"Beauty Queen Turned Faerie Princess"
by Albion Minzey

Lisa Dalzell, Miss Texas 2002, is currently performing in Dragon Scales and Faerie Tales (here billed as ‘Tales of the Dragon’) at Six Flags Astro World in Houston, Texas.

I recently sat down with Ms. Dalzell for an interview. I was pleasantly surprised to find that she was nothing like what one might expect a Miss America finalist to be. I admit, I expected to meet a prima donna or a diva, but after spending some time with Ms. Dalzell, I have found her to be a kind, charming, and attentive young woman.

Born in England in January of 1979, six short weeks later her family relocated to Southeast Asia where she lived in the countries of Brunei, Sarawak, and Malaysia. She attended an international school until, at the age of ten, her family once again relocated; this time to the United States. Lisa found school in the U.S. to be quite different. Due to her British accent, she endured "friendly" teasing by her new classmates. (Her accent disappeared within a year.)

Growing up, she -like millions of other girls- dreamt of becoming a beauty queen, but the fact is a parent is much more likely to see their son go to the NFL than to see their daughter participate in the Miss America Pageant. Lisa had an iron-willed determination to see her dream come true. In 1998, at the age of nineteen, Lisa entered the Miss Texas Pageant. Although she didn’t win that year she tried again the next year, and the following year, and the year after that. Finally, on her fifth try her dream came true. Her finest moment ever on stage was when they crowned her Miss Texas 2002.

The year to follow was the most rewarding, fulfilling, and exhausting year of her life. In that one year she spoke to over one hundred thousand students and had a nonstop schedule of four hundred personal appearances. One of the most rewarding aspects of her year was working with the Special Olympics. Singing the National Anthem in front of ten thousand people at the Cotton Bowl on New Years Day, 2003 was one of her proudest (and most nerve-wracking) moments. As if singing in front of a crowd wasn’t hard enough, Lisa also had to deal with a very distracting seven-second delay over the arena’s P.A. system.

Lisa has fond memories of the Miss America Pageant. For her, the most intimidating part of the pageant was the swimsuit contest, but by the end of the evening Lisa had placed as a top ten finalist and had the best overall interview.

Now, four months after passing on the torch to Miss Texas 2003, Lisa is living out another childhood dream; performing on stage at Six Flags in her hometown of Houston, Texas. She’s being featured in Dream Weaver Productions ‘Dragon Scales and Faerie Tales.’ Lisa says she enjoys both playing the part of Fiona the Faerie and the freedom she’s been given to make the role her own. She has drawn from her past in creating the part. Fiona’s British accent sounds completely natural; a refreshing departure from the Scottish or Irish accents used by most of our other stage performers. When first applying for the part of the faerie in Dragon Scales and Faerie Tales, Lisa was a bit apprehensive about performing opposite an "animal puppet," but says she’s really enjoying it. Lisa also enjoys the show and it’s message of acceptance, and is thrilled to see the adult audience members enjoying the show as much as the children do. When asked what she enjoys most about the gig, the wide-eyed child in her comes out and says with a smile, "The rides!" After the final performance of the day Lisa’s quick to get out of costume and heads off to get a few rides in before going home for the night.

In comparing Dragon Scales and Faerie Tales to other performances, she’s able to be more exaggerated and ‘bigger than life,’ which she finds to be a lot of fun. The show, due to high audience participation, is semi-improvisational. "Kids can be so unpredictable," she says. But, to my surprise, she insists that her co-star, the baby dragon, is even more unpredictable than the kids! Really!

It’s normal for a person to experience a period of depression after achieving such success. Many find themselves asking "what now?" and going through life reliving past glory. Well, this is not true with Lisa. What she once viewed as her life long dream she now sees as a stepping stone to bigger and better things.

So, what does the future hold for Ms. Dalzell? Well, starting October 27th, people in the Beaumont area will be able to see her on KBMT where she will be working as a field reporter and substitute anchor. And Lisa is to be married in March 2004! Congratulations Lisa! As for her long-term goals, Lisa plans to move to L.A. to pursue a film career. Everyone here at Dream Weaver Productions wishes Lisa the best of luck in all she does.

Lisa Dalzell can be seen at Six Flags every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday through November 2nd.

Albion Minzey is currently co-staring with Ms. Dalzell as the baby dragon.