Sally Dana hadn't seen snow for years. The Seattle-born actress has been living in Los Angeles, and before that, San Francisco, so it was a bit of a culture shock when she was suddenly thrust into the Midwest right when summer was turning to fall. And now that fall has turned into winter, Dana is a bit put off by the cold weather.

"It's really different here," Dana says. "It's just wacky how the weather changes so fast."

Dana has been in Des Moines since Aug. 29, when rehearsal began for "Shear Madness," the murder-mystery whodunit currently playing at the Temple For Performing Arts where the audience gets to decide who the killer is. Dana plays the gum-chomping, slightly trashy hairdresser Barbara DeMarco, who flitters about the salon like a butterfly on crack. "Shear Madness" opened Sept. 16 and continues through Dec. 4, when Dana will return to her life in LA, including the all-girl rock band for which she is the drummer and singer, All Girl Reform School.

Dana's always had one foot in the theater world and one foot in the rock world. But rock music wasn't her first love. Dana was born in Seattle to a mother who's an opera singer, so at the age of 9, Dana started working with the children's chorus with the Seattle Opera. She then went on to get involved with children's theater there. She studied theater at Cornish College of the Arts before moving to San Francisco with a rock band.

In San Francisco, she did a lot of theater, including her first experience playing DeMarco in "Shear Madness," a six-year gig. It was her experience with that production that led to the opportunity for her to reprise her role in Des Moines.

"'Shear Madness' is a great company," Dana says. "It started in Boston in 1978. It's one of those things that, when you've done the role, if you know the part, they'll call you up and say, 'Hey, you want to do it in this town?' It's kind of a rare thing for an actor to get to revisit the part again."

Except for the band, she didn't have anything going on, so it was the perfect time for her to pick up and relocate for a few months.

"You sublet your place and you jump on a plane," Dana says. "Actors are just used to that, going project to project. I was really, really happy to get that call."

So here she is, on a Saturday afternoon nearing the end of November, walking around Valley Junction with her mom, who's in town for an opera performance Dana scheduled for her at the Deerfield Retirement Community. Before her extended stay in Des Moines, Dana had never really been to the Midwest; she'd only heard about it. So what was she expecting when she stepped off her plane?

"Cornfields," she says, laughing. "I thought maybe I'd do a lot of needlepoint. No, I'm kidding. I really thought that I was looking forward to a good steak. I knew it would be cold. I knew I would see some snow, and I was very excited about that. I've got to say, everyone's really nice here. Everyone's so polite. Here, people say 'hi' because they mean it. In LA, it's, 'Hmmm, can this person cast me in a movie? Is he/she producing anything soon?'

"It's just got such a superficial thing there. It's so desperate and so extreme. Everyone's trying to be the next big thing. It's nice to be around some authentic, real folks."

So coming to Des Moines was a welcomed change for Dana, as life in LA can become very tedious. Out west, Dana might spend three hours in her car, crossing town to get to an audition, whereas in Des Moines, she can drive a half hour and be out in the country. But eventually, Dana will be thrust back into her life in LA, where she will return to her band, as well as the comedy show she does with a drag queen named Pussy Tourettes. She'll return to endless auditioning and the tiresome lifestyle she hasn't missed. But she'll also be returning to the warm weather. - Erin Randolph

Comment on this story | Return to top