A Moo-ving Experience at ISU

On this date, exactly one year ago, I was a cow. Milky White the cow to be exact! In the musical Into the Woods, Milky White is Jack’s beloved cow that is sold, bought back, dies on stage, comes back to life by magic, and is milked to make a spell-breaking potion! At first I was confused because I didn’t know the cow would be played by a human. But after being cast, I decided that I was going to be the best bovine I could possibly be. I got cow books from the library and even hung out on a farm for a day to feed cows and study their movements. Though strange at first, it turned out to be one of my silliest, most fun memories of ISU.

Can you spot the part human?

Milky White’s costume was simply badass. It consisted of an amazing cow mask and puppet legs that hinged and bent backward whenever my real knees bent forward. I stood on two legs for the entire show, but my back was at a 45 degree angle, my knees were bent, and I had a silly cow walk. It was definitely a workout, but I had awesome thighs of steel by the end of the run that made up for it. (BOOM!)

Damn, those haunches be sexy!

For rehearsals, I wore PVC pipes on my legs that attached to my ankles and belt, as well as a green, makeshift foam head. During tech week, the wooden rod that ran across my back broke when I ran across the stage. So the day before opening, they replaced it with a metal rod and I felt like Terminator Cow. It was awesome. The mask didn’t have holes in the eyes, so I trained myself to see from peoples’ knees down (which led to some comical moments during dance rehearsals). I was lucky enough to take Milky White to the costume parade at KCACTF and I got nominated for a Goldfarb, a fun part of Theatre of Ted!

I received more compliments about that cow that any other role in my life. People still introduce me by saying, “She played Milky White!!” and girl at party a couple weeks ago told me I was “born to play that role.” My life makes me giggle a lot. I had a great time just playing on stage and trying out different things. I tried to make Milky White as honest as possible and create real relationships. Moral of the story: the next time you get cast as a tree, a lamp post, or a farm animal, if you have fun and commit, you can change the world in a very small way. =)