Nov 20, 2017

Ania Briggs is a Junior at Central Kitsap High School that also attends Olympic College for running start. Running start is a program where students can go to a college and get college credit while still being a highschool student. Ania started her journey of performing when she and her family would sit and watch American Idol. Every week she would sing along and dance with the contestants of the show. At her grandparent’s house where she’s lived most of her life, they had a deck that funnily resembles a stage. While on that make-shift stage she would use the gardening hose and her iPod to create her own private concert.

“I first discovered my love for music when I started watching American Idol with my family and I just loved it. Every single week I’d go crazy for it. I would sing along and do dance moves. I feel like my love of musical theater grew before I even knew what musical theater was.” Ania says.

Some teachers at the Central Kitsap Middle School encouraged her to try out for some shows going on at the time and she just fell in love. She fell in love with the people, the community, and most of all the art and she’s been doing it ever since. Ania started singing in a choir when she was in second grade in her church’s choir. Her choir also did a couple musicals where she thinks she got the itch for theatre.

“I did choir all throughout elementary school I didn’t do it in seventh grade, then I started it back up again in eighth grade. I’ve been doing it ever since.” miss Brigg states.

Ania really digs deep into her roles that she gets. She hopes that the roles help grow her as a person and for the actual role she hopes that she can give the role what it needs to be great.

“When it comes to theater and really anything, I don’t care if I mess up or make a fool of myself. What I’m caring about is my growth,” she says.

Ania has auditioned for a huge production called The Rising Star Project. She first saw the show in March of 2017 with her choir and that’s when the lust for being on the show started and when the email from The Rising Star Project popped onto her screen Ania didn’t really know what to feel. Should she be happy or should she be terrified.

“I was kinda afraid to open it because I didn’t know if i got in. At first I was saying to myself should I open it will it tell me I got in. I finally decided to open it because there was only one way to find out.” she shares.

Sometimes Ania will go onto the Fifth Avenue website and look at the 360 model of the stage. Shed look out onto the stage and focus. She’d put herself on that stage with all the makeup, the headset, the wig and transport herself there. Standing in awe that she was really doing this. That stage is where she is going to be standing, acting, performing come March.