Mara Sampietro, ’25, talks about her experience so far as Ariel in the musical, ‘The Little Mermaid,‘ and her future plans.
By: Yoselin Reynoso-Lozano
Sampietro has been doing the musicals at Redwood since her Sophomore year but isn’t actually in the drama program.
In the musical, The Little Mermaid, Sampietro plays Ariel, a princess who doesn’t like living under the sea and doesn’t feel like she belongs because the outside world is just more interesting to her. She finally decides to break free and explore on her own with the help of her evil aunt Ursula.
Sampietro says, “It’s been challenging to get into the character of a princess and just having to act so naive and optimistic all the time, although I do enjoy the scenes where I just sit there and get to react.”
“I think I relate to Ariel’s excitement and how she jumps into things before thinking it all through, and she is a teenage girl just like me so I think there’s that similarity of just being curious about everything around me.”
She tries to keep Ariel as entertaining as possible and aims more toward a children’s audience due to the multiple shows that will be performed for younger kids and just makes sure she does the best she can overall.
Although Sampietro enjoys acting she says, “Future plans I’m honestly not sure about. Maybe in college I’ll continue drama but I do enjoy singing more than acting, so choir or solo performing might be more my thing.”
This is Sampietro’s last year performing in the musical at Redwood. She ends it by saying, “I want my last show to be really good and I want it to be successful. I’m just making sure to do the best I can, although I am sad it’s over in two weeks. I would definitely recommend it. It’s super fun and I’ve just loved it no matter what role I played.”
To see Sampietro perform as Ariel, come see the musical at the LJ William Theater on January 23, 24, and 25 at 7 pm. January 25, also has a 2 pm showing. Tickets can be purchased here.
Yoselin Reynoso
Yoselin Reynoso '25 is currently in her second year of writing for the Redwood Gigantea. She enjoys reading and is excited about what Redwood Gigantea has in store for her.
Tags: arts & entertainment, musical, rangers, Redwood, redwood gigantea, redwood high school, redwood journalism, Redwood Musical, redwood rangers, redwood the little mermaid, rhs, RHS Musical, rhs the little mermaid, visalia ca
