“I first started doing theater in elementary school.  My school was so small that all of us had to do the musicals and Christmas shows, so my very first roles were not by choice,” said Alayna Werner. Since then, Alayna has performed in many shows including various parts in elementary and middle school plays, and at North in the ensemble of Mary Poppins, A princess in The Little Mermaid, singer and ensemble in The White Snake, and in ensemble in The White Snake One Act.

“My family encouraged me to try out for my very first show at Appleton North and have helped me to continue on in the world of theater.”

Of her theater experience at North she says: “Everyone tries to say that this team or that group will become like family, but I have never experienced this as deeply as I have with theater. Everyone is accepting and likes you for who you are. We all encourage each other and work for hours upon hours together to create a beautiful and meaningful show, and this creates a special bond between all of us.”

Good theater is built from support from a community of supporters who truly believe in you.

“My biggest supporters are my family and friends. My family encouraged me to try out for my very first show at Appleton North and have helped me to continue on in the world of theater. My parents have driven me to countless practices and helped out at concessions and volunteered time to support the theater department. My sister has helped out as a volunteer and attended almost every Little Mermaid show while the rest of my family has supported me by donating money and coming to see the shows I have been in. My friends inside and out of theater have encouraged me to do my very best onstage and have encouraged me to not be embarrassed of any mistakes that I made.”

Theater can’t happen without some crazy experiences.

“There are so many stories that I could tell, but one of my favorite stories occurred during the musical in 2014, Mary Poppins. During one of the shows, the fire alarm went off in the middle of a shift change. Everyone had to go outside and stand in the rain for 20 minutes and about half of the audience left. After we went back inside, we started the show again and performed the last part of the musical the best we ever had. The audience that was still left was a wonderful audience and was very supportive of us.”

Why does Alayna want to continue theater after North?

“I get so much support from my family and friends, and it is one of the activities that has to do with school that I truly enjoy, even though I wind up spending a ton of hours and weekends at school during shows.”