actress Michelle Hickling can't help but feel as though art is imitating life.
In the current production of ``Pump Boys and Dinettes'' at The Founders Inn, Hickling plays a naive - yet sassy - waitress who runs a diner ``somewhere in North Carolina on Highway 57'' with her older, more worldly sister.
The red-haired Cupp sisters beckon travelers who stop at the gas station next door to ``come down to the Double Cupp where you know we'll treat you nice.'' The crew of pump boys next door regularly take the sisters up on the invite.
Although Hickling is an accomplished singer who has performed professionally from Norfolk to Nashville, the part of Prudie Cupp is her first professional acting role. In fact, she's the only member of the cast tackling the show for the first time. The rest are ``Pump Boys and Dinettes'' veterans.
``I truly feel like the baby sister of the group,'' Hickling said with a laugh while lounging in the living room of her Easton Forest home. ``I've had limited acting experience, and they all know the show so well, so they all watch out for me and give me suggestions. We have such fun in this show. We've all gotten to be good friends.''
Hickling's real-life relationship with her ``older sister,'' actress Kathi Caplan, also mirrors the one in the musical.
``I kind of feel like she's my older sister at times,'' said Hickling, a 29-year-old mother of two. ``She's been doing plays for a while, and I just started. In fact, she recommended me for this job.
``She's got teenagers, and I've got little kids. I just love and respect her. That girl has got a beautiful voice.''
And they're both redheads, though Hickling likes to tease Caplan that ``hers is out of a bottle, and mine is natural.''
In the show, the two women even sing a heartfelt song together about sisters.
``It's kind of reminiscent of my own sisters,'' Hickling said. ``When we were younger, we sang a lot of sister trios.''
The daughter of a Methodist minister, Hickling has been singing in front of audiences almost since she could talk. She started playing the piano by ear at 2. Eventually, she took lessons.
In school and church, with groups and as a soloist, wherever she could find a venue for her singing, Hickling grabbed it. But her heart soared when singing Christian music.
After graduating from Bayside High School in Virginia Beach, Hickling began to pursue her heart. She competed in a national Christian artist competition in Colorado and snared first place. That victory spawned opportunities she couldn't pass up.
With encouragement from several talent scouts, Hickling, her husband and young child moved to Nashville, leaving behind a job as a church music director. Her husband quit his job with the Portsmouth police department.
After relocating in Tennessee, her career began to take off almost at once. She eventually worked as a backup singer for some of Christian music's top names, including Scott Wesley Brown and Steve Green.
``It was really a stretching experience for me,'' she recalled. ``I was exposed to black gospel, arranging and producing. I really wanted to pursue a career.''
Then she got pregnant. As the mother of two young children, Hickling reassessed her priorities.
``As a Christian, my No. 1 goal has always been to minister ... to share my love for the Lord ... not to make a lot of money,'' Hickling said. ``I started out big guns, but then I started having a family, and that was more important. I saw that I would have to tour and promote and be on the road all the time. I didn't want to be away from my family that much.''
She and her family moved home to Hampton Roads last year. Almost as soon as she unpacked, Hickling got back into the local Christian music scene. She took another job as a director of music and began snaring dates singing backup for such top names as Debby Boone and Glen Campbell during their ``700 Club'' appearances.
One afternoon in a local department store, she ran into Caplan, an old friend whom she had met years earlier during a taping of worship songs at Chrysler Hall for the record producers Hosanna Integrity. Now Caplan was serving as musical director at The Founders Inn.
Caplan and Gary Spell - director, producer and cast member for ``Pump Boys and Dinettes'' - were looking for a soprano to take on the role of Prudie Cupp. Spell knew Hickling - and her accomplished voice - from high school.
When they found out Hickling was available, the two asked her to take on the role. She immediately jumped at the chance to join the cast.
``This is something I've always known I could do, but I never had the opportunity before,'' she said. ``There's always room for growth ... wherever you are. This has been such a wonderful experience for me. Plus, I'm having a lot of fun with really wonderful people.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by RICHARD L. DUNSTON
Michelle Hickling, left, and Kathi Caplan play the Cupp sisters in
``Pump Boys and Dinettes.''
by CNB