Mendham High School has many talented actors and actresses when it comes to musicals and plays. The most recent musical, Chicago, had not only really good actors/actresses, but those people also had a wonderful voice. There is a junior student who deserves to be highlighted for all the work and emotion she put in the play. That junior is Marieke Voogt.

Marieke first started theater in the Netherlands when one of her friend from her team sport made her come to a ‘bring your friend day’. Her first thought about theater was “I fell in love with it like right away”, even though she loved it, she did not do anything related to the theater because later on when she was in seventh-grade theater since she decided to focus more on sports. She went back to it when she was eleven, and that is when she did her first show. When Marieke moved to Mendham, she chose to do track and cross country instead of theatre. She got back to it in Junior year. She was in the fall drama as Ross. When Marieke was asked what she liked the most, her answer was “I like acting the most” and “Working with people”. She also describes theater as her second family. She also mentions that since everyone in her class likes arts and theater, it is like everyone has a special bond. When asked about singing, Marieke said that sometimes she sings, but if you want to focus more on your voice it is better to take choir which she will be taking next year. In class, they focus on different techniques, they also watch professionals performances then discuss the actor’s techniques. Then, they apply those to their own scenes. Marieke takes IB theatre and there are more assignments than in a non-IB theater class. Right now they are working on a collaborative project, they have to create their own theatre piece which has to be about fifteen minutes long. On show night, Marieke is in a weird mood because she is super focused but she knows that everybody will do good because everyone just rehearsed over and over again. On show night there is a lot of pressure and Marieke explained: “I’m scared for the first two minutes and then I just do what I love”. Marieke really likes Ben Platt who played in the musical Dear Evan Hansen and she also loves the fact that now he does his own music. She also loves Idina Menzel because she is a really good singer, and she is also known to be the best singer in musical theater.

Marieke see herself going into college that has a good theatre program but she is not sure yet if she will do directing, acting, or performing. She is also really interested to learn about “the effect that social media has on the arts”. She might study that subject or she wants to be able to teach theater to other kids. This is a profession that she would love to do. Marieke is not sure yet if she wants to be a part of a musical on Broadway one day, because as she said “people judge you all the time”, it is hard to keep up with big shows like that, but maybe one day she will be the new star of a show. Stay tuned to see what Marieke does next and pay attention in the next play to see how well Marieke does.

(Picture credits to Normandy Studio Inc.)