NEW YORK >> At 11, Isabella “Bella” Russo, who plays the youthful band manager in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “School of Rock: The Musical,” is a cutie with an inherent love of the stage and a keen and radiating presence.
When I saw her as Summer Hathaway, manager of the kiddie band pumping out the music at the Winter Garden Theatre, she clearly had the hapa-haole looks of an islander. Imagine my surprise when I learned that Bella has Hawaii ties (her grandparents Millie and George Tomooka have Maui roots).
It was somewhat inevitable that Bella would wind up a theater performer, because her parents — Christopher Russo, who was in a national tour of “Wicked” that played Hawaii, and Kristi Tomooka-Russo, who was in a production of “Miss Saigon” here — always brought her on the road (including to Hawaii). As it turns out, Alaska is the only state she hasn’t yet visited.
“I basically grew up on the road thinking everybody sang and danced,” she said. “I’ve been singing since I could speak, and learned ‘Defying Gravity’ (a ‘Wicked’ anthem) before I learned ‘Old McDonald Had a Farm.’ I’ve always enjoyed performing.”
She created the role of Summer, a girl with an assertive personality, in the off-Broadway version of “Rock,” then assumed the part when the show — based on the film of the same title, starring Jack Black — moved to Broadway.
What about the stage particularly excites Bella?
“What I enjoy most is being able to be a completely different person for a short period of time,” she said. “I get to create a character and make up her life story. I love how the script doesn’t change from show to show, but the interaction with other actors is always different every night.”
Bella also favors the straightforwardness and prissy posture of Summer. “She’s not afraid to speak her mind, and she’ll get done what needs to get done. It’s fun to boss people around onstage; I’m not really like that in real life. I admire her because she’s a feminist figure who inspires by standing up for what’s right,” she said.
Throughout her run, Bella has been home-schooled. She lives with her parents in Bloomfield, N.J., so they commute to and from the theater daily.
“I don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything, because there are so many other kids in the show and we have a blast both onstage and off,” she said of her Broadway community. “Some of my closest friends are in the show.”
After doing eight performances a week, racking up nearly 400 shows, Bella is bowing out Nov. 6, a month shy of a year’s run. The departure will enable her to explore new options and challenges, including TV spots this fall and winter.
“I will miss my incredible company, but I’m ready to move on. Hearing the audience’s reaction both from onstage and from the stage door is definitely an honor.”
And she is thankful her parents have supported her still-blooming career 100 percent. “My mom and dad have definitely sacrificed, but they always support me and I’m so grateful for that,” said Bella. “My schedule has pretty much become theirs since I can’t drive myself into the city or be without a chaperone between shows.”
She’s not immediately moving into another show, and looks forward “to just return to normal life,” especially during the upcoming holiday season.
She’s never attended school in Hawaii, though when her dad was performing in “Wicked,” she was home-schooled here during his two-month run. “I’ve visited the islands twice, and I’m really lucky to have so much family based in Hawaii,” she said. “We have relatives on both Maui and Oahu who we visit, but I’ve also been to the Big Island.”
She’s enjoyed the post-performance brush with fans at the stage door, where she and her peers sign autographs, pose for photos and get feedback about the show. “Some fans return again and again and are so generous that we’ll get gifts and fan mail, too,” she said. …
And that’s “Show Biz.” …
