When graduating from Plymouth State, many students wonder what they’re going to accomplish in the working world. After leaving the small campus in the heart of N.H, students are expected to find a job and become successful in their choice of field. Business majors make their way into offices and Biology majors into laboratories, but have students ever thought about what it takes for Theatre major’s to make their way into the job market? Allie Duhamel, a graduating senior with a major in Theatre is showing that there is someplace to shine outside of Plymouth State.
Like most actors and actresses, Duhamel knew that she was made for the stage at a very young age, “I’ve wanted to do this since I was ten years old,” Duhamel said. Making her way through school musicals and plays such as “West Side Story,” “Fame,” and most prominently playing the character of Belle from “Beauty and the Beast” here at Plymouth State, Duhamel made the realization once at college that becoming a serious actress in the real world was not just difficult, but terrifying, “I’ve been scared for the past three years thinking about what I’m going to do once I graduate. I’ve never done anything as substantial as other traveling actresses and actors who have been working in the real world.” Duhamel said. One of the moments that impacted Duhamel’s career the most was when she was persuaded by a good friend to try out for a musical, “The Twenty-fifth Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” in New York City, “I really didn’t want to go, and I made up every excuse in the book not to.” Duhamel said. “Once I ran out of excuses, I decided just to tough it out and go.” Making her way to The Big Apple, Duhamel woke up at the ripe hour of five in the morning and set off to the audition by herself on the already crowded streets. After seeing she was number four-hundred-something on the list to audition, Duhamel realized that she needed to have fun with it, “I’ve realized, especially after that experience, that it’s not about being talented. It’s about what the show needs and what you need from the show” Duhamel said.
With a newfound positive outlook and attitude, Duhamel is already experiencing success even before she graduated. This past week, she was hired by the National Theatre for Arts and Education where she will be traveling across the United States doing what she loves most, “In September, I’ll be moving down to Connecticut where I will rehearse for two weeks and then I’ll be traveling across the nation,” Duhamel said. For a graduating Theatre major, it’s practically a dream come true, “There’s nothing I want to do more.”
Not only will she be traveling the country beginning in September, but Duhamel was also offered a job for the summer before she leaves, “At the New England Theatre Conference, the artistic director of the Seacoast Repertory Theatre hired me to act in their upcoming production entitled “The Pajama Game Duhamel said. The NETC conference, held in Natick, Mass., is a very serious audition in which students must be invited to attend. Once filling out an application and getting accepted, the actor or actress auditions for a number of productions at the same time, “It’s really intimidating, and most people don’t even apply until they’re older,” Duhamel said.
Now that graduation is approaching, Duhamel has a new viewpoint on the way things work out in life, “Over the past few months, I’ve realized that good always comes out of the bad,” she said. With her resume now starting to build up, Duhamel proves that even with a major in Theatre, there are places to go after Plymouth State.
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