When Greta Oglesby’s phone rang this past fall, she wasn’t expecting it to be a couple of role. Nonetheless, just two days from the start of rehearsals, the Guthrie lost an actor of their upcoming “A Christmas Carol” show and needed someone they may trust to leap on board.

That person was Oglesby, an accountant-turned-actress, who has been a staple of the Twin Cities theater community for the reason that early 2000s. She’s performed several times on the Guthrie in productions resembling “Into the Woods,” “The Sunshine Boys,” and “Caroline, or Change.”

While Oglesby has worked on several Guthrie productions, this may be her first time working on the annual “A Christmas Carol” show. She was solid within the role of the Ghost of Christmas Present, an integral character within the age-old tale of Ebeneezer Scrooge, a wealthy curmudgeon who detests Christmas and whose greedy decisions put him in danger within the afterlife.

Lots of the actors within the production have returned to the show through the years, with this yr being the show’s forty ninth yr on the Guthrie. Oglesby expressed how welcome she felt when joining the remaining of the solid in rehearsals.

“I’m the newbie coming in, but they’ve really rallied around me they usually’ve welcomed me into this really wonderful warm family,” she said. “I prefer to call them repeat offenders, but in such a very good way.”

The show utilizes an intricate choreography as performers waltz and sing across a rotating platform on the Wurtele Thrust Stage. Oglesby seemingly glides in regards to the room as she takes Scrooge, played by Matthew Saldivar, in hand through his present-day life.

In her performance because the Ghost of Christmas Present, Oglesby wears a sweepingly large white and green dress with puffy shoulders and furred wrists. The gold and silver details on the dress and her jewelry drew much more attention to her presence on stage as she donned a festive-themed crown. 

Despite appearing to maneuver with ease, Oglesby stated that her dress was hefty. “It’s such a beautiful dress. It’s stunning to take a look at, however it’s super heavy. It’s got to weigh a very good 50 or 60 kilos,” she said. “I at all times feel like I’ve lost weight once I take it off.”

Based on Oglesby, a team of about three people get her out and in of the dress each night. She also has to make use of an elevator to make her way onto the stage attributable to the outfit weighing her down. Notwithstanding all of those challenges, she expressed her gratitude for enjoying an element in a show that has turn out to be a vacation tradition for a lot of within the Twin Cities.

Oglesby has performed locally on the Penumbra Theatre and Mixed Blood, and has traveled across the country for shows. She even served as an understudy on Broadway for Phylicia Rashad within the production of “A Raisin within the Sun.” Just taking a look at Ogleby’s resume would lead many to imagine she was a classically trained actress who sought the brilliant lights of theater from the start. But that wasn’t the case.

Having gone to high school for finance, Oglesby worked as an accountant for the City of Chicago. It wasn’t until one fateful day in 1993, while she was reading a replica of the Chicago Sun-Times, that she ever considered entering into the highlight.

She saw an ad looking for vocalists to be in a musical called “Mens” on the Chicago Theatre Company. Except for being a member of her church choir, Oglesby had no formal training, but once she sang at her audition, she nailed the role.

Nearly a decade later, Oglesby brought her talents to the Twin Cities when her husband, Rev. Dennis Oglesby, received an appointment at Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church in 2001. From there she went on to star in several live productions and has landed on-screen roles in shows resembling “Chicago P.D.” and movies like “Queenpins.”

Oglesby said that she’s not alone in having the ability to work so often as a performer. From her experience, it’s possible to make a living as an actor in Minnesota. “It’s sort of slightly well-known secret within the acting community.

“Most actors think that you just’ve got to be in L.A., Recent York, Chicago, or Atlanta to make a living as an actor, and that’s so not true, especially in case you are a theater actor.”

Oglesby is already preparing for her next role as she’s set to take the stage in late January for the debut of her play “Handprints” on the History Theatre in St. Paul. The show will run from Jan. 27 to Feb. 18 and relies on her autobiographical book “Mama ‘n ‘Nem, Handprints on My Life.”

The approaching-of-age story began as a one-woman show, but through workshopping it, Oglesby stated that it became a “two-hander.” She also wrote original music for the show. Sanford Moore is the music director and Richard D. Thompson will serve because the show’s director.