Collegiate Theatrics: Belmont University's LEXIE McENTIRE

Summer's over and autumn has finally arrived in Tennessee, bringing along with it scores of aspiring theater artisans (pursuing every possible creative opportunity in their path) who call the Volunteer State home as students at some of the state's best-known colleges and universities. From all over the country - well, all over the world, for that matter - theater students on Tennessee campuses are already hard at work on this semester's season of shows and productions designed to teach and to edify, offering them countless ways to hone their craft.

Which brings us to this year's first installment of our popular feature/interview series, Collegiate Theatrics, featuring Belmont University sophomore Mary-Alexis McEntire, who is perhaps better known to friends, family and fans as Lexie McEntire. The Fairfax, Virginia, native is in the initial throes of her second year at the school - known widely for its theater and dance and musical theatre programs - as another young artist in a long line of Belmont students (then and now) making their names known on stages all over the globe.

Having just recently performed as part of the dance ensemble of the critically acclaimed and audience-lauded Studio Tenn/Tennessee Performing Arts Center co-production of Evita, starring Eden Espinosa, Anthony Crivello and Ben Crawford (which is but one listing on her burgeoning resume), earlier this year she played Maria in West Side Story for the Little Theatre of Alexandria (Virginia) and was dance captain in the Street Theatre Company production of In The Heights. Coming up on the theatrical horizon for McEntire is her performance as Essie in the Belmont University Musical Theatre production of Parade, with music by Jason Robert Brown (The Last Five Years) and a book by Alfred Uhry (Driving Miss Daisy, The Last Night of Ballyhoo)

Before Broadway comes calling (and it will, no doubt), here is your chance to get to know more about Lexie McEntire...

What's your college experience at Belmont been like so far? Has it lived up to its hype? I think the best way to put it would be that being a musical theatre major is everything I hoped for, but nothing I expected...If that makes sense. It's as amazing as I thought it would be, and I've become a more well-rounded performer than I was prior to college far faster than I could have imagined, but there are a lot of aspects that I wasn't expecting.

There are, of course, a few minor disappointments in any program You May Go to. Mine at Belmont have been our lack of dance studios, and the fact that I wasn't able to perform in a main stage show last year. What outweighed those small grievances though, were the things that hugely exceeded my expectations. I wasn't expecting my freshman showcase last year to be the amazing experience it was.

Right off the bat we were given the opportunity to not only perform but write, arrange, choreograph, design and collaborate on our own show. It was more creative space than I had ever been trusted with. I wasn't expecting voice lessons to be as well organized and beneficial as they are. I've taken voice lessons for years, but never had anything of this magnitude.

A weekly voice lesson can't quite measure up to what you get from the perfect combination of a weekly voice lesson, a weekly rehearsal with your accompanist, and a weekly voice seminar. It really doesn't get much better than that.

My biggest surprise though is that Belmont gave me the opportunity to perform in two professional shows in Nashville before I'm even in a musical at Belmont. Many musical theatre programs don't allow students to perform outside of school, but Belmont encourages it as long as the companies are willing to work with our class schedules, and with Belmont's great reputation in Nashville, the companies are usually more than willing.

I was able to perform in Street Theatre's In the Heights last spring, alongside the head of our program, Nancy Allen! Getting to be in a show with someone that high above you at school... That's rare. And it's an amazing opportunity. Then this fall I was able to be in Studio Tenn/TPAC's Evita which would not have been possible if they were not in a partnership with Belmont. I am so very grateful that I'm able to go to school and work professionally at the same time. I was not expecting that when I auditioned for schools, and it has been the best surprise ever.

What's your favorite thing about studying at Belmont? My favorite part of studying at Belmont is my voice teacher, Jo Lynn Burks! She is an amazing voice teacher and mentor, and she brightens my day every time I talk to her. She is a truly remarkable, spunky, crazy-talented woman and a huge role model of mine!

What does the future hold for you and have your aspirations changed since you've now an experienced college student? My future plans haven't really changed. I still plan on a professional career in Musical Theatre, if God allows me one. And I still plan to move to New York at some point. I will say though, working in a city other than New York with amazing theatre has opened me up to the idea of exploring other places I can work. I'm not 100% set on just New York and Broadway; there are so many opportunities.

What collegiate theatrical moment looms largest in your mind? I'm still just a sophomore, but I think about my senior recital a whole lot. Most programs have the senior showcase, which we have too, but we also have the crazy opportunity of the senior recital. This is a show that we write, direct and star in ourselves, to show what we've learned and how far we've come. It's a lot of pressure. I have no idea what I'll do for mine so I'm terrified of it, but also crazy excited. I'm working on a senior's recital this year as his stage manager/assistant director, and it's wild. He's come up with an amazing show. It's giving me high expectations for myself when it's my turn. We shall see what ideas come in the next couple of years.

What advice would you offer to high school students considering making the plunge? That's a tough one. There are so many things. I knew I wanted to study musical theatre or I didn't want to go to college at all, so I really went for it. I auditioned for 14 of the top programs in the country, got into some, got rejected from some, and in the end I chose Belmont and I'm happy with that choice. A lot of people who did full audition tours like I did say it's crazy and don't do it. It ruined their senior year, it was too stressful, etc. I don't agree though. I wouldn't change my college audition experience for the world. If you can keep up with your work in high school and stay sane, why not audition at every program you think you could be happy at? It only maximizes your choices in the end.

The key is how you approach these auditions. You can't see yourself as being judged, or think whether or not you're "good enough" for a certain school. You have to see each audition as an opportunity to do what you love in front of some important people. And that's it. Once you leave the audition, just write a thank you note to each of the auditors, and then make like Queen Elsa and LET IT GO. There's nothing more you can do. You can't sit around dwelling on every little mistake you made. The more auditions you do, the better and easier they will get. And never let someone tell you that you're not going to get into a certain program because they already have someone "just like you." No one is just like you. There are a million brunette dancers with soprano voices in this world but guess what: not one of them is just like me. The sooner you see the things that make you special and stop comparing yourself to the other people in those programs, the sooner you'll be able to accept the yesses and the nos and still be okay with where you end up. You'll get where you're supposed to go. Your journey is yours and no one else's.