Marie Mullinax, a senior theatre major, performed in her last Doudna performance of her Eastern career this weekend, which was met with bittersweet feelings. 

Growing up going to her cousin’s premiere theater performances and coming from a theatrical family, Mullinax knew what she wanted to do with her life at an early age. 

“There’s something about just creating art in a way that shows who I am as a person,” she said. 

During her early years at school, her theater director asked her what she wanted to do with her life, and they suggested theater to her. 

While attending Herscher High School, Mullinax realized that there weren’t many classes that supported her interest in performing, so when she first came to Eastern, she felt behind compared to her peers. 

“Coming in it was very intimidating,” she said. “I felt like everyone had an advantage over me because they knew all these different terms over me, and they had experience on proper stages and had done different work and seen so many different shows.” 

Mullinax felt nervous to be herself because of her classmates and professors. 

One of the most memorable performances for her was the Children of Eden due to its large cast and scale. 

Some of the cast and crew also flew to New York to perform it in New York City with Broadway actors, which was a unique experience for her. 

“It was definitely very nerve wracking but less because of the performance and more because it was something new,” she said. 

Because of how much the scale elevated, coming from Eastern to performing it on the biggest scale there was something that shook Mullinax. 

“You’re in New York, where you’re always told like, ‘This is where theater is, it’s Broadway,’ so it’s nerve wracking in that way, but it was very exciting to go,” Mullinax said.  

Throughout her four years, she said she’s been able to grow on and off stage. 

Since being involved in theatre, she’s gained confidence in her own abilities and that being true to herself is the most valuable thing she’s learned. 

Her articulation has grown, she said, noting that production is one big group project, so managing things such as communicating and time management has played a role in allowing her to be the best that she can be. 

Mullinax performed in her last performance “Cabaret” this Friday at 7:30 p.m. in the Doudna Fine Arts Center. 

Cabaret combines music, dance and theater into one with Eastern performing multiple songs from different plays. 

A lot of the performances had contrasting characters and storylines that dealt with love, parenthood and personalities. 

There were a mix of emotions ranging between all of the acts. 

At the end of the show Mullinax was given the center of attention when it was announced that it was her last performance. 

She was greeted with a notebook filled with messages from her friends and professors in Doudna, which she had no idea about. 

She saw that people were sharing a book around for about a week but had no idea what was in it. 

“I came around the corner one day and someone was writing something in it, and they quickly covered it up,” she said. 

Mullinax said she values the book because of all the memories that people wrote about.  

Cam’ron Hardy can be reached at 581-2812 or at cahardy@eiu.edu.