Senior Mia Sera has already worked on five theater productions on the Milton High School stage and is preparing for her final role here.
Mia said when she moved to Milton during her sophomore year, Senior Ely Reitz suggested that she join stage crew for Musical Comedy Murders of 1940. She added that this led her to audition for Mamma Mia! later that year.
She was cast as part of the ensemble in Mamma Mia!, Tilly Evans in She Kills Monsters, Velma Kelly in Chicago, Betty Haynes in White Christmas and will play Brooke Benedict in the upcoming production of Makin It!
“When I tried theater, I enjoyed it a lot, and I was good, which I never expected,” said Mia.
Mia added her favorite part of theater is the closing night of the production. “It is so relieving when the curtain closes for the last time,” she said. “I feel so accomplished and proud of myself, as well as everybody else involved. It feels great.”
According to Mia, theater is very stressful, and everybody is in a bad mood at some point. “If somebody seems upset at you during rehearsal, they’ll be completely fine the next time you see them, because the irritation isn’t a personal thing. It’s just because so much is happening all at once,” she added.
Mia said that her biggest theater pet-peeve is when people assume that she knows more about what is going on than everybody else does. “I have no idea what I’m doing. I’m faking it until I’m making it,” she explained.
“I do believe that my skills have improved tremendously throughout the years. My confidence in earlier shows was extremely low, and I’m pretty sure the audience could tell, which really affected my performances,” said Mia. “As I began to understand theater and accept myself as a person, I quickly became so much better.”
According to Milton Theater Director Mr. Steve Aguirre, Mia’s acting has always come very naturally. “Her ability to tap into whatever emotion the character is feeling is very impressive,” he said. “She has improved greatly since She Kills Monsters, and she had a heck of a run then.”
“Mia is trustworthy, driven, motivated and a natural actor. That is why she has been featured so heavily in our productions for the last two years,” added Mr. Aguirre.
“Mia is always looking to get better at what she is doing, which is something you can’t really coach. She is never satisfied with her performances,” he said, and added that he believes it is important that actors are not “complacent.”
Mia said her favorite role was Tilly Evans in She Kills Monsters. “Tilly had so much depth to her, and I thought that whole play was just so fun,” she added.
She said that her least favorite role to play was Betty Haynes in White Christmas. “She was just so boring. We had to do a lot of extra work to give her interesting traits, which was very difficult,” added Mia.
According to Mia, she plans to attend Temple University to get a bachelor’s degree in psychology. “After that I would like to go to Temple’s law school, move to New York, and my biggest goal is to hopefully become the senator of New York City,” she added.
Mia said that she hopes she can pursue theater through adulthood. “I really want to do community theater if it’s possible with the job I’ll have. I enjoy theater so much, and I’m not sure if I’m ready to let go yet,” she added.
Mia explained how much she loves Milton’s theater community. “I’ll really miss the people; I’ve made some really good friends through theater who I’ll hopefully keep around even outside of high school,” added Mia. “I’ll also really miss the stage; I love sitting on it.”
“Come see Makin It!” said Mia, adding that she hopes to have a good audience for her final show as a Milton student. Makin It! will be staged on March 22, 23 and 24 in the Milton High School auditorium.
Tickets are available online at https://www.showtix4u.com/event-details/79438, as well as at the door on the show nights.
