Scarlet Strogov is a junior at Columbia High School. Maddie Weisbach is a senior.
For years they’ve competed for roles in their high school productions. And now they are starring together in “Into the Woods” at Columbia.
Scarlet will be playing the Baker’s wife; Maddie will be playing the witch.
Both roles are leads.
The girls have trained together since they were 6 and 7 years old. They started out at Class Act Performing Arts Studio in South Orange.
“She has this star quality I always looked up to,” said Scarlet, about Maddie. “It’s really magical watching her. We both had a dream of becoming a performer when we grew up.”
As they honed their musical theater skills, Scarlet watched Maddie score many roles. Maddie got the lead, and Scarlet got the second lead. But now, both girls have equal leads in “Into the Woods.”
Maddie was always competition for Scarlet, and that’s a good thing.
“There have been times when she got a role, and times I’ve gotten it,” Scarlet said. “This is the first year we’ve both gotten what we wanted.”
Maddie agrees that there’s a lot of competitiveness when it comes to roles, but when competing with Scarlet, there was never negativity. She says the reason they are both so grounded is that their parents taught them respect for other people in their lives.
“Why would you have negativity for someone if they’re getting something that’s making them happy?” she said. “Think about other people, other than yourself.”
Now with both being leads, Scarlet feels they are both on equal ground, as they both put in so much hard work.
The feeling is mutual for Maddie.
“It’s an amazing experience getting to know her [Scarlet] over the years,” she said. “She’s so driven and so passionate. I really care about that girl.”
Maddie will be leaving for college after she graduates. Scarlet says it’s going to be weird for her because they’ve been together since age 6. But she is very happy for Maddie. With Maddie away at school, Scarlet will draw inspiration from watching as many musicals as possible and observing her castmates.
“Everybody in the cast is something really special,” she said.
Scarlet plans to visit Maddie, attend her musicals, and call her.
Maddie will keep in touch too.
“I will be reaching out to Scarlet,” she said. “I have a lot of close personal friends a couple of years younger. Scarlet is one of those people I’m going to visit as much as I can.”
Music theater will be Maddie’s major, but she hasn’t committed to a college yet.
“I have to figure it out,” she said.
As for Scarlet’s future, she knows she’d like to be a musical performer. “Every day I pray the music works out,” she said. “I don’t have a back-up plan.”
The show premiered last week and has three more performances, March 13 and March 14 at 7 p.m. and March 15 at 2 p.m. Tickets range from $15-$25.
Scarlet Strogov
Maddie Weisbach
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