Dramatic goodbyes from drama seniors

By Eleanor James

Annie Get Your Gun is the last act for eight turkey seniors. Read here about their reflections on their time in the St. Mary’s drama department.

As the curtain has now closed on the much anticipated spring musical “Annie Get Your Gun,” nine seniors gave their final bows from the Rose Theater stage. Sabrina Spence, Grace Lee, Julia Preston, Madeline O’Toole, Lauren Ledger, Nayla Nassif, Vivi Gray, Allison Hessleberg, and Eleanor James all made a special effort to make this play a memorable one.

The show is about a young Annie Oakley and her attempts to find love and balance her passion for show business. This musical was originally performed in 1946 and was written by Dorothy and Herbert Fields and Peter Stone. Director Mrs. Madden updated the 1940s script to remove the racially insensitive parts. Madden also be briefed the audience before curtain call to prevent any confusion.

In particular, the drama seniors worked hard to make sure that their performance in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show met their high expectations. Julia Preston (12) played Winnie Tate and said, “Since it’s my last musical, it was very special to me to dance around on stage with a bunch of my classmates and just have fun.” In her role as Winnie, Julia demonstrated her trademark grace on stage.  

Allison Hessleberg (12), who had the role of antagonist (nearly a villian), Ms. Dolly Tate, played a character who put her a little outside of her comfort zone. Allison stated, “I was a completely different person then who I really am, it was a challenge for sure.” Even though the role pushed her boundaries, Dolly Tate gave Allison’s larger than life personality a chance to shine on stage. Allison’s great enthusiasm for plays and musicals may be genetic. She learned a lot from her mother who was an opera singer and is also very theatrical.

Lauren Ledger (12) played the lead role of Ms. Annie Oakley, a talented sharpshooter who finds love while living out her dream. Lauren’s raw talent for theater helped her snag the roll. While many seniors will be leaving the stage as they move on to college Lauren will not. Lauren said, “I will fortunately will be using my [theater skills] very often as I am going to be a musical theater major, so my experience here will be very useful in the future.” Lauren has dominated the stage with her many roles singing and acting and she said her favorite part about St. Mary’s theater has been the relationships and bonds she has formed over the years.


While the seniors will remember their time on the stage, what the seniors will miss the most is the relationships they have formed over the years. Bizzy Walker (11) said, “ I have been doing theater with [the seniors] for years, and we will be losing part of our family next year when they leave. Their guidance is what we will miss most of all.”

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