The majority of students at Warren Township High School participate in one or two extra -curriculars outside of their normal day-to-day lives. Have you ever heard of a student with 5?  The President of Warren’s Drama Club, Brooke Moeller, senior, is involved in 5 activities outside of school on a regular basis- and that’s without preparing for college! She participates in Speech, Drama Club, Vocal Velocity, Warren Theatre Productions, and Warren Choirs; each of which she holds a high position of Captain, President, or Director. Having so little time from 2:15 to 7 pm, how does she do it?

Brooke has had a love for the arts since she was little. She recalls one of her favorite performances was being in the middle school production of The Little Mermaid at Round Lake Area Park District. She was only “just in the ensemble” but she had a blast getting to make new friends, dance, and sing. Her long list of extra curriculars and their time management began from this time period since she was also involved in ice skating.

Brooke states that ice skating helped her to “really get into performing”.  This realization at a young age was the main eye opener for her to start wanting to be involved in her life; and what a better way of diving into than high school theatre. During the first drama club meeting her freshman year, she recalls watching the President introducing herself and realized “yeah, [she] could do that one day”. She is so happy that she did because she “made the decision to be on the Drama Council [her] junior year because it was the catalyst for [her] being president”.

On the topic of having to get ready for these meetings, she finds it “tedious but not stressful”. It is all a collaborative effort because “the council and [Brooke] bounce ideas off of each other and always have fun at [their] meetings”. At the beginning of the year, she “wanted the club to feel more like a family and a safe place for people to be themselves and step out and meet new people and make new friends and take advantage of the opportunities we have
available like student leadership, behind the scenes work, and acting opportunities”.  Brooke has been participating in Warren Theatre since her freshman year and has grown a lot; not just as an actress, but as a person. She states that the directors here “made her fall in love with performing”. She compliments the former Choir and Musical director, Ms. Colgan now Dean Colgan- for teaching her to not only push herself as a performer, but in the real world.

As well, she gives thanks to Ms. Zimmerman, who directed her in the Fall Dinner Theatre production of Clue, where Brooke played Ms. Scarlett and had to step out of her comfort zone by getting spaghetti spit into her hair. Ms. Zimmerman, who directed And Then They Came For Me: Remembering the World of Anne Frank, taught Brooke, who played Anne Frank, how to really become her character. One of Brooke’s good friends and former colleague at Warren Theatre, Lily Dahlberg, recalls this performance as being chilling, and made her feel that Brooke portrayed
Frank so well that she felt Brooke had “actually experienced the pains and suffering of the Holocaust”. The ability to become her character is something that she is known for at Warren Theatre.

Her close friend and co-performer in Clue, Marissa Jimenez-Captain, states that, through her want to perform the character to the best that she can, she is very determined; “when she wants something, her mind is set on it”. For example, this winter Children’s Theatre production of The Lion King, Brooke wanted to be Student Director. Her main determination for this was that she “wanted to expand [her] knowledge of theater and be able to have experience on both sides of the table” in preparation for college.

Both Marissa and Lily share the same belief of Brooke that, through her work with Warren Theatre, she knows what she deserves and she works for it until she gets it. Brooke spoke her mind on Warren Theatre, and states that her favorite thing about it is “the friendships that are made”.   She says that she has “gotten so close to so many of [her] good friends just over the last years and [she is] very thankful for them and their contagious happiness” that she made at Warren Theatre.

Another one of Brooke’s extra-curriculars is Vocal Velocity, WTHS’ show choir. She has been a part of Vocal Velocity, aka V2, since her freshman year. Through her hard work and dedication to the group, this year she is a Captain
and is in charge of helping the new choir director Mr. Westphal in teaching all that they learn for their performance.  Furthermore, Brooke is a part of Warren Choirs in the Junior/Senior Concert Choir. She enjoys choir due to the songs they sing that are so unique, ranging in English, Latin, and Swahili. This has made her appreciate the diversity of our world.

Brooke is a Co-Captain of Speech team with Ellie Frier. She really enjoys speech and feels that it has made her a “better actor, leader, and team member” On finding time to hang out with Brooke, Lily states that it is a challenge, but worth it.  For her, being in college already makes things difficult; but, coming home on weekends and trying to make plans is a struggle due to Brooke being booked on those days. Lily even recalls back to her Senior year at theatre rehearsals and trying to hang out with Brooke was difficult. Through the challenges, Lily states that “it’s really cool to see how much she has put into her work, so it’s worth it”.  As well, during a rehearsal, Brooke is known for giving her all, onstage and off. Marissa states that “working with Brooke is overall a really good experience. She is fun and can be silly, but knows when we need to be focused”. Lily adds to this by stating that, during breaks at rehearsals, Brooke would give her “great life advice”.

With all that she does throughout one day, and rarely having time for a social life, how does she have the time to do it plus college applications? Brooke states that she plans her weeks hourly by when she knows she has something going on. She says that, “so if everything goes like it should (which it never does) [she manages] to do all of it and keep [her] grades up”. With this includes her college apps. On most weekends prior to the start of Early Applications, Brooke would visit many colleges that she is intrigued in; mainly colleges in the South and West Coast.

She aspires to be an actress in Hollywood one day and “to be in-front of the camera in LA or on Broadway or to work at Disney World”. She wants to be a performer and says that “if that’s what happens, then I’ll be happy”.