For sophomore Navya Desai, a new 2026 HSMTA (High School Musical Theater Awards) Outstanding Lead Performer Semi-finalist of Broadway Dallas for her performance as Paulette in the Upper School musical, Legally Blonde, performing has been a part of her life since early childhood.
“When I was younger, my parents had the idea that I would be quite inclined to perform,” Desai said. “I started to sing before I could speak, and so they put me in front of large crowds as I grew up which now allows me to be able to perform without any anxiety.”
Desai views the stage as a space of freedom and self-expression rather than one of fear.
“The spotlight feels like home to me, because I’ve been performing all my life,” Desai said. “When you step on stage and into another character, it’s not as nerve-racking as people in the audience might think it is. It kind of feels like an opportunity to express myself without judgment.”
That seemingly natural sense of confidence, however, is not effortless.
“Confidence is something that’s so necessary in theater,” Desai said. “You have to be so self-assured because if you’re not, then how are you supposed to step into another person and seem self-assured?”
Theater is also about learning how to handle failure. Auditions, callbacks and casting decisions inevitably come with rejection, and actors must learn to navigate those setbacks.
“Theater and performance are all about putting 100 percent of yourself out there and then being okay with being shunned,” Desai said. “Rejection is something that’s taught me how to fail and get back up afterwards.”
Beyond confidence and resilience, theater also offers performers a unique opportunity for self-discovery.
“Acting allows you to access different parts of yourself that you didn’t even know existed,” Desai said. “A lot of times it’s roles that you can never even imagine playing, and it’s more about finding who you are inside different characters.”
For senior Jessie Moran, that self-discovery comes hand-in-hand with moments of fear. Taking on the role of Elle Woods in this year’s Legally Blonde, pushed her beyond her comfort zone and forced her to reevaluate her own confidence.
“I would say probably this year was the scariest because I’ve never had such a big role before,” Moran said. “It made me second guess myself a little bit because I wasn’t always confident that I deserved the role.”
That initial uncertainty, however, became part of a larger learning process that, through years of experience in theater, Moran has learned is not always linear.
“Eventually, I did get my confidence back up and realize I earned this role for a reason,” Moran said. “Since starting at nine years old, I’ve experienced a lot of different roles between being an ensemble, having one line or having 300 lines. I learned that you are not always going to get the part you want and you have to learn to adapt.”
The lessons learned on stage often extend far beyond it. For Moran, her theater background has directly influenced how she approaches challenges in the classroom, particularly when it comes to public speaking.
“I’m in a social entrepreneurship class right now, and we’re working on presentation pitches that we will present in front of a panel of judges,” Moran said. “I think it can be really nerve-racking standing in front of others, but having a background in theater has taught me to be charismatic and authentic in those types of situations.”
While Moran has applied her theater experience to build confidence in academic settings, others have taken those same skills beyond both the classroom and the stage. Dylan George ‘25, who participated in Hockaday theater, uses her skills to navigate real-world conversations.
“Theater taught me how to talk about things that might be hard or uncomfortable,” George said. “In high school, I was part of Planned Parenthood’s TACT [TeenAge Communication Theatre], which is a sex ed acting troupe. We would visit juvenile detention centers and other communities in the DFW area and talk about sex ed, mental health, relationships and other vulnerable topics that may be an uncomfortable topic for teenagers.”
At Brown University, George continues her passion for theater in addition to her studies in neuroscience, proving that it is not necessary to sacrifice art for academics.
“In high school, I was under the impression that if I wanted to do theater, I had to go through a BFA program and a theater school and then try to make it professionally, but that’s just not true at all,” George said. “Even if I don’t end up pursing acting professionally, theater is still such a huge part of my life and it’s important to make time for what you love.”
