ALPINE — Jessica Sundwall knows she's fibbing a bit when, as Heidi in the new SCERA musical, she says, "I'm not a child. I'm 8 years old!"
It's a fib because she's really still 7, but she's OK with it because she'll turn 8 in June, and, after all, she's acting here, and that's something she already does pretty well.
"I've been very surprised at her abilities," said director Kate Lowder. "She's incredibly adaptable. She's just one of the greatest actresses I've worked with and also one of the most focused even though she's only 7."
Dubbed by publicists for the SCERA production as "Utah's very own Shirley Temple," Sundwall is blonde, rosy-cheeked and perky.
She's also quite confident about her future in show biz.
"I know I'm really young to be acting," she said in an interview with the Deseret News. "But it's like the line says, I'm not a child. This is my third play."
Sundwall previously starred in Westfield Elementary's production of "The Ant and The Grasshopper."
She was the grasshopper playing a tiny fiddle.
Sundwall also appeared in "A Christmas Carol" put on by the SCERA Youth Theatre Group last December.
The only girl in a family full of boys, she hopes someday to both sing and act as a grown-up, but she isn't sure it will happen.
"This is just for fun now," she said.
The "fun" includes rigorous daily rehearsals — one rehearsal went for a nine-hour stretch — and memorizing pages of lines and song lyrics.
And, she is learning to take criticism along with compliments.
"She takes comments and critiques all alike and is able to utilize them very quickly," Lowder said. "Most adult actresses, it takes them a few times."
The challenging role requires standing up in front of an audience full of strangers and not letting the nerves show.
"Off stage, I get nervous," Sundwall said, "but then I take a huge, deep, breath and go."
She said other cast members, particularly Marissa Smith who plays cousin Klara and Jerry Ferguson who plays the gruff grandfather, have been very friendly and supportive.
"I like them. They get mad at me at first, but then we become friends — in the play," Sundwall said.
Ferguson said he's found Jessica to be a hard worker and exceptionally smart.
"She knows everybody's lines. If I miss a line, she'll look at me and say, "no . . . ," Ferguson said.
"Heidi" opened May 21 and will play through May 31 at the SCERA Shell with no shows on Tuesdays and Sundays. Tickets are $9 for adults and $5 for children.
E-MAIL: haddoc@desnews.com