Ally Lewis first caught the theatre bug when she was 10 after her parents brought her to auditions for Snow White. She was cast as the Evil Queen and stuck with acting up until her senior year of high school with her last big role being The Witch in Into the Woods.
When arriving at Merrimack, she chose to be a Business major, though to continue her love of the stage, she joined the OnStagers Dramatic Society and other VPA productions. As a freshman, she described herself as suffering from “little fish, big pond” syndrome, and admitted she had a hard time coming out of her shell. However, the camaraderie found within Merrimack’s theatre community immensely helped her out. Working with Dr. Kathleen Sills, the Director of Theatre Arts Program and Associate Professor, Ally first declared a minor in Theatre Arts, which later became a major.
During her junior year of college, while preparing for auditions for the show Black Comedy, Ally was asked to be Assistant Stage Manager. After a successful time in the position, she was hand-picked by Rogers Center staff to be the Stage Manager for the upcoming production of Avenue Q. Ally states she was at a crossroads with this choice: “Either go down the path of auditions, and take my ‘dream role’ as Kate Monster, or see where the technical path of theatre will take me.” Taking the latter choice, her success of Avenue Q led Ally to be asked to stage manage other Merrimack shows, including her capstone project—My Fair Lady (steampunk style).
After graduation, Ally worked with various theatre organizations as a Stage Manager and built a name for herself within the local Boston community. Her recent repertoire of shows includes Peter and the Starcatcher with the Theatre Company of Saugus, Young Frankenstein with North Shore Players, and Sister Act with the Colonial Chorus Players. Along with these gigs, the Rogers Center called Ally back time and time again as a contracted Stage Manager to help with various productions: Broadway Through the Ages, The Iliad, Odyssey, and All of Greek Mythology in 99 Minutes Or Less, and The Old Man and the Old Moon.
Feeling professionally unfulfilled at the time, her escape was finding connections within the theatre community, as well as staying connected to Merrimack. She was ecstatic to receive a message from Dr. Kathleen Sills about the open VPA position. She jumped at the opportunity to return to the College as Administrative Assistant to VPA.
Now, with a year of working at Merrimack under her belt, Ally is happy to say she’s back home. With the new 2023-2024 school year underway, she has a lot of exciting tasks. A few outward-facing tasks are: being the liaison for the Creative Living Community for freshmen VPA students; she is part of the McCoy Art Gallery team, which sets out to design, install, and bring exhibitions to the Rogers Center McCoy Gallery; though most importantly, she is a constant connection with students—creating relationships with current students and helping to build the creative community within the Visual and Performing Arts Department.
