REAL Magazine

Charlotte “Mimi” Bertha

Photography By Chad Spencer

They say that youth is wasted on the young. If this is true, then Charlotte Bertha must be an old soul. Just 14 years old, she has been blessed with great talent and the drive to pursue her dreams. An actress, singer and writer, Charlotte has her sights set on a bright future.

After attending Pine View School for the Gifted and Sarasota Middle School, Charlotte looks forward to entering Booker High School in 2009, where she will focus on theater in the school’s Visual and Performing Arts program. “It’s a great opportunity to combine academics with performance,” she notes, adding that the school is the alma mater of American Idol alum Syesha Mercado.

After nearly four years of participation and competition in synchronized swimming, Charlotte turned her sights to new challenges and opportunities. A relative newcomer to the performing arts scene, she found early success in her theatrical endeavors. After auditioning in the summer of 2008 at The Players Stagedoor Workshop Summer Camp, she was given a lead role in ”Mini-Musicals”, a combination of musical excerpts  including “Annie”, “The King and I”, and “Once Upon a Mattress”. In November, she performed with the tenors of the Sarasota Youth Opera in “Voices of Light”. Her participation with the Sarasota Youth Opera recently landed her as an Apprentice in the Sarasota Opera Houses’ spring season presentation of “Tosca”. The last two weeks of April, Charlotte can be found performing the part of “Cookie” in the musical “Smile” at The Players Theater in Sarasota.

Though she loves the opportunity to perform on stage, Charlotte reveals that her longtime passion is writing. “I’ve been working on stories since I was eleven,” she explains. “I’ve started to write over a dozen books, but never completed them.” Persistence has paid off, because she recently finished her first novel, Rapture’s Flaw, which has found an excited audience among her peers and mentors.

“After reading Twilight I was really motivated to complete my story,” she says. “It’s similar in that it’s a love story, but instead of dealing with vampires, the characters are angels of sorts.”

In addition to receiving accolades (and requests for further installments on the story) from friends like fellow author and actor Parker Lawhorne, Charlotte has had the praise, editorial assistance and support of individuals including Dr. John Delp, a science instructor at Pine View School, and noted writer/publisher Walton Beacham. Her family, too, stands behind her unmistakable talent; she cites her grandfather, Randy Hayslett, as an inspirational motivator who encourages her in every endeavor.

With the story completed, Charlotte is ready to embark upon the next step: publication. “It’s an exciting opportunity,” she notes. “I’m looking forward to being able to say, ‘I wrote a book!’” She’s not stopping at one; Charlotte sees Rapture’s Flaw as the first of a series of four books, each focusing on different individuals but all connected to one central character. A change of narrative perspective –from first-person to third- will give her second novel a fresh feel while continuing the story of familiar characters.

For all her accomplishments, Charlotte is a typical Sarasota teenager. She enjoys spending time with family and friends, has a strong relationship with her twin brother Bristol, makes time for a boyfriend, and finds herself texting…a lot. “It’s how I keep in touch with everyone!” she laughs.

Though she says it’s “too early” to think about college, Charlotte does have plans for her future. “I want to be an actress, and to continue to write,” she states. “I’d also love to be a teacher, to inspire others as I have been inspired.”

Charlotte “Mimi” Bertha
6743 Ashley Court
Sarasota, FL 34241
941.925.1931
charlottebertha@charlottebertha.com
www.charlottebertha.com

Photo of Three: Author Yan Martel on Right
On Stage at The Players Theater
Author Rick Yancey