Monica Velma has a thing for lights — stage lights, that is.
The Wetumpka High School senior almost didn’t make the stage at the school’s theater program 3 ½ years ago. But the last two years she has been awarded the Best Performance in a Lead Role at the Alabama Conference of Theaters’ Trumbauer competition.
After winning the award last year, Velma jokingly said she was going to do it again. It was a mark Wetumpka theater teacher Jeff Glass thought was nearly impossible.
“I thought nobody had done that before,” Glass said. “When they called her name last week I was like, ‘She wasn’t kidding.’”
Velma was playing the role of Alice in a one act play largely played out in the head of Alice. It goes between Alice in Wonderland and WWII London.
Velma said she wasn’t expecting the award. She didn’t receive it at the district competition this year like she did last year.
“At district, I thought I was doing everything I could with my character,” Velma said. “I guess (not getting it at district) made me realize I had to make (Alice) seen in a different light to showcase my acting.”
In the weeks between district and state, Velma worked on making her character bigger.
“It is all in her memory,” Velma said. “She is surrounded by all these big characters. I just underplayed her. I realized if all these huge big personalities are in her mind, then she obviously herself has to have a huge big personality.”
Even if she didn’t hear name called for a second year in a row, Velma was pleased with her progress on the stage at Wetumpka High School. Three and ½ years ago, Glass wasn’t sure if Velma was cut for the stage. She was shy and didn’t show much ability. But a judging panel urged Glass to give Velma a chance.
“Boy did she come out of her shell,” Glass said. “It is absolutely nuts.”
Velma credits a Wetumpka graduate who once performed on stage with her for breaking the shell — Brody Valdakis. Glass sent the pair to run lines as Velma was a freshman. But they didn’t run lines.
“He took me to the far side of the commons to a corner,” Velma said. “He said, ‘Yell at the corner.’ I was like, ‘Ha, ha, ha.’ He was like why are you laughing. I was mortified.”
Valdakis didn’t give up on Velma that day.
“He sat there until I was comfortable yelling and hearing myself yelling at nothing,” Velma said. “As crazy as it sounds, it worked. I just needed to be pushed into the water and learn how to swim.”
Glass said last week he had no clue of the interaction between the two. But Velma thought it was the moment she found her stage presence.
“It was a breakthrough moment,” Velma said. “I feel like if that didn’t happen, I don’t think I would have been hindered, but I don’t think I would have grown as fast. It really helped with the confidence issue.”
Velma’s individual success this year almost didn’t happen. She was not selected for an award at the district competition. As a group, the Wetumpka High School Theater Guild had to depend on a wildcard selection to compete at the state level. The group sat at the University of North Alabama as the awards were called out. The announcer mispronounced Velma’s name but it was quickly corrected.
“When they called the first name, it wasn’t me,” Velma said. “I was like, ‘I need to calm down.’ Then they announced my name wrong. I was like it’s me. I went up there and the guild started cheering my name, ‘Moncia, Monica.’ I was like oh my. I was crying and cried all night.”
At state Velma grew her fanbase. Glass said she couldn’t walk 10 yards without being stopped, but Velma disagreed.
“There were people who were like, ‘You were Alice?’” Velma said. “It wasn’t like a flash mob. I got stopped for a mini-microphone interview. It was funny.”
Glass said the judges loved Velma too.
“One of the judges of the festival, her notes I thought were hilarious,” Glass said. “Alice should be a professional right now. She has a bright future ahead of her.”
Velma is set on attending UAB to earn a bachelors of fine arts on the stage. While in school, she hopes to land roles at the Red Mountain Theater associated with the school.
“I’m hoping to get professional work,” Velma said. “Then like everyone, the goal is Broadway.”
The guild itself also did well. It received one of five Best in Show performances and placed third in the state — one spot short of competing at the next level. It is the second time in four state festivals the Wetumpka program received the award.
“That is a constituency especially with the limited resources we have,” Glass said.
Two Wetumpka High School Theater Guild members were named to the All-State Cast — senior Sarah Wohlford and junior Charles Lawerence.
Like Velma, Wohlford said theater brought her to life.
“Freshman year, I was like a mouse,” Wohlford said. “I sat in the back of the classroom. I tried to be the teacher’s pet. After I spent so much time with all these people, played all these different characters, I feel like I am not the same person I was. It has changed me for the better.”
She said she hopes to get into culinary arts but will always feel the connection to the stage.
Lawrence sees himself continuing with theater but is undecided on his career path.
“I have always thought about doing theater as a hobby, maybe through community theater,” Lawrence said. “I have had thoughts of going into the military, special forces. I can also do the Army show which is traveling around performing for units. I’m not 100%. If I get a good scholarship to a theater school and get some time and experience, that is something to really think about.”
Other students recognized at the state competition were: state champion Brandon McCullers in playwriting; state champion in the Jukebox Musical was Gracie Arnold; Josephine Yarboro finished second in the Jukebox Musical; and Velma was third in the solo dramatic musician.
