"Chicago Tribune Article"
Date: Tuesday, April 16, 1996
Source: CHICAGO TRIBUNE
Section: LIFESTYLE
Column: back talk
Copyright SUN-SENTINEL
WHICH IS WITCH? CLARISSA BECOMES SABRINA THE TEENAGE WITCH WITH HER OWN ABC SHOW THIS FALL.
Clarissa is a witch! Put down the pen, Glenn. That statement is half right. Melissa Joan Hart, who starred as a quirky teen-ager for four years on Nickelodeon's Clarissa Explains It All, is now Sabrina the Teenage Witch of Archie Comics' fame. She made her debut as Sabrina in a recent Showtime movie, which airs again Thursday, April 23 and April 27. She'll return in the role on her own ABC show this fall. In the movie, Sabrina was about to turn 16, which was when her powers were starting to kick in. By saying spells in poem-form, Sabrina could make wrong test answers correct; make herself up in all types of cool outfits in the blink of an eye; and put a hex on her running shoes to help her win a race. But she was also mixed up about her powers, so shes not just a confused teen, she's also a confused teen-age witch, Melissa says. Melissa, who turns 20 on Thursday, is excited about the new series: "I mean, it should be a really fun show." She says the series will be hip because "the character knows about her powers a little better and just starts to experiment with them and has fun. She's got a little bit of evil to her, in the fact that she likes to hex the teen-agers, so that will be cool." Because she's playing a witch, does Melissa believe in magic? "The way I think witchcraft works, is nature with the power of the mind, she says. "And I think I believe in that. I believe in the power of the mind." Melissa probably wishes she could have done some hocus pocus for one of the special effects in Sabrina the Teenage Witch, where she was supposed to be floating over her bed while sleeping. "It was not very comfortable. It took quite a while to shoot," Melissa says. Try six hours, with bruises on her hips as a result. Melissa was lying on a body cast that was molded to her back, and was attached to six wires hanging from the ceiling. The cast was inside Melissas nightgown, and she had to hold her head and legs up the whole time while shooting the scene. "I had to, like, climb inside the nightgown. It took me five minutes, with five people who helped me get inside it, because I had to kind of wiggle my way through the wires in the nightgown." Next time say a poem, Melissa. It could make things a little easier!
Picture: (color) melissa joan hart
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eric@ezz.u-net.comEric Last, 25/5/97