Franklin theater’s Anything Goes lead Kristina Strommer (12) has been involved in theater for practically her entire life. At age three she was enrolled in camps at NW Children’s Theater, and by her freshman year of high school was hired to act in 36 shows of The Jungle Book. Most recently, Strommer acted in the Franklin spring musical, Anything Goes.
Anything Goes was especially exciting because it was the first musical in which the Franklin theater department utilized the new performing arts center. “People came not only to see the show but to see the theater as well, and I think the theater really pulled it together,” says Strommer. Casting for the show was made prior to winter break, and then rehearsals spanned the two months after break until early March. This astronomical amount of time and effort put into the musical was evident in the quality of the production.
In the show, Strommer played the role of Reno, a strong-willed nightclub singer. “My favorite part about playing Reno was the fact that she is kind of the narrator of the story—without Reno, everything would just be bits and pieces,” Strommer says. “It was really fun being the one person that ties everything together.”
Though Anything Goes was Strommer’s biggest role in a Franklin production, she had been involved in performing arts long before this year. Strommer acted in Franklin productions of Chicago (2016) and Annie (2017). Outside of school, she dances at Hollywood Dance Studio and has a vocal coach. Her life is not all performing arts, though. Strommer is co-President of Latino Club, Volunteer Coordinator of National Honor Society, takes multiple AP classes, and even has a part-time job. As a part of her AP Government class, Strommer competed this winter for the Franklin Constitutional Law Team, which placed fourth at the We the People state competition.
Strommer graduates this year and will attend Dartmouth College this fall. “I think it would be fun to keep performing, but I’m not going to study it,” she explains. She is also looking forward to exploring new opportunities, notably acapella. Despite exciting things on the horizon, Strommer still will miss the Franklin performing arts community. “Everyone’s just really supportive of each other,” she says, “and, of course, that makes for excellent productions!”
