Nora Rousso has been behind the curtains, playing the props maiden and making sure things ran smoothly for her young daughter at . Tonight, she comes out from behind those curtains to debut in her first dramatic performance.
Crossing Delancey opens tonight at the Tabard Theatre in San Jose and Los Gatos resident and Campbell business owner Rousso plays the role of “the matchmaker.”
It’s a story about a Jewish girl from the lower east side and moved uptown and grandmother is despairing about whether she would ever get married, Rousso says.
Last February, the director of the production contacted Rousso for a table read.
“It went so well that she offered me the part that I read for. And that was that,” she says.
Rousso was involved in theater in high school but says it never went anywhere.
“I got reinvolved in theater because my 15-year-old daughter loves performing,” she says.
A few years ago, Rousso decided to audition “on a whim” for the Music Man at the in Los Gatos and, much to her surprise got a part.
Rousso says she thinks her day job may have something to do with her ability to perform on stage.
“I am a civil trial lawyer and I’m fond of saying that the courtroom is my other stage,” she says.
Rousso has been practicing law for the last 20 years. Her firm, has been located in Campbell for the last six years.
“In some ways, you really call on the same skill set as the ones in the courtroom,” Rousso says. “Ideally, you are thinking on your feet. You have to be fluid and react to things.”
Crossing Delancey runs Jan. 27 to Feb. 19. Tickets cost $10-$35 and can be purchased here.
