With her big smile and bold voice, Bryn Mawr sixth grader Hazel is back on the national stage—this time as the iconic Annie in Annie the Broadway Musical.
After making her mark two years ago as Young Cosette and Young Eponine in the national tour of Les Misérables, Hazel is giving audiences a new reason to cheer. Read more about Hazel's journey as she navigates singing, dancing, and Middle School while on tour—and don’t miss her live at The Hippodrome in Baltimore from January 7-12, 2025!
How did you learn you’d been cast as Annie?
My parents took a video at my grandparents’ house. They said I needed to sing a song for my voice teacher and acted like they were setting up karaoke when instead they handed me an email and I read it and it was really emotional. I was not at all expecting to be Annie. I started crying because it has been one of my dream roles for a long time and I didn’t think it would happen but here we are!
When you did “Les Misérables,” you were in the fourth grade, how do you think it will be different being in sixth grade?
It works the same way, I travel with my school books and my teachers get everything up on a document by Friday and I do my work the next week. So I’m a week behind, and when I come back I’ll spend two weeks getting back on track. It's nice because my teachers and Bryn Mawr are really good at understanding that I don’t have time to get things done right away all the time and I might need an extra day. It’s definitely different but it’s definitely working!
How will “Annie” be different from “ Les Misérables” for you to perform?
In Les Mis I was on stage for 5 minutes when I was Little Eponine or I was on stage for 15 minutes when I was Little Cosette, on other hand, there are only two or three scenes the in the whole entire show that I’m not in as Annie. So it’s very different, I’m on stage a lot more. It’s a lot more work but it’s a lot more fun to be on the stage more.
How do you balance schoolwork and performing and rehearsals?
For performances, I’m only doing the night shows. I never have to do a double show day, but I’m on stage most of the time, so it’s tiring to be Annie. But I’ll have most of the morning free so I can sleep in, and get my schoolwork done and spend time with friends.
What’s your dream role?
Well, it was Annie! But for an older role, probably Eponine in “Les Mis,” or Glinda or Elphaba.