Hey Juliet: Freshman Arianna Olds Takes The Lead In Romeo & Juliet

Photo Credit: DAVID ROSENFIELD

BY GABI TABIB

On opening night of the Cooper City High Drama Department’s production of Romeo And Juliet, the school auditorium is filled with life. Actors and stage crew run around, trying to make final touches to the set and costumes. “The house is open!” announced Ms. Thomas, Cooper City High’s Drama instructor. The auditorium begins to fill. Freshman Arianna Olds can hear the voices of hundreds of her peers as she waits in the wings. If she listens hard enough, Olds could hear her family chattering excitedly. She holds back her anxiety as background music faded away, the lights dimmed, and the show begins. For some in the cast, it is their final drama production at Cooper City High. For Olds, it is her first with a featured role and she is playing none other than Juliet.

From a young age, Arianna Olds was always dancing. Her passion was fueled by her family’s support and enthusiasm. But her love of acting came from watching Shirley Temple.

“Ever since I was little, I watched Shirley Temple and wanted to dance and sing like her,” Olds said. “I remember I used to make my mother curl my hair so that I could put on a play for her. But it all came from Shirley Temple.”

Olds’ ambitions grew as the years passed. She started writing plays then acting them out for her parents. When she came to CCHS, it was a forgone conclusion that Olds would join the Drama department. When she heard that the fall play would be West Side Story, she auditioned, and was given a featured dancer position.

“I didn’t expect to get a part in my first year,” Olds said. “But I remember being so excited. I had so much fun being a featured dancer that I decided to try for the next play too.”

The next play happened to be Romeo and Juliet. After reading it in class, Olds decided she wanted a role in the play, but she didn’t want just any role, she wanted to be Juliet.

For Olds’ audition, she had to memorize a portion of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in one night. The very next day, Ms. Thomas asked her to audition in front of her fourth hour acting class.

“I was so scared and I really didn’t want to, but I recited my piece in front of the class and it was announced afterwards that I had gotten the part.”

Just like that, Olds now had a great responsibility on her hands. She was the star of the show. This meant that she needed do her best to make the show something to remember. In the beginning, many wondered why Ms. Thomas chose a freshman to play such a dynamic character as Juliet.

“I chose Arianna because she was the perfect person to play Juliet,” Ms. Thomas said. “I usually see each play as kind of a puzzle, where every actor or actress has to click together to make it the best it can be. I have to do a little arranging, but eventually everyone is put where their talent can be utilized best. Arianna just happened to fit the role as Juliet with the cast I had.”

Along with Olds, a slew of drama veterans filled out the cast. Senior Natalie McPherson was cast as the Princess of Verona, junior Nate Promcul was the witty Mercutio, senior Tanya Palkaninec played Juliet’s nurse and senior Brandon Osoria played Montague.

Being surrounded by experienced actors and actresses helped Olds. They kept her mind off of the audience and more on the performance and having a great time. But she can’t deny the road to making this show wasn’t hectic. The show was put together in a matter of weeks and required extreme commitment from the cast and crew. Practice was every day after school until late into the evening. The weekend before opening night the cast and crew had to rehearse from ten o’clock in the morning until they felt confident they had made progress. And the night before the premiere, it wasn’t until nine o’clock that they all left for home. It took real dedication to put on this play in such a little time.

Throughout the process, Olds persevered with support from her friends and family.

“I’m lucky that I’m really close with my family. They’ve always been very supportive of my choices and they really kept me going, even if it was reminding me that I needed to take a break from practicing my lines,” Olds said.

In the end, Olds is proud of her portrayal of Juliet of Montague. “Yeah, there’s always room for improvement, but it was my first show. By the end of my high school career I know that I’ll be better than I am now.”

Olds’s ultimate dream is to make it on Broadway.

“Even if I’m just a dancer, with no lines, just on stage once, I want to at least make it there. To be on Broadway would be a dream come true,” Olds said.

If she doesn’t make to it to Broadway, Olds wants to become a nurse and work with newborn babies, specifically those born premature. But wherever she goes, Olds hopes to always be herself because that’s what is most important.

“It’s funny because after being in Romeo and Juliet, people keep calling me Juliet, but I’m still the same person. I’m still ‘Same Old Arianna’.”