We’re the Millars
At first glance, the two may just seem like a pair of really close friends. It’s true — freshman Rachel Millar and junior Samantha Millar are best friends, hanging out with the same tight-knit group of friends and spending most of their day together. But they’re more than that — they’re sisters.
“We’re already really, really close as siblings,” Rachel said. “A lot of people have been super confused because they’re like, ‘Oh, you look so similar but you talk like friends, so, I don’t really understand if you’re related or not.”
Because they’re so close, they share a lot of interests, including their love for drama from a young age. After trying out Featuring American Musicals in Education at Kennedy Middle School, Samantha continued to pursue her love for theatre by taking Drama her freshman year. Rachel followed, taking FAME at KMS and enrolling in Drama this year.
“We both kind of gravitated towards [drama] because we’re kind of similar in the sense that we are very extroverted people at times,” Samantha said. “We like to be expressive and to speak up and join communities.”
Although they both participate in productions, the two have never actually gotten to work together due to their two-year age difference. At least, until now.
While the sisters are still in different classes, MVHS’s production of “Saturday Night Live,” which allows any student to audition regardless of grade level or acting experience, has given the sisters a taste of what it’s like to perform together.
“We were put in the same group and it was just so funny because that was our first time being in the same program at the same time trying out for the same thing,” Samantha said.
As close as they are, the sisters’ first time working together didn’t go all that smoothly.
“There was one part where we had to decide amongst ourselves who was going to read what part,” Rachel said. “And there was this one part that we both wanted to read for because we have really similar style.”
Samantha expands on the scenario, explaining her side of the story.
“I was pretty angry about it, because we both wanted to try out a Southern accent and there were limited roles on characters that had those accents,” Samantha said. “I felt like I had been kind of lenient earlier, so I was like, ‘No, I am doing this part whether you like it or not.'”
Frustrations aside, the pair still loves working together. Both of them can be seen overflowing with pride at the other’s performances and empathizing with her sibling’s hard work. For Samantha, seeing Rachel perform fills her with happiness.
“I’m the kind of person who gets chills during really good performances,” Samantha said. “Getting chills from her performance is just a really cool moment because I know she’s doing well, she’s having fun and she’s kicking butt while she does it.”
It’s the Nevitts
“You guys better do it or I’m disowning you.”
This is the warning senior Grace Nevitt gave to her younger siblings, sophomore Bryce Nevitt and freshman Adrienne Nevitt, when each of them were deciding whether to take drama their freshman year. All of them had done some sort of Drama production as little kids and participated in FAME at Kennedy Middle School, so the next step was obvious: to enroll in beginning drama at MVHS.
“I was like, ‘you’re going to enjoy drama so much [and] there’s more things you learn,'”Grace said. “You really grow as an actor so when they came in I was hoping that they would be as excited as I was.”
As the oldest, Grace was the “leader” of the siblings when it came to their involvement in drama. She began acting in fourth grade, when her best friend asked her to join her in auditioning for the school musical. Grace ended up getting the lead role, which helped her realize that she wanted to continue acting. Both Bryce and Adrienne, however, didn’t go into acting as confidently as their sister had.
“My brother was a little hesitant at first,” Grace said. “But I’m like ‘keep doing it, you won’t regret it.'”
For Adrienne, following in her siblings’ footsteps was even harder because of her slight stage fright.
“My sister was considering not doing theater for one year,” Grace said. “She was really anxious on stage, and I was like, ‘You can can always do technical stuff like behind the scenes and all that. You don’t have to give up on theater just yet.'”
And so Adrienne didn’t give up. According to Bryce, Adrienne began auditioning for and landing bigger roles. Looking back at their journey, Grace is proud to see her siblings on the stage and feels it is touching to see them doing what she holds dear to her heart.
“I remember [FAME teacher Shelley Durbin], the instructor, was like ‘Ooh it’s the Nevitt’s!’ We all passed through and now [drama teacher Sara Capule] has to deal with all three of us,” Grace said.
While Grace is the oldest sibling of the three, she considers the older friends she has made in drama can her older siblings. They do the same things she does for her younger siblings — give advice, help with work and show her the ropes.
“It’s nice to have [someone] older than you that’s sort of looking out for you,” Grace said. “Theater [has] really allowed me to gain older brothers and sisters, and it’s just really nice to have that.”