Making a Return

Theater grad returns to perform as Maria for second time in ‘The Sound of Music’

Five years old, twirling and singing “The Hills are Alive” atop a sledding hill near her home, Molly Vetter ’01—in her mind—was Maria from “The Sound of Music.”

“I can honestly say I have always loved theater,” Vetter said, noting “The Wizard of Oz” and “Mary Poppins” as two of her favorite childhood musicals. Soon after her hilltop musings, Vetter debuted her skills publicly, playing a Christmas tree in her very first kindergarten play. “I was the only kid who got to say a line,” she said. “I loved theater, even before I knew what it was. It’s funny how some things are just in you right from birth, and my desire to do theater was definitely one of those things.”

Vetter graduated with a degree in communication studies and theatre and human development minor. She has played Maria upon the Prairie Repertory Theatre stage, not once, but twice; the first time as a senior in college, and the second, this summer as a returning guest.

Vetter’s first vivid acting memory was when she was 3 years old. “I would put on Mr. Potato Head’s yellow glasses and use my baby blanket as a shawl and an umbrella as a cane and pretend to be an old lady,” Vetter said. “I would shuffle slowly into the kitchen from my bedroom (my dressing room) and pretend to be an old lady for my sister and mom.

“My family thought it was hilarious, and I think seeing how it made them smile and laugh is what initially made me love performing. The fact that it could bring joy to others, make them feel something—I really liked that, and still do. Without the audience, the magic of live theater does not exist. Once an audience is present, the real magic takes place. My family was my first audience.”

Theater remains an important part of Vetter’s life.

She works as an education assistant for the Sioux Falls School District, and performs in productions with the Sioux Empire Community Theatre. Last year, BroadwayWorld awarded Vetter with the regional award for best actress in a musical and another regional award for best actress in a play.

In 2010, Vetter played the role of baroness Elsa in a Sioux Falls production of “The Sound of Music.” “It was interesting to be able to play the part of Elsa, already having played Maria. It was a learning experience.”

‘Coming home’

According to Vetter, this summer’s run of the Rodgers and Hammerstein Broadway classic, was very different for her, but in a good way.

“I love PRT, and I never wanted to leave it,” Vetter said. “When J.D. [Ackman] asked me to come back as a guest artist this summer, I was honored and felt so blessed. It felt like coming home.”

The second time around, the performance was special for Vetter because her niece played the role of Gretl. “I am 15 years older than I was the first time I played Maria, so I am able to relate more to her now,” said Vetter, who will marry Jim Leyse, Oct. 3. “Last summer I was a nanny for a very special family, and I know what it feels like to love those kids and to feel like a part of the family.”

Vetter said she also now knows what it feels like to be in love. “With my own wedding right around the bend, the wedding scene in the show took on a whole new meaning to me—a special one—that I could have never imagined back in 2000.”

Theater has always been a part of Vetter’s life, and has taken on an even more special meaning for her in recent years. “I met my future husband at the Sioux Falls Orpheum Theatre, and we are having our wedding reception there,” she said. “We were both involved in shows there for the Sioux Empire Community Theatre. He really enjoys the directing side of theater, and I love performing.”

“Molly played a lot of different roles in musicals and plays and last summer she attended one of our shows,” J.D. Ackman, PRT director said. “A lot of our patrons mentioned her when they’d come to shows. They would say ‘Oh that Molly Vetter, she was terrific, where is she now?’ So, it just seemed natural to ask her to return as a guest artist.”

In this summer’s “The Sound of Music,” Ackman played the role of Captain von Trapp. “It’s fun to perform with a former student, and with someone to whom I taught acting,” Ackman said. This isn’t the first time Ackman and Vetter have led the show together. In 1999, Ackman played the role of Henry Higgins to Vetter’s Eliza DooLittle in the musical “My Fair Lady,” when Vetter was a student.

College memories

Vetter said her fondest memories as a theater student came from the little things. “Hearing Dr. Johnson laugh, getting hugs from Nancy Wheeler, Ray Peterson teaching me how to splatter paint the flats, Melissa Hauschild-Mork teaching me how to dance, Jo Nesmith doing my hair in Steel Magnolias, and being onstage with J.D. Ackman are all memories I cherish,” Vetter said.

Her favorite PRT memory comes from a hot, summer day retrieving a “Peter Pan” set from a local barn.

“In Prairie Rep, everyone has a work area in addition to taking on roles in the shows,” she said. “My work area was the scene shop. One super hot summer day, the scene shop crew had to go to a barn, where we had some sets stored from previous shows that we could use again.

The barn was surrounded by mud (mixed with other things), which made it pretty tricky, and pretty stinky. It was hot and dirty and took quite a while to retrieve the entire set and load it into our truck but we did.”

On the crew’s way back to town they came across a house with a yellow tractor sprinkler on the lawn watering the grass. The truck slowed down and the actors got out and started running through the sprinkler “like little children.”

“It felt like one of those slow-motion scenes from a movie with happy music playing the background,” Vetter said. “I will never forget that day. All the world’s a stage.”

Karissa Kuhle