Up until her junior year, the only theatre experience she had was playing the cowardly lion in her elementary school’s production of “Wizard of Oz.” Now she’s a triple threat who nevers cowers away from a spectacular performance. I am, of course, talking about our artist of the month, senior Jillian Alexander.
Jill began her journey with plenty of doubts and fears. She was told from an early age that she couldn’t sing. Jill was severely affected by this, thus hiding away from the world of the arts. That was until her junior year when everything changed.
Jill and her partner in crime, senior Lucy Ybarra, decided to audition for “Sweet Charity” last minute. “ We walked past it, and it was a last-minute decision that ultimately changed my life,” Jill reflected. “I ended up loving doing the musical, and I feel like it changed me as a person in the best way possible.”
Last year, Jill performed as a Fandango ballroom dancer and was the understudy for one of the leads, Helene. “Jill impressed the musical production team with her dancing abilities, and she also had quite good acting,” Theater Director Kyle Reynolds recalled, “and I remember we were really impressed with her Helene audition.” While this experience changed Jill, she still had doubts about continuing her arts career. But when “A Chorus Line” was announced, Jill knew for certain that this was the musical for her.
“A Chorus Line,” is a musical that follows the story of 17 dancers who are at a Broadway audition, except this audition is unlike any other; each of the dancers have to stand up impromptu and tell the casting director about their life. This is hard for some characters, but Diana Morales, Jill’s character, does not back away from this challenge. While at first, Diana comes off as hidden and nervous, she blossoms into a character with a beautiful arch, belting out emotional ballads such as “What I Did for Love.”
Diana’s main challenge is facing her high school theater teacher who told her that she was nothing. Diana retells the challenges she faced and how she overcame them in the song “Nothing.” She belts it out, singing about self-doubt and courage. This character mirrors Jill perfectly. “I can relate because I’ve been told that I can’t do anything,” Jill told me, “and I cried because I really felt I had potential. And look at me now – I have a lead role.”
Jill’s journey with the arts is far from over. But this journey wouldn’t be possible without that one spur of the moment decision that introduced her to an art that she loves. “Honestly, if you wanted to try out for the musical, I’d actually do it,” Jill advises. “It can be a spur of the moment kind of decision. But it can also be something that you really desire doing. But at the end of the day, it honestly changed me for the better. I now have gained confidence in myself and I can see myself possibly doing this in the future in college.”
Jill’s unique artistry and journey inspires us all. We can’t wait to see how Jill continues her journey with the arts and see all she will accomplish!
