Arrowtowner Ruby Pullar next week attends Junior Theatre Festival New Zealand in Auckland for the third time before crossing the Tasman for the Australian version — a Melbourne student who’s the Australian winner attends the same two festivals.
The festivals draw the curtain on a busy year for Ruby who performed in Wakatipu High musical Mamma Mia!, another school production, SIX: Teen Edition, and StageAntics’ show-in-a-week Sister Act JR.
She also had a microphone tech role with Showbiz Queenstown’s Into the Woods and co-directed Wakatipu High’s Into the Woods Jr.
Ruby, who was first on stage aged just 7 as orphan Molly in Showbiz’s Annie, comes from a very musical family.
Her mum Emma is president of Showbiz and a regular performer, and her late grandfather Kevin Lynch was a celebrated entertainer.
A major highlight was attending the US Junior Theatre Festival in Atlanta early last year, after auditioning for it while attending her first Junior Theatre Festival NZ in 2022.
She says her influences include Auckland-based Emma Bishop, who’s behind the NZ junior festival and StageAntics, local vocal coach Margaret O’Hanlon and Wakatipu High drama teacher Jake Hansen.
As for favourites, "I just love fun musicals where the characters are comical".
Emma adds: "She has a little bit of her grandfather’s sense of humour, and it comes through on stage".
Having decided last year to make a career in musical theatre, Ruby says apart from the buzz of being on stage she’s also made a lot of friends through her experiences.
