Lydia Garcia ’22 discovered the highlights of performing arts at PHS after participating in numerous plays throughout elementary and middle school. She is now the co-president of the Spectacle Theatre. Through this club, she cultivates an open community for PHS students interested in theater and guides them through their acting journeys. Her dedication to theater paid off, as she was recently awarded Governor’s Best Actress by The Speech and Theatre Association of New Jersey. Acting not only allows Garcia to express her individuality but also contributes to her confidence in life beyond the stage. Always willing to explore new opportunities, Garcia plans on continuing theater in college and is excited to see where this journey takes her.

What encouraged you to start pursuing theater and music?

My preschool had these little shows that they would put on, and I always loved entertaining and being on stage since I was a kid. Then McCarter Theater came to my fifth grade class. They were doing Macbeth, and I got the role of Lady Macbeth. It was just a really fun time to be with people that were in the industry already, and I thought that it was just a really cool job to have.

How does your Latina identity translate into your work?

Since I grew up in Princeton, I could only ever connect to my Latin roots through my family. It took a lot of time to understand how my ethnicity shaped me and what that meant being in a place with minimal representation. My Latina identity shapes my acting by showing me that there is a lot that goes into a character: who they appear to be on the outside and what parts of themselves they identify with. From my experience, Latina women can be known for being shameless and passionate, and I think these traits have definitely translated into my acting and my love for acting. My mentality is doing things just because I can, whether that’s a character choice on stage or simply stepping into an audition room. And feeling all the emotions that come with your actions, it builds cha- racter and empathy, which are two things that I can directly thank my Puerto Rican and Dominican roots for.

What productions have you been in?

What has been your most memorable role? Sophomore year was my first year that I got into theater at PHS. It was the play “Clue.” I got the role as a cop, which was okay, because it was a good entry-level role to get to know how things worked at PHS. That role showed me the ins and outs, and I got to know everything that goes on here pre-COVID-19. Then I auditioned for “Freaky Friday.” I got the role of Hannah, and that musical in itself was just really complicated in terms of choreography and late rehearsals so that was really cool to experience as well. However, when that show was about to come out, we stopped because of COVID-19. At least I was able to get a clear view of what theater looked like before COVID-19. In junior year, I auditioned for “12 Incompetent Jurors,” and I got the role as Juror 10. That is probably my most memorable role here because of how intense I had to be every single time, and I guess that pushed my love for acting and showed me what it’s really about.

Is there a community within PHS that students can seek out if they are interested in acting?

Spectacle Theatre is really the epicenter for everything acting, everything theater. I’m actually the co-president of the club. It’s a great place where people can come together, experienced or inexperienced, and talk about theater opportunities within PHS. We have a lot of plays, so that’s definitely a place where any interested PHS students can come and automatically be accepted into the space and feel comfortable to pursue acting or know more about it.

Do you plan on pursuing theater in the future?

Yeah, absolutely. It’s something that I’ve always loved, and I don’t want to give it up early. So if I can do it in college and make a career out of it, I definitely want to do that.