Alpha Chi of the Week | Kathleen O'Hara

Kathleen O'Hara
Year: Senior 
Major: BFA Musical Theatre
Hometown: Decatur, AL

When did you first get into theatre?

 I did my first show when I was 5 because my mother recognized at a VERY early age that I have no athletic ability whatsoever. My first show was The Sound of Music. I played Gretl (the youngest Von Trapp child). It premiered on my 6th birthday so I thought it was just one big birthday party. But the most memorable thing of my stage debut was little Gretl letting her little bladder go all over the stage during an actual show.. I guess that’s my version of stage fright. (It’s happened twice..)

What has been your favorite character to play out of all the shows you have been in? 

Last summer I got to take on Elle Woods in Legally Blonde the Musical. I am not an Elle Woods type. I’m a sometimes a little edgy, always very sassy BRUNETTE so I knew it was gonna be a challenge but it was something that I worked very hard for. It also turned out to be a role that changed my life. Sometimes characters do that to you. They come around at crucial points in life and they know exactly what to do get you through the hard times. Elle Woods honestly picked me up out of a life ditch and changed my outlook on how I was living and how I should treat people. Crazy what a "Gemini with a double Capricorn moon" BLONDE can do to you!

What is your favorite part of acting?

What draw me to being on the stage at first was the idea of becoming a character and I think that’s what has kept me around too. I love the idea of being cast in a role and using the weeks you have building up to show dates to not only build a production, but also to build a character. I get to research and create and delve into this other human/creature/etc. background and life story and figure out what is real and significant to them. That’s the fun part to me!

What has been your favorite memory in Alpha Chi?

All I can say is… SBXIV! If you get a chance to go on a big spring break trip with your pledge class, DO IT!

If you could give this year's freshmen pledge class one piece of advise for their next three and a half years at Auburn and in Alpha Chi, what would it be? 

One of the best qualities that Alpha Chi has is how encouraging they are. Alpha Chi has supported me over the past four years with my crazy theatre schedule, with every single show I have been in, and with every dramatic endeavor I choose to take on.  I knew I wanted to do the sorority life when I came to Auburn but I also knew I wanted to do theatre. It’s hard to juggle both but Alpha Chi was the one that was always encouraging me to go out and do more theatre. So my advice would be to go out in Auburn and find things you want to do and DO IT! Try the theater, become a barista, play a sport, reach out to the community. Use the time you have here to try out any and every hobby and passion you have because Alpha Chi is the best support system you’ll ever have.

What are your plans after graduation?

Ha.. Wow. I hate this question. It seems like that’s the only thing people ask you when you reach your senior year of college. I don’t know what I’m doing as soon as I walk the plank in May. Sometimes I freak out about the mystery ahead but overall I’m okay with it because something will come along, someone will reply to my job application, someone will cast me in a show. It will all work out exactly how it’s suppose to and I believe that because of something I was told in an Alpha Chi Bible study freshman year. "If God put a passion for something in your heart, then He put there for a reason." God put my love of theatre and of the arts so deep in my heart that I know without a doubt this is what I’m suppose to be doing for the rest of my life. I don’t know where I’m going or where I’m living come May, but I’m not scared one bit! I’M EXCITED!