Anissa Felix, right, plans to head to New York City the day after graduation to start her theatre career. Last spring she played the eponymous and complex role of Hedda Gabler alongside Christopher Shea ’12, left, as Judge Brack. Photo by Geoff Green ’04.
Anissa Felix ’13 remembers the first show she saw on Broadway: Fosse, a three-act musical revue featuring the choreography of musical theatre legend Bob Fosse.
She was not yet 10 years old. She left the theatre determined that she would spend the rest of her life singing and dancing.
“I had always been a performer,” said Felix, who started taking singing and dancing lessons at age 5. Experiencing the revue “solidified it.”
At 21, she figures she has seen at least 30 shows since then. It is nearly impossible for her to pick a favorite, although In the Heights, Once the Musical, and The Book of Mormon all rank near the top.
Felix’s parents moved from Brooklyn, N.Y., to Virginia in the 1980s before their daughter was born. They returned to New York often, with their children in tow. When her dad thought Felix was old enough, he showed her how to navigate the city.
Felix fell in love with it. She plans to go back as soon as she collects her theatre degree in May. “As in: We graduate on the 11th, and on the 12th I’ll be in New York,” she said.
But for now, she’s enjoying Mary Washington. She chose the University, in part, she said, “so I wouldn’t get lost in a crowd or a bigger city. The professors know me by name.”
In Stull, she found a diplomat and a critic. “He doesn’t ever let me get away easy,” Felix said. “He won’t sugarcoat anything. He’ll tell you straight up. He’s also incredibly fair. Anyone who meets him will tell you that. I can’t rave about him enough.”
Stull taught Felix to leave her preconceived ideas at the door, to always be willing to listen. She credits him with the opportunity she had in summer 2012 to go to New York University for the CAP21 Professional Musical Theatre Training Program, a kind of boot camp for musical theatre.
“I loved it,” Felix said. “It was my dream.”
The soon-to-be graduate has another dream, one she shares with countless Mary Washington theatre students who’ve taken to the stage over the last 100 years: “Survive on acting alone.”