Sophomore Miranda Slingluff has been performing for years, and now all her hard work has paid off, landing her the biggest role she has ever played as Velma in the upcoming musical “Chicago.”

Slingluff started doing junior productions when she was six years old, but it wasn’t until she was in middle school that she started treating it seriously.

Slingluff learned that the fall production would be “Chicago” at the end of her freshman year, which meant she had the whole summer to prepare by getting to know the production and its characteristics.

Right after the audition she got an email for a callback for the next day.

“[The callback] was a lot more stressful, but also exciting because at this point you know ‘Ok, I’m being considered,’”  Slingluff said.

Slingluff left one of her classes early to be one of the first people to see the cast list and find that she landed one of the lead roles, Velma.

“[When looking at the cast list] my jaw hit the floor,” Slingluff said. “I felt this huge weight lifted off of me because I had been thinking about this for four months.”  

Fine and Performing Arts teacher and director Maura Morrison, described Slingluff as having positive energy, humility and talent.

“Her audition was bold because she took big risks,” Morrison said. “She has a terrific singing voice; she picks up dance well. She is a triple threat.”

Slingluff said everyone has been extremely supportive of her, especially the upperclassmen involved in the production. They were the first people to text her “congratulations” after hearing the news of her role.

“I am very happy to say that no one has been rude, and I’m sure that some people maybe disagree with the decision, but everyone has been very professional and nice about it,”  Slingluff said.

As she prepares for the musical’s opening, Slingluff is working hard to ensure her constant improvement.

“You can be happy where you are at, but you can always be striving for more, and I think that’s how you get successful,”  Slingluff said.

This December, freshman Sarah Boush will be playing the iconic role of Roxie Hart in this year’s school musical “Chicago.” Boush has been involved with music for years and it has become one of the main focuses of her life.

When Boush initially auditioned for “Chicago” she did not expect to get the lead and was both worried and excited to play such an iconic role.

“I just assumed, being a freshman I would be in the ensemble, and the leads would go to the older girls,” Boush said.

When the cast list was first posted, there was a bit of speculation by the rest of the cast on whether or not a freshman was prepared to play the biggest role in the show.

 “I think they were right to speculate,” Boush said. “I really understand why some people might have been shocked or upset to see a freshman playing a lead.”

Boush has been acting ever since she played the role of Bagheera in “The Jungle Book.” Some of her more recent roles include playing Elle in “Legally Blonde” and Millie in “Thoroughly Modern Millie.”

Boush has been musical from a young age, and she currently plays three instruments and takes vocal lessons.

“I started to take piano lessons in kindergarten… and I have been playing cello since third grade and clarinet since fourth,” Boush said. “I did my first play in fourth grade and few years after that I started taking voice lessons.”

Chorus teacher Katherine Waters is the vocal director for the play. She was one of the multiple people who had a hand in choosing Boush for the lead.

“[Boush] is really hard working and tries hard to do whatever is asked of her,” Waters said. “Sarah has a very wide vocal range and is able to sing notes that are necessary for the role with ease…She was exactly what we were looking for in a lead.”

“I have been working for this for so long,” Boush said. “It shows that hard work will always pay off.”