Lights turn on and the stage curtains open up to a well-lit stage. Backstage, senior Lucy Walter prepares for another theatre performance together with the rest of the actors. As the time comes, she gets on stage and completely transforms into her character.

Walter’s love for theatre started over a decade ago, when she saw her first show, “Annie,” and ever since that day, she has expanded her passion through hard work and dedication, experiencing different types of musicals and shows since a young age. 

“When I was very young, my mom took me to see the show ‘Annie’ that was touring here, and as I saw Annie walk out, I decided that I really wanted to do that,” Walter said. “Ever since then, I started joining different productions, joining a few companies since kindergarten like ‘Kids Acting.’ Then I moved into musicals and plays in middle school and high school and participated in some plays in Zach Theatre as well.”

Since then, she has been working towards a set goal of pursuing a career in musical theatre, something she has been interested in since she found out it was a possible pathway. Going beyond just theatre classes, Walter worked on all the aspects needed to be successful in the industry by taking part in choir and the Celebrities dance team. 

“The thing that kept me going all these years was pursuing my dream of getting to Broadway, as it is an industry that it is very easy to tell yourself that you’re not good enough to get into,” Walter said. “But with confidence, and by reassuring myself that I have dedicated all this time for it, it helped me to realize that it will all be worth it one day.”

Her theatre career, which started in middle school, took a turn this year as she was able to perform several main roles in school plays, working with more people and getting closer to the professional theatre experience.

“This year was the first time I got to be a lead in high school with ‘Carrie,’ in which I really enjoyed being able to put on such an elaborate story for high school, and I loved being able to work with everyone in the program, not just a small group of people for one scene,” Walter said. “‘Something Rotten’ was also one of my favorite performances I’ve ever done. I was double-cast in my role with senior Annika Johnson, and it was especially fun to work together for the first time since we are best friends. I played an ensemble role and a lead, which sometimes got hectic as I had to attend two different rehearsals and switch mid-show, but it was a great experience and got me closer to the professional world.”

Voice is a huge part of musical theatre as well, according to Walter, which inspired her to join choir in middle school and continue in through high school as well, working on her singing skills and acquiring new leadership skills in the process.

“I started doing choir in sixth grade, and made advanced choir my freshman year,” Walter said. “At the end of that year, I didn’t think I wanted to continue choir because I didn’t think it was for me, but I decided to stay when I made varsity my sophomore year. My junior year, I was a social officer, so I was in charge of social media and organizing parties, and my senior year I became the president, so now I basically ran everything, which is super fun, especially because of the great team I get to work with. Focusing on how everything I was doing was going to help me with my career motivated me to stick through it all these years too.”

The final component of musical theatre is dance, which Walter has simultaneously mastered through years of practice, expanding her capacity to the maximum. Starting dance in middle school by joining the Cadets dance team, she continued her dance career freshman year when she joined Dance 1 and tried out for Celebs. She then joined the Emeralds team for a year and then joined the Celebs a year later.

“I stayed within the program, even though I had the opportunity to just give up once I didn’t make it,” Walter said. “ I always wanted to put on that uniform and be part of the team, and I wanted to get better at dancing since it was a part of the career I wanted to pursue in the future so I just kept trying and never gave up.”

According to Walter, being part of so many different organizations at once and always being in the spotlight can get overwhelming, but the support that she receives in everything that she does helps her to keep motivated in everything she does.

“Sometimes being the center of attention and having to do so many things at once makes me super nervous,” Walter said. “But, small things, such as the Celebrities coming to our shows for theatre or being nominated the Fine Arts student of the week makes me feel supported and cared for.”

Continuing her love for the performing arts, Walter said she will earn a BFA in musical theatre, working on accomplishing her lifelong dream of getting to Broadway one day. Walter will attend Ohio University in the fall.

“Musical theatre is something that I’ve always done and when I found out that you can actually pursue a career in musicals my first thought was that I wanted to do that,” Walter said. “It is something that I am very happy to be doing because I know that I will be taking classes that I actually enjoy, like dance, acting and singing classes.”