College of Arts & Sciences senior Molly McGuire is used to being in the spotlight.

Currently playing one of the lead roles in the Omaha Community Playhouse’s production of “The Drowsy Chaperone,” McGuire first auditioned for the Des Moines tour of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” at  age 11. 

“My dad saw [an ad to audition] in the paper and suggested it because he thought I was too hyperactive around the house,” McGuire said.  “So we went, and 453 [people were there to] try out. They picked 30, and they picked me. It was a 30-show run playing to over 2,000 people every night. It was a cool thing to get to do when you’re 11.”

McGuire previously attended Millikin University in Decatur, Ill. before coming to Creighton halfway through her sophomore year. Unhappy with the theater program at Millikin University, she was hesitant to audition for a role in one of Creighton’s productions.

“I was in a really cut-throat theatrerprogram which I thought was what I wanted and then I got there and went to [Millikin] for three semesters and realized it was not a good fit for me,” she said. “The cut-throat competitive side of theatre is not where I excel.”

She auditioned for “Phantom,” Creighton’s spring musical last year and played the role of Belladova. She was also a member of the ensemble.

“It helped me rediscover my confidence; I was in a confidence crisis when I left [Millikin],” said McGuire.

McGuire is 6 feet tall and often finds that her height can cost her roles. After performing in “Phantom,” she auditioned for other roles within the theatre community. She auditioned for the role of Jane in a production of Tarzan. She got to the final round of callbacks before she realized that there was a tall Tarzan, with whom she would be paired with because of her height, and a short Tarzan.

“The short Tarzan was so good, and the tall Tarzan was just not,” she said.

Despite that disappointment, McGuire decided on a whim to try out for the role of Janet Van de Graaff in the Omaha Community Playhouse’s production of “The Drowsy Chaperone.”

“You should always try,” she said. “The only for sure way not to get cast is to not audition.”

She was called back within a few days of her audition- the only person called back for the role of Janet. The day after, she received a phone call with an offer for the part at the same moment Doug McDermott was being drafted into the NBA. She calls it her “draft phone call.”

From a young age, she had always loved the part of Janet in “The Drowsy Chaperone.”

“I remember watching this show’s Tony Award performance when I was in seventh grade, and my favorite performer of all time played [the role of Janet] and I remember saying ‘I can do that. I can totally play that part,’”

she said.

Now her seventh-grade dream has

come true.

“The Drowsy Chaperone” focuses on the “man in chair” who listens to records when he’s feeling sad. He puts on his favorite record, “The Drowsy Chaperone,” one afternoon, and it comes to life in his apartment. McGuire plays the role of Janet Van de Graaff, the woman in the plot of “The Drowsy Chaperone” who is giving up a life of fame for marriage.

“This is the most fun I’ve ever had playing a role,” McGuire said. “[Janet] is a little bit of a brat, and she’s a big superstar, and that’s not really me. I’m kind of low key and a little bit of a tomboy, so it’s kind of funky to play the big diva who wears floor-length sequined robes with feather boa collars.”

Amy Lane, a professor in the Fine and Performing Arts Department, was impressed with the way McGuire played the role.

“What is wonderful about Molly in this role is that she not only sings beautifully, but she dances, shows off her great comic timing in several scenes, twirls a baton, you name it and she does it,” Lane said. “She is such a joy to watch.”

It has taken McGuire quite a while to be able to do all of those things smoothly. Rehearsals for “The Drowsy Chaperone” started in July.

The performers spent six days a week piecing every part of the production- the dancing, singing and acting- together. A little more than  a week before opening night, the cast moved onto the performing stage, added the technical parts of the show and costumes.

McGuire hopes that she can at least help someone leave the show with a smile on his or her face.

“I just really hope you get there, and you’re on a 90-minute escape,” she said. “You’re along with us and having a really great time, and you laugh, and you don’t think about what’s bothering you. You just think about these silly characters and their silly dance numbers because that’s what I think musicals do. At least for a minute, they take you away.”

“The Drowsy Chaperone” runs at the Omaha Community Playhouse until

Oct. 12.

Molly McGuire playing Janet in “The Drowsy Chaperone”Andrew Marinkovich
Courtesy of the Omaha Community Playhouse