Centerstage with: Emilie Johns of HSU's 'Silent Sky'

You are: a senior musical theater major and honors minor from Wylie (the one closest to Dallas).

We've seen you before in: "You Can't Take It With You," as Essie Carmichael - her most comedic role with at HSU. Also, "Sweet Charity," "Into the Wood" as Little Red, dance captain for "Little Shop of Horrors," "The Secret Garden" and "Working." "That's as far back as I can think," she said laughing.

Role in "Silent Sky": Johns is Henrietta Leavitt, who works at the Harvard Observatory in the early 20th century. She cannot touch the big telescope nor express her own scientific thoughts. She joins a group of women who study the stars. In her free time, she calculates light and the distance of stars. Yet, besides her interest in science, she has family obligations and maybe there is love in the forecast.

"This has been really, really interesting because Henrietta Leavitt was a real astronomer who discovered the Leavitt Law that is still used today in astronomy. It has been really cool to dive past the accomplishments and try to examine the person," Johns said. "That's a little difficult because there's not a lot written on her life. There is word from colleagues who say that in real life, she was very devoted to her career, her family and her faith."

Playwright Laruen Gunderson has taken that little information and "created this vibrant and energetic and curious character that has been so fun to work through. It's fun to see how she reacts to situations and see how much of myself I can find in this."

Any similarities between you two?

More:HSU play is about how a woman spoke up loudly about the 'Silent Sky'

"I'd like to think I'm a pretty energetic person and on occasion I have trouble narrowing all that excitement that she and focusing it into something," Johns said. "That has been interesting to play with at the beginning."

The show covers 20 years and depicts the maturing of the central character.

"She understands how to focus that energy into the things we loves to do and her family. It is interesting to see how I develop into the future," Johns said.

By the way, are you a science girl? "Absolutely not," Johns said, laughing. "But my father has always been interested in science and how the world works."

Her family plans to attend the Saturday performance, she added, her grandfather seeing her for the first time on an HSU stage.

What you've learned in this role: "I have been working on my definition of what it means to lead a show," she said. "I hate the term 'leading role.' In a show like this that is so focused on one person and literally orbits around one character, I've had to look at that and redefine to myself what it means to lean an ensemble. Since I have come to HSU, I believe this has been my largest role. While I am very, very grateful for the opportunity to do this, it's also been an internal challenge. Struggling with "Am I capable of doing this? Was this just a fluke?' Me having to breathe and settling in and going, 'No, you're here for a reason. You have learned so much in your time here and you are prepared to do this.'"

Another challenge was learning her lines, which can be heavy on the science. She has learned about declination (the angular distance of a point north or south of the celestial equator).

What the audience will get out of this production: An appreciation for Leavitt. "She says it herself, unlike other people following her passions and curiosities. she had to insist absolutely all the time that she be presented the opportunities that she was presented. How she breaks barriers for so, so many women that would come later on in the STEM fields," Johns said. "And you can pursue your passions and your curiosities while also being attentive to your personal needs. That is such an important lesson in this show."

What's next for you: Johns will graduate in May and plans to return to the Dallas area. "I am really wanting to work in a theater. That's the way I can enact the most change in the theater scene there," she said. "I hopefully can return to my stand-up career. I kind of left it in Dallas this past summer." Is playing an astronomer a comedic role? "It absolutely is not," she said.

Greg Jaklewicz is editor of the Abilene Reporter-News and general columnist. If you appreciate locally driven news, you can support local journalists with a digital subscription to ReporterNews.com. 

If You Go

What: "Silent Sky," directed by Katie Hahn

When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, and 2 p.m. Sunday.

Where: Van Ellis Theatre, HSU campus

Tickets: $10 for general admission; $5 for seniors, alumni, students and military.

This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Centerstage with: xxxx of HSU's 'Silent Sky'