Sophomore Jessamyn Anderson takes as many choir and drama classes as she can in hopes of making it to the Broadway stage

By Cassie Dugan
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What attracted you to the whole choir/musical scene in the first place?
I’ve been doing choir my whole life. My parents said I could sing before I could talk; music has just been a really big part of my life, even since I was born.

Was there a certain person that attracted you to this or did you pick it up on your own?
My sister does music, and she is actually majoring in voice in college. My parents both are musical, and so I think it’s just kind of been a family thing. Both sides of my family are into music, and music is just a big part of everyone’s life. So I think it was just kind of a family thing that pulled me towards that.

Do you just do musicals or other things too?
I do plays and theater too, I (was) in the Studio One Acts (as of September). I like musical theater more though because I feel like there is more than you can do when you have songs. But I love both theater and musical theater because just being on a stage and performing in front of people is what I really love to do.

What other musicals or productions have you been a part of?
Sixth grade was the first major musical I did and then eighth grade was the second musical, and those are the two major musicals I’ve been a part of. But currently (as of September) I (was) in the Studio One Acts, and I really enjoyed that. I have a lot of fun getting to know the cast and anything to do with choir, I’ve probably been a part of.

How does practice affect your homework time and your academics?
This year I’ve had to really work on my time management skills, and I’ve figured out how I study by having to work on that. So being able to know how I study is really helping me, but I don’t think it’s had a negative effect on my grades or anything because I work really hard. Overall, no it hasn’t really affected me very much, it has just help me learn a lot about time management.

Walk me through a normal day of yours.
I stay after school, and I walk to the library and then I have to come back to the school around 5 p.m. to get hair and makeup done, and rehearsals start at 6 or 6:30 p.m., and I’m at school until 9. I get my homework done at the library and if I have extra studying to do, I’ll do that when I get home, and I eat dinner at school. I’m normally in bed by 10 or 10:30 p.m.

Do you have a plan set up for how you want to pursue musical theater?
I’m still working on that. I’m doing everything I can right now by taking voice and dance classes. I try and get involved in drama and music at school. In terms of college, I don’t really know where I want to go; I just know that I want to study voice, not musical theater. I want to focus my talent in one area and really really strengthen that area and use that to my advantage. I don’t really want to get a musical theater degree; I just really want to get a vocal degree hopefully from a conservatory or smaller, private school. I don’t want to go to a huge school like IU or NYU or something like that. I would love to go to a musical conservatory – that would be my ultimate goal. After college I would hopefully get an agent, move to New York, try to get some auditions booked there and get myself onto a Broadway stage.

Have your family and friends supported you?
My family and friends are the best support system I have. My parents always support me in whatever I want to do because I know that they believe in me, and that’s enough to get me through it. My sister is kind of like who I look to because she is going down a music route, and I would love to, too. I mean walking in her footsteps is not a bad thing; it’s a really really good thing because she’s left such a great path for me to follow. Just thinking of how many events they all come to like talent shows, Carmel Idol, plays, performances and Holiday Spectacular. They come to everything and that alone shows that they support me, so I think whatever I choose to do. They will always be there for me.