From meticulous marketing to poetic performing, Mindee Anderson is a star.
But she would be the last person to say it.
“She’s very down to earth,” said Hanna Rahilly, theater lecturer and adviser. “When you talk to her, you wouldn’t have the sense that she has this big ego or that she was a diva or anything like that. But when she performs on stage, you go ‘Whoa!’ because she could be a diva based on her performance.”
Off stage, she is not only humble, but positive as well.
“She is a great example of coming into a room and being positive and lifting people’s spirits up, which is so important in theater because people work such long hours and can get negative because they’re exhausted,” Rahilly said.
Anderson’s bright outlook allows her to come out of strenuous practices and perform at the top of her abilities.
“In terms of her performance work, she’s very self-motivated and very disciplined,” said Brent Hanson, associate dean of fine arts. “She’s always prepared. She has great talent and a lovely voice. She has great promise, I think.”
Her work ethic and positivity help to create an all around stellar performance.
“Her performance overall is awesome,” said Mark Houser, program director and chair of fine arts. “She’s very reliable for anything.”
Anderson, a sophomore theater major from Sandy, said the lessons learned from theater allows her to improve as a person and lets those who watch her rethink aspects of their lives.
Since she began at Dixie in 2011, she has been in a variety of theatrical productions ranging from the unique (“Odyssey”) to classic (“Fiddler on the Roof”) to original (“Nathan Hale”).
With each theatrical production and individual character, she changes to fit the role.
“I’m still learning about the best method for me to prepare for a role,” Anderson said. “There are so many techniques out there and I’ve found merit to a lot of different methods.”
Her professors appreciate the cooperative creative exchange she maintains while preparing for a role.
“I think that she’s mature enough to be submissive to a director’s viewpoint and to take what they give and give back,” Houser said. “It’s the ‘it takes two’ mentality. She brings her own ability and ideas and character, and kind of zeal to her performance and character but also to the marketing aspect of things when she’s working with me.”
She is interested in many elements of theater, from acting to marketing.
Anderson plans to meet different people and find the element best for her through theater.
One way she works on surrounding herself with the best environment possible is to be the best she can be. Each day she works, little by little, on changes that she believes will make the difference in the end.
“Change takes consistency,” Anderson said. “There are days where you mess up, and days where you have to teach yourself that it’s OK that you messed up. In the words of Michael Jordan, ‘I have failed over and over again in my life, and that is why I succeed.’”
