Sitting on a bench, Mollie Lassiter dreamed of a gown.
It would be draping and flowing, in pearly hues of silver, blue and green.
But standing between Lassiter and her gown was an audition.
Lassiter spent Saturday morning auditioning with the Thieves Guilde at the Thomas Center in hopes of performing in the Hoggetowne Medieval Faire as the Lady of the Lake.
If selected, Lassiter, 24, will sew her dream gown and commit to months of rehearsal before the fair at the end of January.
"I was practically born performing," she said. "My mom told me as long as she could remember, I was singing and dancing to Disney movies and acting things out."
While this was her fourth time auditioning, Lassiter still got butterflies before stepping onto the stage.
"I always try to read about my character and their background," she said, having coordinated her hair and makeup to emulate the Lady of the Lake.
For this audition, she sang 30 seconds of "All I Ask of You" from the Phantom of the Opera, one of her favorite musicals, before running through five skits in the next four hours along with other Thieves Guilde volunteers.
"We’re looking for people who can walk the streets and interact with patrons," said Candice Chambers, the group’s producer.
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Lassiter first auditioned for the Thieves Guilde after she visited the fair and watched the actors perform as chess pieces in a competition.
Taken by the choreographed combat, she auditioned and became part of the ensemble the following year.
"The hardest thing about auditioning for anything is being worried about getting the role you want," Lassiter said.
But here, settling for another role isn’t that difficult, she said.
"With this group, they make every single role very much who you are, and it makes it all the more fun," Lassiter said.
Now in her fourth year, Lassiter said the audition process is much less daunting.
"I was an introvert for the longest time," she said. "This group almost forces you to become an extrovert - not in a bad way though."
The Thieves Guilde has become like a tight-knit extended family to her, she said.
In fact, it’s where she met her husband, Jarred Lassiter.
"Mollie is probably the sweetest person I know," he said. "She just cares a lot about everyone."
Though the two were friends before they began dating, Jarred, a guild member for the past 15 years, said they were not extremely close.
But when Mollie broke up with her boyfriend at the time, he made her a chainmail necklace with a heart pendant.
"Luckily we had the blessing of everyone in the Guilde," Mollie said. "Through just hanging out, we decided to try dating, and he decided he wanted me to hang out with him for the rest of his life."
At their wedding last March, three of the groomsmen were Thieves Guilde members.
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It’s been a few years since Jarred Lassiter has played a character with the Thieves Guilde, but he said his wife excels in her roles.
"Mollie is always thinking of new ways to deliver lines," he said. "She puts a lot of personality into every character she plays."
Even during the audition process, she taught other Thieves Guilde volunteers about their characters. She commanded the skits, directing other members on what would be the most clever thing to say or the funniest thing to do.
At Saturday’s auditions, she performed skits as Lady of the Lake and another character named Guinevere.
But it’s clear which of the two she prefers.
Lassiter is drawn to Lady of the Lake because she is an iconic character who has been done in so many ways, she said. She plans to use her passion for conservation as inspiration for her portrayal.
"I don’t think she’s ever been an environmentalist," she said. "She’s trying to make them more environmentally aware and sort of a politician in that sense."
Lassiter will find out if she got the role on Thursday.
Rehearsals will begin two weeks later.
"You get to dress up, which is something we all like to do," she said. "And you get to go and be the goofy person you can’t be every single day."
Follow Brooke Baitinger on Twitter @BaitingerBrooke
Guild members (from left) Scott West, Kayte Sands, Mollie Lassiter and Miranda Lipsig perform a skit during Thieves Guild auditions at the Thomas Center Galleries on Aug. 29, 2015.
