Senior aspires to be like her ‘Cinderella’ character

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Sarah Nease

Madison Younger rehearses her role as Fairy Godmother in the dress rehearsal for “Cinderella.”

With long brown locks and a soft smile, the little girl pressed play. The screen lit up with dancing mice, friendly birds and a glass slipper. Madison loved the movie but never dreamed she would one day be a part of the magic.

Senior Madison Younger will play the fairy godmother in the high school musical, “Cinderella.” She is a member of both the high school show choir and the varsity choir. This is her fourth year as a part of the annual high school musical and her first as a lead character.

“Being a lead has definitely changed a lot of things,” Younger said. “I feel more obligated to practice, to rehearse and to be the best I can be. I have big stage fright. Singing in front of people is not my norm. Getting into this and rehearsing every night is taking away all my fears.”

The fairy godmother has several scenes, including introducing Cinderella at the beginning of the musical and the transformation scene.

“The pumpkin becomes the carriage and the mice become the horses,” Younger said. “That scene is my favorite and my biggest scene. At the very end, I have another scene. I’m going to be singing at Cinderella’s wedding. The song is ‘There’s music in you.’ It really just tells the audience that because of this day that I’ve given Cinderella, she’s able to have her dream.”

Now, being the fairy godmother, I realized that she’s my favorite character because she loves people.

— Madison Younger, 12

Madison said she admires the fairy godmother because of her selflessness in giving Cinderella a perfect day.

“In a way, I aspire to be like her,” Younger said. “She has this incredible kindness. While everyone’s being terrible rude to Cinderella and cruel, she’s the first person that comes along and says, ‘You know what, I’m going to give you this day and you’re going to love this day.’ She was so selfless in that way.”

As a child, Younger said she remembers watching Cinderella but did not really notice the fairy godmother.

“‘Cinderella’ was one of my favorite movies,” Younger said. “Now, being the fairy godmother, I realized that she’s my favorite character because she loves people. She loves helping people and making a difference in people’s lives. That’s really what I want to be.”