Amy tops Carver County's A-list

It's unknown Amy Adams ever had a mailing address in Carver County. However, she appeared in so many Chanhassen Dinner Theatres performances between 1996 and 1998, that she's been included as an honorary member of the Carver County A-List. She took a short leave from musical theater to appear in the locally filmed "Drop Dead Gorgeous". From there, she went on to star in a number of movies and TV shows.

Any description of Chanhassen Dinner Theater alum Amy Adams as placid would provoke demands for a correction, she says. "If you print in Minnesota that I'm, like, calm, you'll have about 50 people out at Chanhassen coming at you going, `I know this and I know that'.

In 1999, Adams played in "Cruel Intentions 2" a "manipulative . . . bad girl . . . a teenager . . . 16 going on 50 . . . It's fun; it's sooo much fun." Adams said her older sister, Juli, her only immediate family member still in Minnesota, didn't recognize that person her little sister is playing. In reality, Adams said, "I'm mischievous but I'm not evil."

Chanhassen director Michael Brindisi begged to differ. "She's mischievous and evil," laughed Brindisi. "Let's get down to the facts. Amy, Amy. She's a sweetheart. I discovered her, and I want a piece of her {career}." Brindisi first saw her when he was casting for "Crazy for You" in Denver. "She jumped right off the stage; she was just magnetic."

Adams did "Crazy for You," "State Fair" and "Brigadoon" and then told Brindisi she was leaving. He asked her to stick around long enough to open "Good News." One of Adams' finest moments of Chanhassen mischief came during a rehearsal for "State Fair." Amy was the tiny person in the really big pig costume. "When she came to the photo call she wore it backwards, sticking out her tongue at all of us," he said.

In other antics, Brindisi has "heard rumors that she's danced around the women's dressing room in various stages of undress, although I've never personally observed this." From what Brindisi said, there was really no need for Adams to go without clothing. "You know that clothing store Opitz in St. Louis Park?" Brindisi said. "Every time my wife, Michelle, and I would go there, Amy would be there shopping. I think she had a bed there." Brindisi is hoping she makes it big: "She's one of those people you wish good things would come to. Everybody is pulling for her.'`

Many actors decide they want to fudge their age too late in the game. Amy Adams is starting early. "I don't talk about my age," she said very coolly. That enhances an actor's mystique and helps diminish some forms of typecasting. "That's part of it," she said. Told that this was not a new strategy, she was happy to be in good company. "That's fabulous," Adams said.

Amy Adams Chanhassen performances and start dates:
“Crazy for You,” Feb. 2, 1996 (came in as a replacement)
“State Fair” Jan. 31, 1997
“Brigadoon,” Jan. 30: 1998
“Good News,” Nov. 6, 1998 (left midway through show's run to pursue Hollywood career)

Cheryl Johnson for The Star Tribune - 17 June 1999