BCHS grad enjoys spotlight on stage

In some ways, Stella Roy is a bit of an old soul.

After all, she enjoys tap dancing, is playing a role on stage made famous more than 70 years ago and whose favorite musical artists include the Carpenters and ABBA.

And, she’s just 19.

The 2024 BCHS grad has put that old soul to good use as she is currently playing the female lead for the Super Summer Theatre’s production of “Singin’ in the Rain” at Spring Mountain State Park. She’s playing the part of Kathy Selden, made famous by Debbie Reynolds in the movie of the same name, which co-starred Gene Kelly and Donald O’Connor. Ironically, Reynolds was also 19 when she played Kathy Selden.

The musical will be performed Sept. 11-13, Sept. 18-20 and Sept. 25-27.

“I thought there was no way I’d get to perform with these people,” she said of her fellow cast members. “I got a call one afternoon following an audition and they wanted me to play Kathy Seldon. I said, ‘if you’re lying, please stop.’ I could hear them all laughing in the background. We started rehearsals almost immediately.”

In high school, Roy performed in just one play, that being “Arsenic and Old Lace” and two shows with Dance Etc. before graduating. But her interest in being on stage dates back much further.

“In second grade I had my breakthrough role as a ladybug,” she said. “I then did choir in elementary school all the way through middle school with Lanette Coker and then I joined the Red Mountain Choir, who I have been with since my freshman year of high school. It was my senior year when I thought that this was something I wanted to pursue. At that point it felt attainable.”

In the year since high school, Roy has performed in “Little Shop of Horrors” through Signature Productions in Las Vegas, which she considers her breakthrough role. It was there that she met the producer of “Singin in the Rain,” Nakaze Harris, who asked her to audition. She was asked to do so back in September of last year.

“I thought that would be so amazing,” Roy said of potentially being in “Singin in the Rain.” “I thought maybe I’d get to be in the ensemble. I had no expectations of being a lead.”

For the musical, those auditing could do so for any role. Each sang one song and if the producers liked what they heard, they would get a callback. She was called back the same day and a week later, they had both a singing and dancing audition.

Needless to say, she got the part.

“Everyone knows the plot,” she said of “Singin in the Rain.” “But after I got the part, I did a lot of research on the character and watched the movie a bunch of times. But I’ve tried to play the character in my own way.”

Her three years of tap-dancing experience, which she started in high school, has paid off as the musical combines both singing and dancing. She said the producers worked with her on her tap skills, which she now feels more comfortable with.

“I’m a singer who dances and not a dancer who sings,” she said, adding that with the current production, they had to learn an entire dance number in just two days. “At first, I thought that was crazy. But we’ve had three months to perfect the choreography and it shows.”

With “Singin in the Rain,” the cast must have not only singing and dance skills but acting ability as well.

“I’m a singer who acts and can dance,” she said, laughing. “At first, I was like, ‘Oh my, there are so many lines to learn. I could never do it.’ But you do it so many times, it just comes naturally. I’ve convinced myself that I don’t do much in the show, so I’m not very nervous.”

Moving forward, Roy said her goal is to perform on stage professionally and make a career out of it, which may mean eventually moving to Los Angeles or New York. In the meantime, she’s meeting a lot of choreographers and producers, which she is hoping will open even more doors.

But if that fails, she can always fall back on her original plan.

“In high school I told everyone that I was going to clown college,” she said. “Sadly, they all believed me. I wasn’t sure how to take that.”

But for now, she plans to enjoy her current role. That’s evident by the expression on her face in the poster for the musical.

“When I first saw it, I thought ‘Is that really me?’” she said of the poster. “There’s no way that I get to do that. It’s so cool that I get to play that character and act with these amazing people. It still doesn’t feel real to me.”