Flashdance the Musical comes to the Givens Performing Arts Center on Nov. 14. It is a tale about dreams, hard work, love and hope. 

It is a story about much more than just great dancing. “I love the Flashdance story. I think a lot of people don’t really realize what the story is about. It’s about a girl who wants to go to ballet school. She doesn’t want to be famous, she doesn’t have these outlandish dreams, she is just a hard working girl who wants to go to ballet school. Its about blue collar workers, hard working people that just want a little more and I think we all have those dreams. It’s a fun story,” said Hannah MacDonald who plays Gloria in the show. 

MacDonald’s character, Gloria, also has a relatable story, but her dreams are even bigger. “Gloria is the character that does have these big outlandish dreams. She wants to be a pop star; she wants to be famous,“ MacDonald said. 

Gloria is a waitress at the local club and all she wants is to dance up there with her friend — but no one thinks she has the talent. So Gloria is stuck in the position of watching her friends dance while she waitresses. “She goes through this arc in the story where she ends up at a seedy strip join but her friends and boyfriend come and rescue herm,”said MacDoanld. Now, I can’t really relate to dancing at the seedy strip joint down the road but I think we all have dreams. I’m an actress so obviously I’m someone who has big dreams.”

MacDonald’s dreams started as soon as she could walk. According to her parents, she was a performer from the very beginning. “I was always a very theatrical kid. When I was three years old I knew I wanted to be on Broadway. When I was growing up, at every family function people were gathered around me performing. I did community theatre growing up, and I started working professionally when I turned 18. It has been something that has carried me through my whole life. There was never a question about whether I would do this,” she explained. 

Touring has its difficulties. The cast often stays in hotels, after traveling for hours. It is always physically trying. However, for MacDonald all the hours spent away from home are worth it. She says, “Its incredibly rewarding to be able to tour. We’ve been on the road maybe 10 days and I’ve already gotten to see so much of the country that I wouldn’t have been able to see if I wasn’t on tour,” she said. “Its also rewarding to be able to bring this story to so many new audiences. We all live in New York City so we can see these huge incredible theatre productions whenever we want so it’s exciting to be able to bring this to other parts of the country that might not have that access. And I get to meet a lot of new people and friends.” 

For more information visit http://www.uncp.edu/giving/advancement/givens-performing-arts-center/broadway-and-more-series or call 910.521.6287. Tickets range from $21 to $36 and can be purchased by calling 910.522.6361. The GPAC theatre is located at                1 University Dr. in Pembroke.