Freshman Emily Bittorf landed a double-cast role as Annie.

“I’ve always been doing theater my entire life and when I came to RB, surprisingly, I wasn’t really naturally inclined to do it,” said Bittorf.

Playing a lead role, Bittorf has less time to do things like homework and spending time with friends.

“When I go home, I have to work really hard on my grades and I’ve been able to keep them up pretty well but sometimes it’s kind of difficult. I want to make sure I put school first as much as I can,” said Bittorf.

Another freshmen that earned a prominent role is Quincy Hayes. Hayes is playing Molly, one of the six main orphans in the play.

“I got involved with musicals a lot when I was younger and I hadn’t done one for the past couple of years, so when I saw them doing it in high school I thought I’d try out,” Hayes said.

Managing the play with school and activities as a freshmen may seem hard, but many of the freshmen figure it out and balance their academics with their extracurricular activities.

Hayes has experienced those scheduling conflicts, but knows how to work through them.

“It is kind of hard to balance, especially if you’re involved in other sports… I’m on the cheer team, so it’s hard to be able to do both, but it’s manageable,” said Hayes.

Most of the freshmen were very pleased when they found out they got the roles that they hoped for. Not all freshman had experience with their exact character, but freshman Avery Bowen did.

“I played Miss Hannigan in the past, and I loved playing the role so much I wanted to do it again,” said Bowen.

Bowen was very familiar with the role, but working with an entirely new cast can make chemistry difficult. However, she has not come across any problems.

“They’re very welcoming. We’re all friends,” Bowen said.

Hayes is still making new friendships while finding her place within the cast.

“It was different because a lot of people were involved in the play too so I don’t really know everyone that well yet, but I feel like, as time goes on, we’ll all get closer,” Hayes said.

Bittorf was in the fall play, so she has already acclimated to the stage and cast members.

“Since the fall play, I’ve become really close friends with [the upperclassmen] and they’ve been really supporting and helpful to me if I ever have any problems,” said Bittorf.

These freshmen worked hard to get their roles. They speak fondly of their experiences in the theater department and all plan on doing plays at RB in the future.

If you are interested in seeing these freshman take on lead roles in the spring musical Annie, there will be performances on Thursday, March 2 through Sunday, March 5. Tickets are available through the Business Office.