HIGH SCHOOL DRAMA: Hume-Fogg's Karissa Wheeler

Welcome, dear ladies and gentlemen and all supporters of theater (both local and otherwise) to our weekly installment of High School Drama, our regular feature series that introduces BWW Nashville readers to some of Music City's hardest working teenaged actors. Fortunately, we live in a city made all the more unique and interesting by the creative people who live here and create art every day. We are especially fortunate in the theater community to be blessed by scores of talented individuals who make a night in the theater both compelling and challenging.

Throughout Middle Tennessee, high school theater is growing by leaps and bounds, led by outstanding educators like Mary Ellen Smith, Matt Smith, Paula Flautt, Daron Bruce, Jenny Noel and Will Butler, and their students are making their mark on the theater community, not only in academic productions but in community and professional projects, as well.

This week, the High School Drama spotlight falls upon Karissa Wheeler, the 17-year-old senior class president at Nashville's Hume-Fogg Academic High School. Charming and exuberant, Karissa is doing the whole senior year experience to the hilt, leading her classmates in their final year at one of the nation's leading high schools, and somehow finding time to pursue her passion of theater. As one of 2014 First Night Honoree Daron Bruce's theater students, she's appeared in HFA productions and she's been onstage this year at The Keeton Theatre, playing Kim McAfee in Bye, Bye Birdie and at Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre in its summer production of Grease.

Taking a break from her presidential duties, her tours of potential colleges (and filing all those applications in the process), planning events with her classmates and getting ready for her next show, Karissa answered our High School Drama questions, so you can get to know her and, quite fankly, adore her just as much as we do...

What's your theatrical goal in life? From a young age, I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life singing, acting, and dancing. During my lifetime, I want to perform for as many audiences as I can, have an opportunity to portray as many challenging characters as I can, and grow as a performer. I am grateful for the Nashville theater community that I have been so lucky to call "home" for the past eight years; I will always credit it as the place where my love of performing first began.

If you could play any role in any show....what would you choose? I have three roles that I hope to portray at some point in my life: Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady, Bonnie in Bonnie and Clyde, and Morticia in The Addams Family. All three roles are completely different from the other. Not only would I get to sing about the "rain in Spain," and explain how "dyin' ain't so bad," but I would also get to experience life "when you're an Addams." Hume-Fogg's spring musical is Avenue Q; I'm auditioning for "Lucy," which is among my dream roles as well.

What's been your best theatrical experience to date? From Hume-Fogg shows directed by the wonderful Daron Bruce, musically directed by the amazing Lisa Forbis, and choreographed by the remarkable Pam Atha, to playing "Kim" in Bye Bye Birdie at Keeton (and working with Ginger Newman and Jaime London), to having a blast at Chaffin's Barn in Grease over the summer (directed by Martha Wilkinson), I've been blessed with so many memorable experiences doing theatre. To date, my most favorite theatrical experience is definitely playing Annabelle in Oddly Puddle, written and directed by one of my biggest role models, Cori Anne Laemmel at The Theater Bug. I got to be a part of bringing a beautiful and touching story to life while raising awareness for autism. It makes doing theatre even more fun when you're able to what you love while making a difference. I am so grateful to Cori, Erin and Graham Richardson and the Special Education Advocacy Center for that incredible opportunity.

Who are your favorite actors? My favorite stage actress is Laura Osnes, while Jeremy Jordan is my favorite actor. Osnes as Bonnie and Jordan as Clyde made my heart sing.

What show that you've never seen would you most like to see? The Pirate Queen by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil is a show I have never seen, but hope to in the future. I found it during a research session about Irish musicals. The musical is based on the true story of Grace O'Malley, the real Irish "pirate queen." The soundtrack is incredible, so I have no doubt a staged version would be even more amazing.

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