I just want to act.
That’s what senior Olivia Prue told her mom at just seven years old.
Since then, it’s been a need, not a want.
“When I was 7 years old, I literally just went up to my mom, I went to the kitchen and I said, ‘Mom, I just want to act,’” Prue said. “From there, it’s what I do …
“And then when I got into theater, I did this little production with Music Theater for Young People, and it was called like ‘Swamped’ or something. I played Leapfrog No. 3, and I was wearing this blue T-shirt and some jean shorts. I just sang like one opening line and I was like, ‘oh my God, this is amazing.’”
A busy lifestyle has always been Prue’s style.
“I’m such a busy, busy person, it’s just kind of how I grew up. I grew up with a busy lifestyle of going to rehearsals every single day. I would go to school, go to rehearsal, come home, go to bed, repeat,” Prue said.
“And, I’ve just always been in that lifestyle. And there’ll be some moments in my life where, – especially during this year, during the college audition process, because it just added so much time – there will be so many times where I just have completely broken down and been like, ‘I have so much to do.’”
No matter the season, Prue has a full schedule.
“I have been doing music school theater for 11 years, … but when I’m not doing a show, I am training, rehearsing, I take dance lessons, vocal lessons, and then at school I try to become involved anyway I can,” Prue said. “For example, last year I did the school musical “Anastasia.” I also did choreography for the school musical (“Alice by Heart”) this year. I also choreograph the POPs concert. I literally have a Google calendar for just every week because I have so much going on.”
Apart from all of the rehearsals and lessons, it has been beneficial for Prue to find time for herself.
“I try to not make theater my entire life because it could just be very toxic and I need something else to kind of have an outlet towards.” Prue said. “I do a lot with animals. I work on a farm, I also volunteer at Save the Kitties and I help out with the Kansas Humane Society. So when I’m not doing a lot of stuff, I really help donate and advocate for animal rights and adoption facilities.”
Studying abroad is one goal that many people might dream about but Prue, it’s a reality.
“I’ll be pursuing my BA in musical theater at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts in Liverpool, England,” Prue said.
After college Prue plans to travel and entertain wherever she can.
“I might stay over there and just continue to audition for professional theaters,” Prue said. “My future goal has always been to perform on cruise lines and give them entertainment like theme parks, national tours, cruise ships, those have kind of always been my dream. I’ve always been really drawn to like Disney because of the Disney cruise line and all that stuff. I grew up with that entertainment because we’re such a Disney family.
“So my No. 1 dream is to always work for a Disney company, in one way or another, but also just casting a wide net and just that kind of national. Cause like I said, I love to travel, just that national entertainment is really what I’m drawn to. But of course, regional theaters and stuff like that, just anything where I can really make a living I love to do.”
Although film isn’t something Prue wants to go into, she has starred in two movies.
“So the first movie I was in was called ‘The Contested Plains,’ it came out a while ago. From there on they cast me as Sophia German. It is a true story about the German family who were migrating across the Midwest and they got attacked by Indians and the Indians killed their entire family except for four girls. It was two little girls and they were two grown girls. I played one of the grown girls with my co-star Nora Graham,” Prue said. “We spent like two years filming that movie and we filmed in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, we filmed on the actual site where it happened, which is really cool. I worked with stars on Yellowstone and I worked with Buck Taylor, who’s kind of a Western star, which is so cool.”
The other movie Prue starred in another wetsrern called Sod and Stubble.
“We filmed that just a couple of years ago. I played Louisa Ice in the movie again with Buck Taylor and Nora Grimm with my co-star. And that movie just came out a couple of weeks ago, actually. It premiered at the Orpheum theater and is currently getting bought by a couple of companies,” Prue said. “We based the movie off of the book, which was written by one of the family members. I got to meet so many great people and it was just so cool to go to the premiere and see everything come together and also just to have some build experience behind my back. It was so cool, but I definitely feel more comfortable on stage than on film.”