Briella Hill and Emily Tifft have officially finished their last high school theater performance, “Chicago.”
Senior Briella Hill has been a part of the theater community for four years, culminating in being cast as one of the lead roles, Roxie Hart, in this year’s production of “Chicago”.
Even though Hill enjoys performing on stage, she will shift her focus after graduation. She plans on attending James Madison University, (JMU) to earn her Master’s Degree in either business administration or marketing. She wants to be a marketing agent and work superlative in digital marketing.
“I love theater, and I would love to do it in college if I’m able to, because I’m going to miss it when I have to be a grown up and have a grown up job,” Hill said. “Even though I’m not pursuing it, I feel like the career path I’m going towards I can still enjoy that aspect of my life and watch shows whenever I can.”
Hill has taken classes involving digital marketing including digital art in her middle and high school years. She was also in the video production class in high school. In one of her English classes, they talked about advertising which she found intriguing.
“I think about how I grew up with social media, so I would really enjoy designing things for social media.” Hill said. “It’s a way to be in business and get money, also to step up the ladder career wise but also be able to express creativity.”
Financial stability is something that Hill looks forward to when pursuing marketing in college since she wants to have a family later in life and also be able to travel around and even see Broadway shows.
“The biggest reason I’m going into marketing honestly, is the money.” Hill said. “ For me, being financially stable enough to do things I want to do in my life is the most important part for me.”
Another senior, Emily Tifft, who played Annie Young, one of the “Cell Block Tango” women in “Chicago,” has been a part of theater for three years. She has played iconic characters throughout the years including Gretchen Wieners in last year’s production of “Mean Girls”.
Tifft has been successful with her theater journey throughout high school but will shift her focus during college. She wants to attend the College of William and Mary (W&M) where she plans on earning a degree in art history with a focus on curatorial studies.
“I definitely plan to audition for shows that will be at W&M, and continue that passion.” Tifft said. “I don’t think I could take it from a career standpoint because it’s very competitive, and I don’t want the fun to be taken out of it.”
Tifft has been a fan of history since a young age, specifically the art side of it. Whileworking at the Louisa County Arts Center, she found event planning and fundraising intriguing. These things influenced her decision to work with museums. In December 2023, she hosted her own event at the Louisa Arts Center: the Winter Lights Concert. She learned a lot about how to organize different groups of people, appeal for donations, and understand the moving parts to events like the concert.
“Technically it was for my Blue Ridge Governor’s school capstone project.” Tifft said. “So I got the Jazz band and Jazz ensemble together. I created concessions and hosted the event and even spoke at it. 100% of the ticket sales and concessions were put towards donations to my project. We made $1,500 dollars and it went really well.”
For college Tifft looks forward to her major because it was something she would enjoy, she is mostly interested in a job that she will appreciate. Tifft hopes that the job she has will provide her with a flexible/comfortable lifestyle and a work environment that she enjoys.
“I want to have good support and good connections, and be really focused on my education and studies that’s really important to me.” Tifft said. “I want to also have fun on campus and have a good network of friends.”
