Ado Annie to Maria Von Trapp: Musical theatre helped sophomore Lola Bray discover her passion for acting

Bursting through the doors of her dressing room, then rising-sophomore Lola Bray set her bag down, hurriedly grabbed up her vocal steamer — a small device that helped to reduce swelling in her throat — and motioned over to fellow actor, then rising-sophomore Holland Baldassaro, to do her hair.

Bray was playing her dream role from one of her favorite musicals, Maria Von Trapp from “The Sound of Music.”

After Bray’s hair was pinned, braided and curled by Baldassaro, she spent the next hour warming up her voice by humming, doing vocal trills and buzzing her lips.

Two hours before the show started, Bray began sorting all eight of Maria's costumes into the order she wore them in the show— while of course chatting with her castmates about the show.

All of a sudden, it was 1 p.m. Like usual, Bray did her last touches on her makeup, blasted "Successful" by Ariana Grande on repeat and participated in her cast's typical pre-show traditions like shakeouts, where the actors shake their hands and feet while chanting “One, two, three, four, five!”, removing a number each time until finished.

After the shakeouts, Bray headed to the stage wings where she eagerly waited for her favorite part of musical theatre— performing.

Bray had worked tirelessly on perfecting acting Maria for months, even spending weeks in preparation to even audition for the role. Getting to play one of her dream roles after months of hard work solidified to Bray that theatre was her passion, and something she wanted to pursue for the rest of her life.

Only three years prior, Bray was first introduced to musical theater.

“I saw ‘The Addams family’ at Indian Hills during the 6th-grade trip, that's when I was like, oh, maybe I'll try theatre,” Bray said.

A few months later, halfway through Bray's 7th-grade year, Indian Hills announced that they would be doing a rendition of “Oklahoma”; it was Bray's first opportunity to be in a musical.

Bray had been around movies and music her entire life— her dad being passionate about all things cinema was always watching a new movie— but Bray had never acted prior and had barely any singing experience.

​But, with the convincing of friends, now sophomores, Chase Reeves and Lake Davis, she made the decision to audition. 

“I tried to convince Lola to join theatre because I had really enjoyed [acting],” Reeves said.  “I knew that she had been interested in theatre for a while, so I thought that it was a perfect opportunity.”

Bray went in with her hopes low, expecting to get an ensemble role, considering her nonexistent background in acting.

Soon after auditions, where she sang a rendition of “Almost There” from "Princess and the Frog”, Bray received the news that she had gotten the role of Ado Annie, one of the lead characters in “Oklahoma”. 

She was ecstatic.

“I have so many amazing memories from the show. It was just such a good environment,” Bray said. “I highly recommend middle schoolers to do an Indian Hills show, even convincing your friends too. It was such a good opportunity and such a fun time.”

Since her first role as Ado Annie, three years ago, Lola has been in over eight musicals, ranging from “The Addams Family” to "High School Musical.”

“Everyone should audition for a musical at some point in their life, it's an experience you'll never forget,” Bray said.

Lola credits musical theatre for helping her make some of her best friends, making her a more confident person and helping her discover who she is. Bray also plans to pursue acting professionally and hopes to soon act on large stages to audiences of thousands.

“It's always so good to have something that you put so much energy and love into and get so much fulfillment back from,” Bray said.  "You can show people your art, and you can give  cupcakes you've baked, but you won't get immediate satisfaction like what you get from performing to an audience of hundreds of people.”