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Anastasia Korbal knows what she wants to do for the rest of her life. She has been on several multi-city tours and is only 10 years old.
“I wanted to start acting when I was about 3 and did my first show when I was 5,” Korbal, who is a stage actress and singer, said. “When I was a little bit younger, I used to always watch movies, listen to music, like ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘Annie.’ Everyday I would want to be a different character from the movies and if you called me by my real name I wouldn’t answer.”
Soon she will be answering to the name Cosette as the aspiring actress/singer beat out thousands for the part of Young Cosette in the 25th-anniversary production of “Les Misérables.” The work is based on the novel penned by Victor Hugo that follows several French characters through the early 19th century. Cosette is the young girl featured on the play’s iconic posters.
“My favorite part about performing is getting to have a different personality every night and making people happy and seeing how they react to the show,” Korbal, whose family is from 11th and Moore streets, said. “I’m never nervous. I’m just always excited. There are many roles I’ve always wanted to play as an adult and as a child.”
When the play opens for the first official stop of its tour in Philadelphia, there is one person who is sure to be front and center.
“I think everybody I know is going to come to [the] Philadelphia [show]. My Papi is most excited,” Korbal said of her grandfather, Albert Fortino, 83, who still lives in Passyunk Square and who has almost never missed one of Korbal’s shows.
The cast and crew spent five weeks rehearsing in New York before moving on to previews currently running in New Jersey. Korbal attends school full time near the family’s Jersey home when her schedule allows. But she doesn’t miss it much when she’s caught up in the excitement of the performance.
“Everyone’s very, very friendly. We’re a big family. … We’re doing previews. They are going really, really great,” Korbal said. “I’m closest to ‘the children’ ’cause we always have to stay together. We are kind of like brothers and sisters backstage.”
In preparation, Korbal learned about the story and her character, but she says the current production far surpasses the one she saw before.
“I only saw it on a concert version, but this production had a lot more set and design and scenery than the concert,” she said. “Yes, Cosette has a bunch of special effects that are really, really amazing. Well, they make it snow on a hologram a little and they have huge towers in Paris and they move back and forth.”
Korbal was born in mom Christine Korbal’s hometown of South Philly and moved with the family — which now includes Isabella, 7, and Christian, 19 months — when she was age 7 to be closer to her mom’s job. She has continued dance training she began at The Dancer’s Studio, 16th and Shunk streets, to this day.
“I started dancing when I was 2,” Korbal said of the studio she trains at where her mother also danced growing up under the same teacher. “I do jazz, tap and ballet and musical theater.”
When she was selected for a role in “Annie” at age 5, Christine thought it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity so the family made sure she could go on the tour. It turned out that Korbal’s talent was able to keep the ball rolling in a business that can be brutal to even its most gifted members.
“It is not the usual case, now she’s on her third tour,” Christine, 39, said of the “Les Misérables” tour that completes the trifecta of “Annie” and “Little House on the Prairie.” “My sister, [Patricia Fortino,] who also still lives in South Philly, will be traveling with her a lot. It’s usually a question of which family member can take a week off. Once I realized it was something she could really consider doing, I wouldn’t stop her doing what she loves.”
With the current production, Korbal couldn’t get the message about her new role out fast enough.
“I was down the Shore, and a few days before we went we knew I’d have an audition and I’d have to leave a little bit early,” Korbal said. “There was a whole bunch of kids there and I auditioned. We started getting in to smaller groups as people left.
“About two weeks later, I was downstairs watching TV with my sister and my mom came down and said my agent Barry wanted to talk to me. And he told me I had got the role of little Cosette. I was very excited. My usual routine is to go get my phone and tell my family, but my phone was broken so I couldn’t do that. We called from mom’s phone and I talked to everyone.
“[I] told my Papi, he lives in South Philadelphia. He was very excited to see ‘Les Misérables’ because ‘Little House on the Prairie’ didn’t come any closer to Philadelphia than Atlanta and he’s never missed any of my shows and he’s really excited it’s opening in Philadelphia.”
Before the upcoming debut, Korbal had to navigate a busy production schedule that spanned the Christmas holiday. But the budding actress’ mother said last week that the juggling of her time is something the 10 year old is ready to do.
“Christmas Eve she [had] a matinee on the 24th and then I [got] her and we [went] straight down [to South Philly],” Christine said. “She [was] home Christmas day then they [had] two performances the day after Christmas. We are lucky that we are local.” SPR
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