First joining the theatre program in sixth grade, Featured Thespian Alicia Jones began as a background character before working her way up to prominent lead characters such as Yvette, in Clue, and M’Lynn Eatenton, in Steel Magnolias.

While she hasn’t spent much time with the character yet, Jones says her favorite role is her current one, M’Lynn, in Steel Magnolias. “A lot of the people I’ve played have been almost cartoonish in a sense, and she’s more of an actual person.” If she had to play another character in Steel Magnolias, she would choose “Truvy because she is fabulous, and that’s all I have to say about that.” Last year’s play, Clue, was Jones’ favorite of her shows, because it was “so fun, so funny, so much happening…. You were never bored on stage and there was always something going on. It was just constant chaos and I think that was really fun.”

Jones says the most rewarding part of being involved in theatre is the moment right before going on, “everyone’s getting hyped and you’re all so excited and you know you’re gonna do well, and it’s just that excitement that you feel right before you go on stage and you have this adrenaline rush…. That’s probably like the peak moment of theatre for me.” At the same time, however, she explains that it can be difficult to not get in your own head if you do mess up, “even when it’s so minor, but it’s such a big deal in your head. Like ‘Oh, I could’ve said that line better’ and ‘Oh, I could’ve, you know, maybe not messed up that one word, it’s telling yourself that it’s okay and keep going.”

“For our theater,” Jones says, describing her favorite theatre tradition, “on our actual show days, we do this hype thing, where basically one person says how good they feel, and we’re all like ‘Oh! I feel so good!’ and we all dance in a big circle and it just gets the energy really hyped up.”

To newcomers to theatre, Jones gives this advice:  “Let the mistakes go because everyone makes mistakes, and I know everyone hears that, but you really have to just believe that, like it’s fine and I’ll be fine next time, like it doesn’t define you, or people aren’t gonna think you’re bad because you made one mistake.” She also emphasizes the importance of memorizing your lines, because “I know it doesn’t seem important or whatever, but it is, and if you are comfortable with your lines then you’re going to be comfortable with acting.”

Jones says the biggest thing she’s gained from her experience in theatre is confidence. “It’s made me confident in front of other people, like I don’t have a fear of public speaking because I’m so used to being in front of people. Now I love it.” She tells how theatre is her favorite of the activities she’s participated in “—and I’ve done a lot, so that’s saying something. That’s definitely the highlight of my high school career and that’s probably what I’m gonna think about when I look back at my high school days.”