Seniors seek leading roles in final year
For many high-school actors, senior year offers a chance to stand out onstage one last time. As part of our 17th annual high-school theater preview, The Dispatch profiles two Columbus-area students who are striving to cap their progress with leading roles.
Cole Frasher
GAHANNA LINCOLN
As an actor, Frasher is playing catch-up.
“I’d love to go out with a bang in my senior year,” the 17-year-old said. “But I have to try harder than if I’d done this for years.”
After playing on the boys’ lacrosse team for two years,
he quit sports last year and took his first theater class.
Noticing his enthusiasm and flair for comedy, drama teacher Cindi Macioce cast him a year ago in one of the romantic-comedy vignettes in “Almost, Maine,” which explores love and loss.
“The applause,” Frasher ■
said, “was an incredible feeling.”
After sparking laughter in the spring in a comical supporting role in “Annie Get Your Gun,” the Wild West musical comedy by Irving Berlin, Frasher will play foppish Frederick in November in the British backstage farce “Noises Off.”
“Cole is willing to do and learn everything,” Macioce said. “Coming into this later, with his attitude of not giving up that he developed in sports ... has fueled his fire to succeed.”
Frasher, who has dyslexia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, must work harder to master dialogue.
“Sometimes, I’ll skip over words or switch the order of words or the similar letters ‘b’ and ‘d,’ so cold readings or auditions can be a struggle,” he said.
Among his coping strategies: self-deprecating humor, advance disclosure of his disability to others, and slow reads to improve accuracy.
“He’s never really let obstacles bother him,” said his father, Van Frasher, a court-diversion officer for Franklin County Children’s Services who teaches karate on the side.
Encouraged by his dad and growing up as “a guy doing guy things,” Cole mastered karate over 12 years to become a third-degree black belt.
“Doing karate showed me that I can perform before a large audience,” he said.
Looking ahead to auditions for the spring musical “In the Heights,” by LinManuel Miranda, Cole has been taking private voice lessons.
“Dyslexia has been a challenge ... but from his first stage role, he’s never looked back,” his mother, Kim Frasher, said of the younger of her two children.
“Cole is different when onstage. He just lights up.”
Perhaps that’s why he plans to study acting in college.
His advice to other students?
“It’s never too late to try something new.”
Maggie Walter
THOMAS WORTHINGTON
Her drama teacher spotted Walter’s potential early on.
Four years ago, Walter was one of just a few freshmen cast in the school production of the 1960s-era corporate-satire musical “How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.”
“I was a chorus member, but it felt like a starring role,” said Walter, now 18. “After that, I looked at theater way more seriously.”
Also a lacrosse player, Walter balanced extracurricular activities in the 10th grade after landing a major role in the Broadway musical “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.”
“Doing sports and theater was a juggling act,” she said. “I learned that, wherever I am, my full attention must be there to do my best.”
Impressed, drama director Justin Nawman cast Walter last school year as the conniving Artful Dodger in the British period musical “Oliver!”
“Maggie has great comedic timing,” he said. “Often, she makes smart and funny choices on lines or actions without prompting.”
Giving up sports this year to act, Walter will play a key comic role in December in the sketch-comedy anthology “All in the Timing” and will audition for the 2018 musicals “Guys and Dolls” and “Legally Blonde.”
“She has worked really hard, sacrificing other activities,” said her father, David Walter. “Maggie realizes you can’t achieve big things without hard work ... and stretching yourself.”
Her mother isn’t surprised by Maggie’s success.
“She’s got God-given confidence and a natural ability to memorize everybody’s lines,” Lynne Walter said.
Nawman said Walter has the talent to set herself apart.
“There’s lots of competition, but Maggie is wildly talented and a strong leader who’s carried a show before.”
Whatever happens, Walter plans to act in college and pursue a theater career.
“Through acting, I’ve become more confident,” she said.
“As a kid, I wondered if I might become famous, ... but my focus has shifted ... to how to make my performance mean something. Each character I’ve played has taught me something about people and the importance of empathy.”
Her advice to other students: “Find what you’re passionate about, and give it your all.”