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Johnson maintains childhood passion over the years

POWERFUL PERFORMANCE. Sophomore Johnson performs with the choir at the MS and US joint choral performance. Johnson said. “I tried all the activities ... like, every sport under the sun ... theater just stuck out. (SPA Smugmug, Scott Streble)
POWERFUL PERFORMANCE. Sophomore Johnson performs with the choir at the MS and US joint choral performance. Johnson said. “I tried all the activities … like, every sport under the sun … theater just stuck out. (SPA Smugmug, Scott Streble)

Taylor from High School Musical, a disciple from Godspell, Le Fille from Beauty and the Beast, an ancestor from The Addams Family. Those are a few of the many roles that sophomore Eva Johnson has played since she began her theater career in second grade at Carondelet Catholic school.

“I tried all the activities … like, every sport under the sun … theater just stuck out,” she said.

Jaws dropped in the audience after Johnson performed a solo for Issues by Julia Michaels at the 2024 Pops Concert last month. While it was just her second choral performance (and first at SPA), her natural smile, confidence, and stage presence proved Johnson was no stranger to the stage.

Johnson first discovered theater as a second grader when she joined her school’s children’s ensemble. They were often Christmas productions and she was cast in smaller roles like farm animals or a Christmas tree.

Though COVID-19 put a halt on theater following her fifth-grade year, when she returned in eighth grade, Johnson was welcomed back to the stage, getting cast in lead roles. That year, she played Josephine Strong in Urinetown, which is one of her favorite theater memories to this day.

“I got to meet a lot of kids who also like theater, and it was nice to be the big kid and finally get a good role,” Johnson said.

Johnson has also found a passion for singing throughout the many musicals she has performed in. Despite playing violin nearly a decade, she refocused her time towards learning piano for the first time, an instrument that could accompany her singing.

“I can’t sing while I play the violin. And … if I want to be a theater teacher or … a choir director, playing the piano is a useful skill,” she said.

“Ready to Go” from last year’s spring musical The Logic Pit is one of her favorite songs to sing: “It had a lot of energy … when I sang it with everybody, it gave me goosebumps, because everybody was so into it. There was a lot of emotion,” she said.

But if Johnson had to pick one over the other, she prefers singing from roles in a play than as a musician.

“It’s easier for me to sing when I’m performing as a character than it is to be myself … it’s easier to fake it, like, fake confidence and … channel some other personality besides yourself,” she said.

Johnson finds opportunities to get involved with local theater outside of the school year as well. Last summer, she experienced theater from a new perspective. As a camp counselor, Johnson guided groups of children through their own 30-minute productions. Being on the other side of the stage for the first time revealed parts of the theater she had rarely noticed before.

“I saw the effort kids were putting in and how much it takes to put on a show… because I was Tech Crew for that show instead of on-stage. It made me appreciate the backstage help more than I did in the past,” Johnson said.

Whether cast as a character in a play, singing a song in choir or directing younger kids in productions, Johnson’s admiration for music and theater draws her to the stage.

Updated 1/22 to add PodBean

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