Why not try out?

Donovan McGuire ’18 earned the lead role of Willy Wonka in this year’s Spring Musical.

This is a tremendous accomplishment in itself considering it was his first drama attempt.

Prior to the Spring Musical, Donovan had little to no experience in acting. His involvement in activities, such as rowing for Capital Crew and participating in Executive Council, had kept him away from his unknown passion for acting. Before Willy Wonka Jr., the only exposure Donovan had to singing, acting, and dancing in front of an audience was Christmas Tree Lane.

“Well, I was talking to Joe Rubino ’18 and Scott Tooley ’18 and since I did Christmas Tree Lane, they were like hey, you should try the musical, and I considered it because I really like singing and dancing is pretty cool so I thought ‘why not try out?’ said Donovan. “So I got involved. But I honestly didn’t think I would get the part because my voice cracked when I auditioned and everything.”

Being involved with the Black Box for two years now,  Joe Rubino knows what it takes to be an actor. He believed that Donovan had that “special something” that would let him fit perfectly into the new musical.

“I knew Dono since Freshman year and always knew he was a super funny, charismatic, and energetic guy,” said Joe. “So I thought I’d invite him to try out for the show. Dono takes directions seriously and isn’t afraid to be his character or himself on stage. He learns quickly and I see him having a lot of fun and that’s exactly what I wanted to see from him from the beginning.”

Being the animated and outgoing guy that he is, Donovan also caught the eye of his good friend Scott Tooley. Scott has been a close observer of the school plays due to his current position working the lights and the sound systems. He believed that Donovan would fit in perfectly to the Spring Musical.

“He’s fun, energetic, shows emotion really well and always has a smile on his face,” said Scott. “I thought he would be a great talent in the spring musical because he’s always all around campus, he’s always happy, and he’s always making people laugh. I thought that he would be a really good addition to the theatre.”