One Day, One SMC is April 23, 2026! This year, we’re rallying support for SMC's Expressive & Performing Arts, and we need your help to reach our goal. Every gift—big or small—makes a difference for our students. Our primary focus in the Performing Arts this One Day, One SMC is to keep musicals alive at Saint Mary's College. Read this reflection by our PIPPIN lead, Noah Miller, a student balancing schoolwork, rugby, and being the lead of our musical, along with many other responsibilities. I play on the wing for the Rugby team at Saint Mary’s College. We are the 2024 national champions and currently in the semi finals of the national championship. I was supposed to be playing, but I injured my ankle four weeks ago and now have surgery scheduled three days after the last show. Right now, I’m preparing to perform the lead role in PIPPIN while dealing with that injury, and it’s probably one of the strangest and hardest situations I’ve ever been in. I came to SMC to chase a goal I’ve had since I was a little kid, which is to go to the Olympics and play rugby 7s. I came from one of the world renowned rugby schools in the UK, Millfield, and this year we went on tour to New Zealand, so everything was building in that direction. At the same time, theatre has always been a huge part of my life. I started when I was five years old. My mum signed me up to be Chip in Beauty and the Beast, and I never looked back. From ages 8 to 14, I was lucky enough to perform professionally in Westend shows and films such as Billy Elliot, Merrily We Roll Along, and Titus Andronicus. But at 14, I made the decision to focus fully on sport. I was still dancing on the side, but rugby and track became my priority. In 2020, I got pulled back into it a bit when I was asked to compete for Team England at the Dance World Cup, and I ended up doing it in 2020, 2021, 2023. So, it was always kind of there in the background. But when I got to SMC in 2023 is where it mostly stopped. I originally planned to be a dance minor and even took a dance class in my first semester. But pretty quickly I realized it wasn’t realistic. My body was constantly semi-injured, I was losing weight, struggling with motivation, and just couldn’t balance both. The rugby program here is more intense and time consuming than anything I’d done before, and since rugby was the reason I came, I made the call to step away from it. It had been almost three years since I’d done any singing, dancing, or acting, and honestly, I felt a bit of a hole in my life. Then while we were on tour in New Zealand, I saw the email about PIPPIN auditions. And I just thought, not gonna lie, at heart, I’m still one of the biggest musical theatre kids. There’s no way I can’t at least audition. I had no real plan to actually do the show, just the audition, but I started preparing anyway. I was practicing monologues and songs whenever I could find a bit of time in the hotel rooms, the shower, on the coach, but all in my head so no one knew. The audition was literally the day after we got back from New Zealand, so I had no time, but I just went for it. Honestly the whole second half of the tour, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I felt like a little kid again. I ended up getting offered the role before callbacks even started, which made things complicated because I hadn’t planned on committing. I had a lot of conflicts and rugby had to come first. But after talking it through with Director Larissa Kelloway and my coach, Tim O’Brien, who was surprisingly really supportive, we figured out a way to make it work, even though I did have to miss one show because of a game. From there it became a grind. My schedule was pretty insane. Rugby practice 2 to 3 times PER DAY, 3:30pm-5:45pm then rehearsals from 6 to 10pm. I was going straight from practice into rehearsal every day. I had to meal prep constantly just to eat, and some days started at 5:45am and didn’t end until 11pm. On top of that I work at the recreation center on campus, I’m a double major in Math and Economics, play the piano and guitar, and I’ve got a girlfriend who’s been amazing through all of this, even though it’s meant sacrificing pretty much all my time for the other parts of my life. Rehearsals were going well until things started to go wrong physically. I got sick, then had to play a game in Utah in really dry conditions. During that game I took a really high illegal shot to the throat and completely lost my voice, which was honestly one of the scariest parts because this show is so vocally demanding. My voice eventually came back. Then, the week after that, I had the game of my life against Cal. I scored five tries and the whole cast came out to support me, which meant a lot. But on the last play of that game, I got tackled and felt multiple pops in my ankle. I knew straight away something was wrong. It ended up being a peroneal tendon subluxation. At that point I was a mess. I had the show in three weeks and didn’t know what was going to happen. I had multiple calls with Larissa in tears, but we figured out a way to make it work with me in a boot. Then, two weeks later, I found out I needed surgery, which is now scheduled for three days after the final show on April 29th, with a 3 to 6 month recovery. It’s been really tough emotionally as well as physically, but oh well. One of the best parts of this whole experience has been the support. I live with five of my teammates, and they’re always banging on the walls when I’m singing in the shower telling me to shut up, which is pretty funny. I even remember memorizing lines on a 7 hour bus ride to play a game at UCLA, and a couple of my teammates Enzo and Izaiah started running lines with me and were actually getting really into it, which was hilarious. And for the final show, the entire team, all 60 of them are coming to watch together, which is unreal. I’m honestly sh*tting myself. As an international student, I haven’t had family able to come see the show, so having that kind of support really does feel like a second family. A lot of the team are surprised I even do this, and I think they’ll be even more surprised when they see it. People should come see PIPPIN because it’s genuinely such a fun and engaging show. It’s high energy, interactive, and something a little different. My favorite part is No Time at All, where the audience gets involved, and Dana Lawton, as my grandmother, absolutely steals the scene. The whole number is just so much fun. More than anything, this experience has reminded me that musical theatre is still a huge part of who I am. It’s been one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, but also one of the most meaningful. Balancing rugby, school, work, and theatre, especially while dealing with injury, hasn’t been easy, but it’s something I’ll never forget Catch Noah and the cast of PIPPIN during closing weekend.
Remaining Performances in LeFevre Theatre:
Sat., April 25 @ 2pm & 8pm
Sun., April 26 @ 2pm (tickets almost sold out!)
Tickets & Info: stmarys-ca.edu/pippin26 GIVE HERE to keep musicals alive at SMC! "We've got magic to do!" For the first time since 2019, our Spring 2026 production is doing a book musical. We are delighted to be producing the musical Pippin (Winner of 4 Tony Awards in 2013, including Best Revival). We look forward to bringing this early work of Stephen Schwartz (who is famous for the spectacle Wicked) to life on the LeFevre stage. We’re in search of some committed and generous donors who can help us close the gap on producing a beloved piece of musical theatre for this year and years to come! Your contributions will be used to help us pay for performance rights, specialty personnel, sets, costumes, etc. Let's all be "Extraordinary" and help make some beautiful art together! |
