Once cut from her high school musical freshman year, Ellen Meeuwsen now plans to pursue her dreams of theater in college. 

“I was sad honestly. I thought if I couldn’t make it in high school I could never make it in college,” Meeuwsen stated.

However, after much persistence and hard work, she now participates in 2-3 musicals every year, some of which she is the lead role.

One may call her a musical junky. She has seen 13 different Broadway shows and went to New York for a theater camp. 

“My ultimate goal would be to perform on Broadway,” the young actress said.

Meeuwsen has taken private singing and dance lessons at two different studios for seven years. 

Meeuwsen has come incredibly far in her musical journey–from a quiet curly-haired girl who was turned down from NDA’s production to a confident young woman obsessed with the art of theater. 

“Part of musical theater is being able to take the lumps, rejections and failures,” Mrs. Brown, English teacher, explained.