Acting career of Modesto's Pearce taking off

Chalk it up to the flu bug she's been fighting the past several days, but it slipped former Modesto actress and singer Lindsay Pearce's mind that she's on TV this weekend and that she filmed a movie over the summer.

Pearce, winner of the 2010 Valley's Got Talent contest, went on to compete in the first season of Oxygen's "The Glee Project," finishing as one of four finalists and scoring a two-episode guest spot last season on the hit Fox show "Glee." Her "Project" performance caught the attention of Bonnie and Nigel Lythgoe, creators of "So You Think You Can Dance," who cast Pearce last December in a Los Angeles stage musical, "A Snow White Christmas."

Now, a behind-the-scenes documentary on the making of the musical, "A Snow White Christmas: Opening Night," is being shown on the TV channel Ovation, which is devoted to the performing arts. "Opening Night" aired a couple of times on Thanksgiving and is on today at 12:30 p.m., Monday at 11:30 p.m. and Dec. 8 at 11:30 p.m. Ovation's Web site says the channel is carried nationwide on DirecTV, Dish, Verizon FiOS and AT&T U-Verse.

The documentary follows the cast — which included Neil Patrick Harris and "Star Trek: The Next Generation's" Marina Sirtis — and crew as they prepare to open the stage production.

Pearce's mother, Carol, called The Bee about the holiday weekend broadcast. "Crazy thing is, she forgot all about the show" being on Ovation, her mother said Wednesday, mentioning that Lindsay was under the weather and wouldn't be home for Thanksgiving.

Reached by phone in L.A., Pearce said she hadn't yet seen the documentary but was looking forward to it. "I think it's going to be a riot, I think it's going to be a little overdramatic in a funny kind of way," she said. While the cast certainly will be a focus, she said, the show will look far beyond the actors to examine set construction, costuming and more. "I really don't know what went on behind the scenes, what the dilemmas were," Pearce said.

She was aware of a few hitches, such as consternation over what size the heads should be on the dwarfs' costumes. "And they sent my costume in, and it was like it was made for a 12-year-old. I was like, 'Hi, I'm 20, I'm not gonna fit into this.' " But it was "such good fun" making the musical and being filmed by the documentary crew, she said.

Keeping busy

Pearce, now 21, has been working steadily since "Glee Project" and her move to L.A. In March and April, she starred as Wendla in the Los Angeles première of the rock musical "Spring Awakening," playing the role originated on Broadway by Lea Michele of "Glee."

The experience was "amazing," Pearce said. "We sold out every single performance and were nominated for four Ovation Awards (no relation to the Ovation channel)," including acting ensemble of a musical. The awards are presented by the LA Stage Alliance and are "like a miniature Tonys," she said.

The actress is working on "Imposters" (indiegogo.com/imposters), a Web series about teen girls recruited into an "Oliver Twist"-

esque band of female con artists. Among her castmates are Reneé Olstead from "The Secret Life of the American Teenager," James Kyson of "Heroes" and castmates from "Spring Awakening."

The series is in preproduction, but Pearce expressed confidence that it will air on Hulu or a similar site and get picked up for television. "I'm playing a girl named Madison, who's 16," she said. "... I love my character. She's very complex, very smart."

It's exciting to work on an original project — taking on a character that hasn't been played by others. "It's fun because there's no reference point," no TV show or movie or stage production to watch, Pearce said. "There's no way to cheat as actors."

As she was getting ready to hang up the phone and get back to the business of feeling better, Pearce said, "Oh, my God, I forgot to tell you that I filmed a movie." She said it had just crossed her mind: "I swear I've done something else — I was doing something for an entire two months."

The indie comedy is called "Mantervention" (www.imdb.com/title/tt2318268) and is set for release next year. Pearce calls it "Superbad"-like humor in a college setting. Its cast includes Nick Roux ("Jane by Design") and Jillian Murray ("Sonny With a Chance").

Pearce plays a supporting role and filmed in Malibu two days a week in September and October. "A boy gets his heart broken by his girlfriend, so his college frat-boy best friend says, 'You know what? You've got to go get a bunch of chicks and you'll feel fine.' And then my character's best friend has her heart broken by her boyfriend and I send her on the same mission. ... It's silly, frolicky. It's so much fun, and it was so much fun to film."

Bee city editor Deke Farrow can be reached at jfarrow@modbee.com or (209) 578-2327.