An Early Start on Stardom

Not once in her life has Elizabeth Prival wanted to be anything other than a performer.

Of course, she hasn’t had a very long life yet--she’s only 9--but much of it has been devoted to developing her talents in ballet and singing.

“Actually, my mom stretched my legs out in the crib when I was 1 year old,”said Elizabeth, sitting on the floor of her family’s house in North Hollywood. At 2, she was taking pre-ballet classes. At 3, she was a fairy in a dance school production of “Sleeping Beauty.” Last summer she danced with the Paris Opera Ballet in “La Bayadere” for a performance at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York.

Next week she takes another step in her budding ballet career, playing Clara for the San Francisco Ballet’s rendition of “The Nutcracker,” at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium.

As staged by the San Francisco Ballet, the role of Clara is quite extensive, said soloist and children’s ballet mistress Kathleen Mitchell. Hundreds of girls auditioned. Elizabeth will share the role with two 10-year-olds, one from Orange County and the other from San Diego County. Each will give about five performances. Elizabeth performs Tuesday, Wednesday and Dec. 21 and 22.

Clara, her brother Fritz and the young prince have the major roles in the first act. “Clara has a lot of responsibility to carry the stage,” Mitchell said. “She has to do a lot of acting, actually.”

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The acting part is just fine with Elizabeth, who also has a hankering for musical theater. She’s soft-spoken--almost shy--when talking about “The Nutcracker” or her other roles. But in a videotape of Elizabeth singing songs from “Annie Warbucks”--designed to woo investors for a production that her mother, Allison Prival, wants to produce at the Pantages next year--the girl belts out one tune after another. She beams unwaveringly at the camera. She has nerves of steel--doesn’t get shaken by auditions or packed houses--and it’s evident on that tape. Being on stage, she said, makes her feel “important.”

Prival also will sing Broadway Christmas songs at the Hall of Liberty in Forest Lawn on Saturday at 7 p.m. as an opening act for the vocal group Reunion.

The ache to be in show biz goes back generations on both sides of Elizabeth’s family. Her maternal great-grandmother was a silent film actress, her great-grandfather a writer and producer.

Her father, Leland Prival, runs the Bert Prival School of Ballet, which was founded by his father, a dancer with the Metropolitan Ballet, 57 years ago. There is almost no furniture in the living room of the Prival house. Instead, with the addition of a few barres, the room has become his dance studio.

Schooled at home by her mother--a former dancer and figure skater--Elizabeth’s days include lessons in dance, singing and piano in addition to reading, writing and math. In her spare time, she likes to play with her little brother, Jamie, and climb trees in the backyard.

Like thousands of girls over the last two decades, Elizabeth is particularly enchanted with the music from “Annie.” Last summer when auditions started for a 20th anniversary production of the show on Broadway, Elizabeth and her mother flew to New York. They were there about two months, filling time between auditions with ballet classes at the Joffrey school.

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After all the waiting and the cuts, though, the title role went to someone else.

“So I took her in my arms and she wouldn’t be comforted,” Allison Prival said. “So I said, ‘Don’t worry. I’ll produce it myself.’ And she said, ‘You promise?’ ”

She did.

“And I always keep my promises.”

Actually, she hopes to produce “Annie Warbucks,” the sequel with lyrics by Martin Charnin, score by Charles Strouse and book by Thoman Meehan. “Warbucks” was developed in part at the San Diego Civic Theatre and ran at the Pantages--where Previn hopes to restage it--in 1992. Her sights are set on Vicki Lawrence and Howard Keel for the adult leads and an eventual Broadway run.

Allison Prival remembers what her grandmother told her--a message she is passing to her own daughter: “She raised me to think you start at the top and work your way down. Otherwise, you might not ever get to the top.”

DETAILS

* WHAT: The San Francisco Ballet’s “The Nutcracker.”

* WHERE: Pasadena Civic Auditorium.

* WHEN: 7:30 p.m. today-Dec. 23. Matinees at 2 p.m. Saturday, Sunday, Dec. 19 and 20-23. Also 11 a.m. Dec. 24.

* HOW MUCH: $21-$61.

* CALL: (818) 449-7360.