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Photo Courtesy Brad Madison The Ordway put on the production ‘A Chorus Line’. The musical features 16 dancers and tells their story about how they started dancing and why they continue to stay dancing. Ally Burchill says, “In 10 years Mary will be starring on Broadway. Her passion for acting will keep her motivated and her talent will take her as far as she wants to go.”

Walking down the halls, what would seem like the average high school student, is completely opposite. Junior Mary Burchill is far from average. “Triple threat” is a word that can greatly describe Mary. Since she exceeds in the arts, specifically, acting, singing and dancing, Mary has been able to star in many different productions.

On Feb. 16-28 ‘A Chorus Line‘ was playing at The Ordway theater, where Mary played the role of Tara. The musical’s plot focuses on a group of 16 dancers who tell their story about why they started to dance and where it has taken them. Mary was the youngest cast member, which allowed her to grow as an actress at a young age. Being in The Ordway, especially at 16, is a big leap towards Broadway.

Preforming at a young age

In order to succeed in the arts, plenty of practice is necessary. Starting at a young age, Mary was able to discover her talents and build them up to improve immensely. Her first production was through the Stillwater community theater program, performing as little orphan Annie, where she immediately fell in love with being on stage. Overall, Mary has been in anywhere from 16-20 productions.

Mary’s sister, Ally Burchill said, “Mary was born to perform. At a very young age it was obvious that Mary had a beautiful voice. I would listen to her in the car and be amazed at the notes and perfect pitch coming out of my five year old sister. I constantly encouraged her to pursue acting, knowing that she would excel. She didn’t like the idea back then, performing in front of a filled auditorium didn’t excite her. That all changed when she was cast as the lead in her first ever role playing Orphan Annie. She was hooked! Acting and singing have been a huge part of her life ever since. Now I love reminding her that I was right!”

‘A Chorus Line’ sparks success for future

Being in an Ordway production at such a young age will allow Mary to succeed greatly as she plans to continue a career in the arts. Being in ‘A Chorus Line’ has expanded Mary’s opportunities in the arts and has also allowed her to gain more confidence on stage.

Mary said, “My favorite part about being in ‘A Chorus Line’ was that it was kind of a step forward for me. The whole set up, we had to learn everything in about a week and a half really, and then we started doing run throughs for the end of that week and then we went to tech rehearsal, so it was a super fast process. I had to retain it really fast and that was fun for me because it was kind of like a test to see if this is really what I want to do in the future.”

Not only does Mary manage to perform well on stage, but she is also able to maintain her high grades and have a social life, both of which require  an enormous amount of motivation and determination to succeed.

Mary added, “One of the biggest things during ‘A Chorus Line’ was learning my part, the parts I was ‘covering’ in a sense and keeping up with school. I only went to school on Mondays for almost two months, so I had to teach myself everything I was missing, but I also had rehearsals from 9-5 so I really had to stay motivated during rehearsals and even car rides and never stop working.”

Future in the arts 

It is obvious that Mary is set on continuing with performing, Broadway being her main goal. Many of her peers, friends and family see Mary being successful on Broadway and continuing with the arts. A goal this difficult is challenging, but Mary and her supporters would agree that by working hard, taking in new information from new experiences and pushing herself to do better, she will be able to achieve her goal of being on Broadway.

Senior Kallie Quist said, “Mary’s got a good head on her shoulders, not only is she talented but she’s also very good with people. She’s very easy to get along with and very steadily determined which is a good combo for going into a thought industry.”

As Mary’s career continues, she plans to attend college and finish with a musical theater major and a bachelor in fine arts. Despite the difficulties for careers in the arts, she will do whatever it takes to make it big.

Mary said, “The biggest thing from that show was that I leaned “okay” work will never satisfy me and I always want to keep working to reach my full potential in every aspect of my life. With theater you can’t play it safe and just do whatever, you have to stay in the game and know in your heart that musical theater is all you can do in your life, ‘A chorus line not only showed me there is no other career i would rather pursue but it also showed me I can work hard enough to make it.”