COLLEGIATE THEATRICS: Lipscomb University's Emily Eytchison

As Nashville's winter of 2015 rolls onward into spring - filled with classes and curricula, debuting productions and the seemingly never-ending auditions for summer work - there's a whole new set of challenges facing the multitudes of young actors all over the country continuing their journey toward stardom. You're sure to find some of the best and brightest young theater artists on the campuses of Nashville colleges and universities, which are virtually teeming with artists plying their trade and honing their skills on stages both academic and local.

Everything about Emily Eytchison, a Brentwood native now in her senior year at Nashville's Lipscomb University, says she's an actress. Outgoing and beautiful, quirky and even somewhat introverted (which might seem surprising coming from someone who is so obviously at home in front of an audience), she seems destined to a life theatrical, one filled with wonder, imagination and new discoveries around every piece of scenery...

After a busy 2014/15 academic year - she was assistant director for Singin' in the Rain at Springhouse Theatre last summer and a 2014 First Night Most Promising Actor - Emily opens in Nashville Repertory Theatre's production of Arthur Miller's classic Death of a Salesman, an opportunity that puts her square in the middle of a cast of Nashville theater favorites, including Chip Arnold, Rona Carter, Eric Pasto-Crosby and more.

To Nashville Rep's Death of a Salesman, Emily brings her own estimable resume, which includes the iconic role of Fantine in Lipscomb's production of Les Miserables, Olivia in Twelfth Night at Lipscomb, the Wicked Witch in Shrek the Musical (a joint production of Circle Players and Lipscomb University), and understudying Helena in Nashville Shakespeare Festival's A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Although it sounds cliché, Emily Eytchison really is a force of nature, always in motion, often lost in thought and always marching along to the beat of her own drum. In short, she's one of the names you should probably remember in the years to come...

How has your college career evolved over the past few years? Has it lived up to your expectations? To say my college theater career has been, well, dramatic would be an understatement. In 2010, I started as a freshman at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, pursuing a University Scholars degree (an awesome, über nerdy Honors college major) with an emphasis in Theatre Studies. I switched my major to Theatre Performance, but then, at the end of my sophomore year in 2012, I left Baylor and took a semester off trying to decide if I ever wanted to touch theatre again.

Two things drew me back in: a chance to assistant direct a production of White Christmas with a beloved mentor, Leslie Milstead, and the news that Lipscomb University, the school to which I was transferring, was doing Twelfth Night in spring, 2013. Jon Royal coached me for my audition, and Denice Hicks gave me a chance to play a dream role - Olivia - my first semester there, and I got sucked back in. It's been a joyous, tumultuous ride ever since.

What do you like best about going to school at Lipscomb? I love the people. I absolutely love them. Because theater departments are typically fairly small, it's very important to find a community with which you are compatible. Baylor has an excellent theatre program, and I received top-notch training while I was there, but the department itself was not a great fit for me. I wanted to be closer to home, more connected to the people I knew and loved in the artistic community here in Nashville, and I was drawn to Lipscomb's mission statement and big dreams. I've watched this department tackle incredibly difficult shows - Les Miserables and West Side Story, in particular - and rise to the challenge. Lipscomb's theatre department has been my family over the past two years (two years in January), and I am going to miss them very much when I graduate in May.

I didn't really have a plan when I started school. As evidenced by my multiple major changes, I've been tossing about for a purpose, a dream. My greatest love is, I think, in the written word, but I am also deeply in love with performing and directing. Actually, I get disoriented the more I think about how many different things I love. All I know now is that I define success in my life and my art as a chance to tell stories that give people hope. And real hope--hope that gives the ugly parts of life a hard look in the face, and still finds that there is beauty in life, and that it is worth living.

What collegiate theatrical moment looms largest in your memory? It's hard to top singing "I Dreamed a Dream" and dying Fantine's gloriously tragic death onstage, as opposed to just in my living room. And yet, I don't think I've ever grown so much as a person as when I went from being a major player to the 2013 season to a member of the ensemble in 2014. I've heard directors say plenty of times before to actors disappointed over not getting a lead role, "Some shows just aren't your show."

I used to shrug and nod at this, but now, I'm beginning to disagree. If you are cast in a show, and it is a show you were aching to do, and you did not get the part you wanted, it is still your show. It is still your chance to find joy in doing what you love. I promise. I promise, you will learn so much about loving yourself and loving the people around you when you find the joy in even the small parts of big stories.

What advice would you offer to high school students considering making the plunge that you've made? Take your time. Seriously. Don't get swept up in the anxiety of college auditions, because believe me, you can't outthink the process. I think if I had taken a year off before launching into college, I might have been a little more settled in my own skin. A little more prepared to take on the chaotic world of college theatre. I made a lot of mistakes and hurt some people I loved on my journey to find myself (which I think is ultimately the case for all of us). I wouldn't delete a single chapter from my story, but I think I could have avoided some of the pain I encountered (and caused) if I had allowed myself time to breathe, and really consider what I wanted to do, before I started school.

You can embrace uncertainty, yes, but you also don't have to rush off blindly into the unknown just because you feel pressured by the accelerating panic of senior year. And don't be afraid to dream what you dream. Not just what you think you should dream, based on how you've invested your time and talents so far, but what you know, deep down, you would always grieve if you could not do. That's your dream.