Junior Emily Ruiz is working hard in this year’s fall musical “Little Shop of Horrors” as the female lead, Audrey, who is finding herself while experiencing abuse and violence.

Ruiz has been acting and singing since middle school, working with many teachers. She credits those teachers with helping her gain the skills and confidence to audition for a lead role. In this musical, Audrey faces many obstacles Ruiz has not faced, making it challenging to portray the character’s complex experiences. 

“This year, the role that I applied for was a little out of my range, so I was excited when I got it,” Ruiz said.

Ruiz, a busy student-athlete, surprised herself when she was cast as Audrey. She looks forward to showing off her singing, acting and dancing skills when the curtains rise, and she’s thankful for the boost of confidence from her voice teacher. 

“My voice teacher [believed in me] because we were rehearsing for auditions and she said I should go for this role,” Ruiz said. “She thought I had a shot because I really sounded good in the songs we were doing and she knew I could pull it off. So, I wasn’t going to go for the role I got, but I did end up going for it.”

Ruiz worked hard for this role once she was convinced to audition for the lead. She was inspired and pushed by her singing teacher, whom she works with once a week at the Hanover Theater. Ruiz, who has been involved in theater since seventh grade, expressed that it is routine for her to try for the musical every school year.

“I’m not that good at dancing, but singing is really fun for me,” Ruiz said. “I’ve never done a stronger character where I have to belt. I’ve mostly done soprano roles, so it’s really cool to show off this part of my voice.”

While a soprano role is a high-pitched singing voice, she is excited about this new role because it allows her to show different parts of her voice in solos, duets, full cast pieces and within the lines she speaks. However, some aspects of her character’s story are a challenge.

“It’s difficult to find how I’m supposed to act because my character is experiencing domestic violence,” Ruiz said. “I have to be scared but also not too scared and try to hide it from the other person who’s in the scene. It’s a weird balance but it’s a serious topic that I consider a lot when I am doing those scenes.” 

Ruiz says one of the hardest parts of preparing is memorizing her lines and not procrastinating, although she mostly focuses on the musical’s important themes. Ruiz is dedicated to portraying the character as best she can.

Music director and Biology teacher Brian Kelly cast Ruiz because she fit every aspect of the role. He believes she has everything it takes and knows she is open to learning and exploring Audrey’s character.

“Emily has worked hard over the last three years and has grown so much, and I think that Emily brings this energy to the role and shows excitement and willingness to improve,” Kelly said. “She tries to find who the character is and is bringing an amazing amount of dedication to figure out who Audrey is. She is also bringing a lot of character to it instead of shying away from it.”

According to Kelly, as a character, Audrey has very low self-esteem as she finds herself in a relationship that could be abusive and she attempts to find her worth. 

“Emily is really taking that role on and trying to find how to develop that character and she is just doing that with grace,” Kelly said. 

Kelly looks forward to seeing Ruiz’s work pay off on stage. 

“Emily plays very well in all three categories [singing, dancing and acting],” Kelly said. “Her singing is perfect for the role; she’s doing a great job. [Her] acting is awesome…and it’s a tough accent she’s trying to do as well, but I think Emily is doing a very well-rounded performance.”

What Ruiz values most is the support of all her mentors, specifically her music teacher Olivia Goliger.

“My music teacher Ms. [Goliger] here at Algonquin is also someone who has believed in me since my freshman year up,” Ruiz said. “She knew that I had it in me and that I could do this.”

Ruiz enjoys rehearsals and working with the other students on set and believes the audience will enjoy this show.

“The audience will really like the scene where the dentist sings,” Ruiz said. “He’s weird and creepy and when he’s about to pull teeth out from a patient, things go wrong. There’s a funny song about it.”

Ruiz looks forward to making the audience laugh and seeing their reactions after all their hard work as a team.