My Last Show

This winter, I was absolutely thrilled to be cast as Mary in Merrily We Roll Along, a senior honors thesis directed by my good friend Max Gottschall '15.

Playing Mary in Merrily We Roll Along was an exciting challenge.​​ I hadn't played a principle role in a theater production since freshman year when I was in Hairspray, so getting back up there and doing my thing was scary but something I was SO ready for. I was super pumped to incorporate everything I've learned in my acting classes at Dartmouth and LAMDA and to challenge my voice with Sondheim's music. In the winter, Max Gottschall cast me, Noah Samotin who played Charley, and Max Samuels, who played the main character, Frank. We learned all of our music and started working on character development during those winter months. Being able to spend so much time with Max and Noah before we even started putting the show on its feet definitely helped build our chemistry and friendship (on stage and off!).

When I read the play for the first time before the audition, I was sobbing like a baby by the time I got to the last scene. I connected with Mary and the play as a whole on so many levels - from the bittersweetness of the moments when the three friends had their lives perfectly in sync, to Mary's complicated relationship with Frank, to the way she uses her humor and sarcasm to deal with life, and mostly to feeling uncertain about your life choices when you're just starting out. As an almost graduate, the play forced me to confront all of the hard questions that are scary to think about as I end this chapter of my life: Will my friendships survive? Will I be successful? Am I making the right choices as I grow up? The themes of the play really resonated with me, and hopefully with all of the students who came to see the show.

Photo Credit by Rob Strong.

Being part of this beautiful show with such a supportive and talented cast and knowing that this was my final time on the Dartmouth stage where I have learned and grown so much in so many ways created an incredibly bittersweet moment. I enjoyed every second of being in this show, even the long 10 hour tech days. I think I had always taken being in shows for granted before this one. Every day this term I woke up looking forward to rehearsal, and at night I never wanted rehearsals to end. I have never been happier to be on stage pouring my heart into a piece of theater. After a year-long break from acting at Dartmouth, being in this show made me realize just how much I missed it and how happy it makes me. As I learned from this show, life is unpredictable and you never know where the path will lead, so I went into the shows knowing that this had the potential to be my final time performing in a musical ever. In the final scene Frank says to Charley and Mary, "Don't you realize that we can do anything? What a time to be starting out, what a time to be alive." I have no idea where my life is headed, but after this experience, I am certain that theater will always take up a huge piece of my heart.

Katelyn Onufrey '15 is a senior theater major.