For our second installment of “In The Spotlight,” The Soo Theatre Project is proud to present STARS student Alyssa Morley. Alyssa was one of the three students who shared with our audience this past September just what The Soo Theatre meant to her at the Mike Dempsey Tribute.
I was able to sit down with Alyssa this past week and ask her a bit more about her involvement with STP; the highlights, the lowlights and just what growing up at Soo Theatre has been like for her.
How long have you been taking lessons at the Soo Theatre?
I started with ballet lessons when I was about two.
And how old are you now?
13
So that’s eleven years that you have been around this place?
Yep.
What’s one of the highlights of all of the things you have done here?
One of the cool things was I got to be Cruella de Vil this summer in “101 Dalmatians.”
Did you have to go through a lot of other shows before you got to hit that starring role?
Yeah, I had a lot of shows before then where I played minor roles, which was fun too, but…
This was my fifth year doing summer theatre camp, so….
What else have you studied at the Soo Theatre?
I started doing voice and then flute. Also, piano lessons.
Do you remember doing “Frosty’s First Adventure?”
I don’t really remember that one.
You were one of the featured snowmen with a solo…you were pretty little…
So, what are you working on today in your lesson?
I’m singing Olaf!!!
Were you surprised that your teacher let you sing Olaf?
Yeah, ‘cause she told me she banned “Frozen” from her studio.
Her teacher clarified, mainly just “Let it Go!” – for at least a year.
Alyssa is one of the many students who is growing up at the downtown Soo Theatre. She spends time on a weekly basis here during the school year for her private music lessons. She has played in some of the larger orchestral events that Soo Theatre has put on with LSSU and she has spent her summers on the stage. For many years, Alyssa did the summer camps. As she told us in her Tribute to Mike Dempsey, Alyssa was in the opera “Carmen.” While she had been on stage for many of the summer camps, the mainstage opera was “like, totally legit!” She went on to share, “We even had to sing in French….that was really hard!” Definitely hard work, but being an young opera apprentice has been really rewarding.
Alyssa continues to enjoy her Mondays at Soo Theatre at her weekly piano lesson with Mrs. Case, preceded by her voice lesson with Mrs. Beacom. STP is really a second home for this talented young lady.
What will we see her in this summer? We will definitely see and hear her perform on the STARS Christmas recital on December 18th at Central Methodist. Until then, she’ll keep coming “home” to STP once a week to hone her musical skills and to enjoy her passion for the arts.
Don’t forget to come out and hear Soo Theatre and STARS faculty and students as they take the stage with the Sault Symphony Orchestra at Lake Superior State University’s Arts Center tonight at 8pm. STARS Youth Orchestra members perform along with their director Dottie Case on violin and Karen Hughes Beacom on harp. The concert is conducted by Dr. John Wilkinson. Tickets will be available at the door!
