Anna Kate Vaughan, sophomore undeclared marketing major and theatre minor, finds numerous ways to get involved in the arts, both on campus and off. She participates in Trinity’s theater program and the Chamber Singers. Vaughan has an off-campus jazz gig at Sidecar in New Braunfels with Dane Bonecutter, the founder of The Collective, a network of local musicians. She is also a published poet.
The jazz singing is Vaughan’s latest off-campus addition to her artistic repertoire, and she acquired the gig through her connections with theatre.
“I tried out for a role in Footloose this summer but ended up not being able to take the opportunity,” Vaughan said. “My accompanist for my senior recital in high school, Jaime Ramirez, is the music director at the Public Theater. He also is part of The Collective and knew I liked to sing jazz, so he introduced me to Dane.”
Vaughan’s love for the stage began at age four when she was cast as a hula girl Christmas ornament in a play at her church. When she got older, she joined the All Children’s Chorus of Annapolis, Maryland.
When Vaughan was growing up, her parents frequently took her to fine arts performances, which helped spark her interest in performing.
“I used to go to college plays and had the chance to go to a few talk-backs with the actors,” Vaughan said. “I remember seeing one girl perform once and getting to talk to her after the play and thinking, ‘I want to do that.’”
Vaughan has since had the opportunity to perform on the college stage. Since her first year at Trinity, she’s been involved in four productions: A First-Years Putting On Theatre (FYPOT) play, “Vignettes of a Bugcatcher,” “Stupid F@#king Bird” and Trinity’s most recent play, “A Doll’s House, P.t 2.”
In A Doll’s House, Pt. 2, Vaughan played Emmy, a young girl whose mother had been absent for most of her life. When her mother returns after 15 years to claim her divorce papers, Emmy is put in a difficult position as the mediator between her separated parents.
“I read the script for this play when I was 16 or 17 and immediately fell in love with this play and character. I even used one of the monologues from the play for my audition for my fine arts scholarship,” Vaughan said. “This is quite literally my dream role.”
When she isn’t on the stage, Vaughan finds ways to stay busy. She’s a Gamma Chi Delta sorority member and serves as the communications chair for the Greek Council. Her position on the board has helped her during the decision-making about her major.
“I’m definitely minoring in theatre, but picking my major has been difficult. I’m leaning towards marketing, though, in large part because of my work on Greek Council,” Vaughan said.
Vaughan is extremely happy about her work within the realm of theatre and is looking forward to future shows, as well as future talk-backs with audience members.
“Younger me would be so happy to know that I get to be the other side of the talk-backs now. I want to be inspiring to other young actresses and artists, just as I was inspired,” Vaughan said. “I hope there are little girls who see me perform and think, ‘I want to be like her.’”
