Lily has been in the biz for a long time. She has preformed at circuses, on stage, on TV, she has been a guest on Ellen and may be a contestant on America's Got Talent in a few short weeks. It was very fun to speak to her mom, a so-called stage mom and get the latest scoop on this rising starlet.
Do you classify yourself as a stage mom?
I don't know. I guess I am. I mean the difference between me and a regular stage mom is I'm also an artist, a airbrush make-up artist and costume designer...I went to school for that. I'm really involved because I'm usually invited to help out so I'm much more involved in the process. So I guess I'm a stage mom but I also work in the field.
Tell me a little bit about the body painting?
I work with an airbrush. I hand paint with theatrical makeup and I can do a full mask or portion...different parts of the body...ballet, including underwater ballet. I can extend the makeup into the costume...similar to what one might see while watching circus de selis. I get my ideas this way to come up with the theme. I use gold, metallic, prosthetic to create an image, etc. I can paint just about anything.
Where did Lily begin?
I put Lily into ballet when she was still in diapers and she had a really great teacher. When she was only four years old she was in The Nutcracker Ballet and that was it for her. When she turned five she was in the Spring production of Sleeping Beauty. Then they asked me to watch the makeup artist and for the next production. The next year I was their makeup artist. And then the two of us got involved...she'll be fourteen this year so I've been doing it since.
I see Lily met Ellen DeGeneres? Do you go with her?
Yeah, I got to go with her. They asked her if she could contort into a suitcase. So, they called her out on stage and she met Ellen DeGeneres and she contorted into the suitcase and Ellen picked up the case and rolled her down and unzipped her...I have to give you the link to that...it was really cute and it was on UTUBE for a while too.
What did Lily think of Ellen?
Oh, she loved her.
What other TV shows?
She was on the "ICarly." She was a contortionist on that show...I guess I should also tell you when she was five and was performing for the nutcracker she wanted to be the cat. The cat had to do a walk over where she was to walk backwards on her hands. When she was at the gym one day, a gym class instructor approached us and began to train her and soon after that she got into contortionist stuff...she's only thirteen and she's been a paid contortionist for a while here in LA and works for many commercial agents.
What's she doing at the moment?
This Saturday she's performing at a grand opening for a dance studio and last week she was at a big event and got paid by a party event planner. Next spring we have a big original Ballet by Kim Maselli, she is the artistic director in LA.
What about school?
She is home schooled during the day. We plan her school work around this crazy crazy business. Last year, she won Richard Carpenter Scholarship award and was accepted into The School of American Ballet for the summer and got to live out in New York for the summer. When she came back she did a commercial for Orange, a telecommunication company like an AT & T here for Europe where she had to do contortion on a wire and other crazy weird things on a wire. When you think about all these things she was going and going. When she was in New York for ballet, I would take her out for 3 hours a day for her to practice her contortionist. Sometimes she trains 5-10 hours a days!
What do you dislike the most?
The driving, that's the only thing I don't like. It's what makes me a 'crazy stage mom'...there's is so much driving. Once we went to Czech and my world had to stop. My goal is to get her into New York and get housing while we're there so she can do all her work and I can be with her.
She must have a lot trophy's?
Mostly ribbons, tons of medals,,,I don't even know how many ribbons...all these metals and ribbons all over her room for the junior Olympics, etc.
