By Abigail Gold

It’s in the places where people find community that they feel inspired to better their skills. Nevaeh Marshall, a senior at Texas High, is quite familiar with this concept.

“I started doing theatre because I had actually just moved schools,” Nevaeh said. She had moved from Texarkana to Georgia and wanted to make friends in her new school. To accomplish her task, she joined the school production of the musical Annie. She found that she enjoyed her new hobby just as much as the friends she found through it. By the end of her sophomore year, she was moving back to Texarkana, ready to take on her new school with the help of the theatre department.

“[Our other students] were so excited to meet her,” said Mikenzie Burns, assistant theatre director at Texas High. “It was just like she fit right in, like a puzzle piece almost, like we had a piece of our company missing that we didn’t even know.” Nevaeh made new friends quickly and continued to push herself. As time went on, she got better and better at acting and singing, and she still works hard to improve.

By the second week of her junior year, Nevaeh had already picked a song to compete with in the International Thespian Festival. “ITF is kind of like for your self-improvement, I guess; you’re not getting compared to other people,” she explained. She wanted to hear the feedback of different judges so she could grow as a performer. She chose to perform the song “Still Hurting” by Anna Kendrick, which is featured on the soundtrack of The Last Five Years. The song is emotional and heavy, making it strenuous to sing and difficult to perform. However, Nevaeh faced the challenge head-on. She worked with Ms. Burns whenever she could. Not only was she spending her free time at school rehearsing, but she was also singing constantly at home to improve her performance. Eventually, her dedication paid off.

Nevaeh played Curley’s wife in a production of Of Mice and Men. Also pictured is Xavier Briggs as Lennie. submitted photo.

On June 26th, 2025, all of the members of the Tiger Theatre Company who had advanced to the highest point of the International Thespian Festival received their final scores. Neveah Marshall could proudly say that she had gotten a superior rating. “I was really happy because it’s just really [an accomplishment] when you put so much time and energy into something . . . to find out that all my hard work paid off,” she said.

Nevaeh’s teachers were just as excited as she was. “It’s more of an honor to get a superior at the ITF level because it’s globally recognized,” Mikenzie explained. “[The students] also get to compete and have fun with students that love theatre.”

Pictured here at an awards ceremony with her teachers Mikenzie Burns and Brandon Shoemaker, Nevaeh is president of her troupe. submitted photo.

As they rehearsed over and over again in the weeks leading up to ITF, Mikenzie saw that Nevaeh not only had incredible talent but also a deep love for theatre. “I love being able to be on stage and share a story,” Nevaeh said. “I think theatre’s just really beautiful, and the fact that we could be an instrument to tell other people’s stories and hold other people’s voices is really cool.” Her achievements at the International Thespian Festival wouldn’t be possible without her passion.

Nevaeh Marshall went from doing theatre as a way to make friends to getting a high honor at an international festival. Her dedication to her craft is nothing short of awe inspiring, and her teachers and peers look to her for guidance as she takes her place as the Troupe 2526 International Thespian Society president. In her new leadership role, she works hard to welcome and encourage all new theatre students. She’s a person with incredible talent and dedication, and she will be a bright light for her fellow students as she makes her way through her last year in high school.

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FSLM Student Profile: Nevaeh Marshall