Tuula Hicks, ‘30, played the lead role of Maretha in the play “The Piano Lesson” put on by Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park from April 11 to May 3.
“The Piano Lesson” is a musical set during the Great Depression featuring a young girl, Maretha, and her mother who work together to save their family heirloom, the piano.
Hicks first got into theater six years ago, but has loved to sing her whole life.
“I would say my mom was the one who really brought me into theater, especially musicals,” Hicks said. “My dad loves music too, and he would always sing around me. They taught me a lot of the things I know.”
One of Hicks’ leads was in “The Ugly Duckling” at The Children’s Theater and Lucille in “Junie B. Jones Junior,” followed by playing Alex in “Madagascar Junior.” She was also the Sour Kangaroo in “Seussical” and a lioness in a “Lion King” production.
“After ‘Junie B. Jones Junior,’ more kids started getting interested in theater, there was some more competition at my old school but honestly, it didn’t feel like a competition,” Hicks said. It was more like, hey, we’re all friends here, whoever gets the role gets the role, and we’ll all support you.”
Hicks was at WHHS last year as well, and while she chose not to participate in any of the shows this year or last, she has been in the One Acts festival for the past two years.
“I definitely wanted to be in “The Little Mermaid” because it sounded so cool, but I ended up just seeing it,” Hicks said.
Suffice to say, when Hicks learned she got the role in “The Piano Lesson,” she was taken entirely by surprise.
“I was in the car when my mom told me, and I sat there for five seconds, and I went, ‘I’m sorry, what?’, because there were a lot of people auditioning, around twenty to thirty,” Hicks said.
“The Piano Lesson” includes double-casting, where each character has two actors, just in case one actor is unavailable during a show time. Instead of an understudy, the actors of a double-casted role get equal showtime while an understudy only appears when the primary actor is unavailable.
“Mackenzie, the other Maretha, and I, have kind of become show sisters. We went through all of the rehearsal together,” Hicks said.“Since only one of us is gonna be there during a show, we have a journal where we write messages to each other so we know how the show went and each of us get a little update. I actually haven’t met her before this but she’s been part of The Children’s Theater for a long time.”
When asked specifically what she loves about theater, Hicks says she enjoys the unique storytelling aspect.
“The best feeling is just being able to see all these people who came here not to see you in a way, but the character that you portray,” Hicks said.“It’s like you’re the middleman for them, you get to tell their story.”
As far as future plans go, Hicks wants to be a voice actor as well as a singer-songwriter. Hicks encourages other students to give theater a try.
“If you’re starting acting and you’re not sure about whether you want to do it or not, just try it, [even though] it may end in a train wreck,” Hicks said. “If you end up really liking it, then it could be a new thing for you that you want to do. You will get a million no’s before you get any type of yes, so be prepared for that. Most of all, don’t get discouraged.”