Kaitlyn Sandvik
Reporter
In a school with a competitive theatre program, senior Rachel Guth makes her mark by carrying her passion for performing off the stage and into her day to day life. She dedicates her time to attaining a mastery in the three core areas of theatre; dancing, singing, and acting or what she calls a “trifecta”.
Rachel is currently playing her first lead role in the schools production of Thoroughly Modern Millie. “It has been rough because it has been a different experience,” she said. “If you’ve never been the lead in a show before, it’s an incredibly daunting experience because you’re not really sure how to approach that. It’s been a much greater time commitment, it’s also been more fun.”
Being a “triple threat” from a young age has allowed Rachel to better improve her craft. “I used to dance at the New England Dance Academy and I was part of their junior company,” she said. “I have been acting since I was like five or six and singing since preschool.”
Rachel has attended theatre summer programs at both Brown University and Northwestern University. “Those were great because you get to be around a lot of people who are incredibly like minded and driven like you are for the same goals,” she said. “You push yourselves in different ways that you didn’t think you could be pushed and do things you otherwise would never agree to do.”
Besides taking part in acting classes, Rachel writes biographies of the characters she plays to gain a better mindset.“Everyone makes fun of me for them, because you basically are writing for as much as you want to about the life of your character and most people will go for a paragraph or to a page but I will go for three to four pages,” she said.
Rachel’s favorite song from the show is “Thoroughly Modern Millie”.
Her busy schedule challenges her ability to preserve a balance of school, friends, and rehearsal time. “It is a huge time commitment. I can’t do really anything other than theatre,” she said. “It is sort of the one thing you do but if it’s what you’re really passionate about there’s nothing else you would rather be doing.”
Rachel gathers inspiration from different teachers with whom she works in a myriad of ways. “The director here, Dee Alexander is incredibly influential in my life, she shows me how to handle different priorities and how to put yourself aside to make the work as amazing as it needs to be,” she said. “My teachers outside of school as well inspire me, Melody Libonati and a whole block of people I have worked with since I was very very little who have helped shaped me into the performer and the person that I am today, I look up to in more ways than I could possibly explain.”
Rachel also admires the work of her fellow actors and has formed many genuine relationships. “We are all really close. You have to be emotionally present and emotionally there for each other all the time,” she said. “We are a great support system for each other.”
Rachel uses what she learns from acting in her personal life as well. “I try to use theatre to explore myself, other people, other lives, different times all those amazing things you can explore within the context of a play and relate that to as many people as I possibly can,” she said.
Her passion, however, has not been tainted from the burdens of the heavy workload as she will be attending Northwestern University this fall with a theatre major. “I want to do theatre for the rest of my life, I want to continue that for wherever the performing takes me, I just want to follow that passion,” she said. “I can’t really imagine my life without it at this point.”
Rachel also wants to share valuable tips with newcomers: “Don’t be afraid of anything, just let it happen,” she said. “Don’t be afraid of the program, the people. Let go of yourself, just let you be who you are.”
