Aubrey Brummett began her acting career as an understudy during her senior year at Caddo Magnet High School.  Little did she know that her love for theater would take her from Bossier Parish Community College to studying at the Roosevelt Theater Conservatory in Chicago.

Brummett knew she wanted to attend BPCC after watching their production of “Dracula” while still in high school. 

She began as the sound technician during her first year of college. Brummett says she had fun, but learned a lot by just being in the sound booth.

“I learned that the audience can see everything you do on stage and it’s made me more conscious of what I do now.”

Brummett took her first on-stage role at BPCC during the spring semester in “Leading Ladies.” That summer, she worked with Emmy Award winner Pruitt Taylor Vince and Sy Richardson in a production at LSU-Shreveport.

She returned to BPCC in the fall as Sister Lee, an 80-year-old nun at a catholic school during the 50s, in the musical production, “Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?” Brummett trained with Dr. Crawford for a year on perfecting her voice for the show.

“I received a lot of feedback from audience members about how I reminded them of a nun they had in school and that’s the reaction I wanted,” she said. “That was the first real character role I had and it wasn’t the most important role either. People assume the lead is the most important, but it’s the memorable role in a show that most people will remember.”

Brummett was chosen along with another fellow actor to participate in the Kennedy Center American Theater College Festival in Amarillo, Texas. Once there, they competed against 300 fellow actors and both successfully made it to the final 16 competitors, a feat that no other school had ever accomplished.

In the spring semester, Brummett participated in “The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940,” where she played the role of a German man impersonating a woman and won the best actress award for her performance.

In February, Brummett traveled to Chicago to audition for faculty at the Roosevelt Theater Conservatory. She performed two contrasting monologues for a judge and knew she was at the perfect place to study.

“I knew I wanted to go to Chicago and education is a huge part of my family. I went to Dr. Crawford and he told me to check out Roosevelt,” Brummett said. “Had I not gone to BPCC, I would have never heard about Roosevelt.”
Two weeks later, Brummett received the news of her acceptance to the Roosevelt Theater Conservatory.

“My dad showed up at BPCC with a Roosevelt sweatshirt and my acceptance letter as I was on my way to lunch,” Brummett said. “Chancellor Henderson happened to be walking by and he took my picture with his iPhone and still has it to this day.”

Her acceptance to the conservatory is one that most actors will never accomplish. According to Aubrey, roughly 800 musical theater candidates and 700 acting candidates auditioned this year alone. From those candidates, 25 are selected from each group, consisting of both male and female participants.

“The people accepted, including myself, want to do this with our lives. There’s absolutely no question about that,” Brummett said. “I personally feel that half of my acceptance to Roosevelt was based on my performance and the other half came from my desire to be there.”

Along with a strict core curriculum, Aubrey will be taking dance lessons at the Joffrey Ballet. Even though the transition to a bigger city scares her, Brummett says she must face those fears head on and find comfort in knowing she will have support back home in Louisiana.

“My parents know how much I love doing this. Having a support system is very important in this business and I’m very thankful that they have helped me through this journey.”

Brummett has set her goals high in life. She hopes to one day earn a Ph.D in theater, perform on Broadway, win a Tony Award and be inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame. However, her ultimate dream in life is to work with her favorite actor, Nathan Lane.

In her last performance at BPCC, Aubrey will star as Sophie, the only female character in Neil Simon’s “Star Spangled Girl.” The show opens tonight at 7 p.m. in the Performing Arts Theater on the BPCC campus. Brad Silman and Blake Watkins will join Aubrey on stage to complete the cast.

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