by Kate Mack, Editor in Chief

As sophomore Tori Beckerman shouted out the words “I hate you! I want to die!” she felt something come over her. She pushed the girl standing beside her across the stage in a way that made even her costar question the reality of the situation. Although she was playing the character Millie in the Garland Civic Theater’s production of Picnic, the tears that she wept were her own. 

“Whenever I acted out that scene, I was completely taken over. It was not me shouting out those words. I had transformed into the character of Millie through the understanding of my own personal thoughts and emotions,” Tori said. 

Tori has felt such a passion for acting since childhood. In her middle school years, she attended weekly singing and acting lessons and continued them after she left for the Booker T. Washington High School for Performing and Visual Arts (BTWHSPVA) after the eighth grade. At the Arts Magnet School, she began working in shows regularly and signed with the Campbell Agency in its broadcast division. She has the opportunity to go on auditions and continues to work with her film acting coach Theresa Bell, a screenwriter and former actress.

“Tori is a joy. I just love having her in class. She is rare. She is a force, and I fully expect her to be adding ‘producer’ and ‘director’ to her resume some day. Not all actors have her dedication and commitment to the process,” Ms. Bell said.

Tori’s family also sees her dedication and interest in acting. “[My husband, Howard,] and I are very supportive of Tori’s passion and demonstrated interest. It is nice to see. To understand Tori, it is crucial to understand this part of her and the love that she has for acting. In a way, it exemplifies her perseverance and her overall character,” said Robin Beckerman, Tori’s mother. 

Tori plans to hone her skills for the future. “I am completely at the beginning of my career. What I want to accomplish is to be in film and have good roles. Currently, I’m just trying to get the experience under my belt. I plan on going to college, an arts school or a conservatory, where I can break into the business at that prime age,” she said. 

However, Tori tries to balance her career plans with her expectations as a student. She stresses the importance of education, which explains her return to Greenhill sophomore year. 

“The idea of the Arts Magnet was better than the actuality. I wish I could be in a place where I could act all day long and receive a superior academic education. If I’m at a place where I’m not receiving an education and I don’t feel safe, it’s not worth it. Here at Greenhill I’m getting an incredible education with amazing faculty and a strong acting background outside of school through the people that I work with, and I’m continually inspired by them,” she said.

Mrs. Beckerman hopes Tori can find similar inspiration in the program at school. “We look forward to the time when she is able to get involved in the Greenhill theater program because she thrived while being involved at BTWHSPVA last year,” she said.

However, Tori finds that her passion comes alive regardless of where she is performing; it is a feeling she experiences in her most meaningful moments of acting. “For me, acting is the emotional reality of life. It is being able to take on an emotion and a character and become it. It takes away who you are and brings you to another reality. It shows emotion. You must dig deep, but you have to have experiences that will allow you to pull your emotions to the surface at a moment’s notice,” she said. 

Her co-stars and teachers believe that it is the combination of her talent and determination that will bring Tori success. 

“Tori has not failed to impress me since our first lesson,” said Wendy Welch, one of Tori’s longtime coaches and mentors. Ms. Welch is a professional actress and singer in the area who teaches musical theater at Richland College and privately coaches singing and acting in her home. 

“I’m used to working with teenagers her age, and so their busy social lives come as an expected interference with their practicing. I usually expect many of my students to come in after a weekend without having gone through all of the material, but Tori returned to her second lesson and told me that she had completed the work from our first lesson and was eager to find out what to do next. Needless to say, I was blown away. And she continued to be like that always,” Ms. Welch said. 

Mrs. Beckerman sees Tori’s consistent dedication as a character trait that has been with her since before birth. “When I was pregnant with Tori, I went to the opera, The Magic Flute, and this child – every time that the orchestra would play – I could feel her move and come alive inside of me. Tori continues to love good music,” she said.

She said that Tori’s perseverance is also a recurring trait. “When Tori was four years old, I took her to a roller skating party. She didn’t know how to roller skate, but she put on the skates and continuously pushed my hands away, and she spent the three hours going around and around the track teaching herself how to skate. That reflects exactly who Tori is. Besides being exuberant, she has such a sense of determination. When she puts her mind to something, she perseveres. She has always had this persistence of character,” Mrs. Beckerman said. 

Through commitment and will, Tori has molded her acting skills into a type of education that resonates with her as a learner. “I think that the arts in general are really important for people, particularly for people that aren’t the strongest academic students because it introduces a different type of intelligence. The arts are creative and require a different but equally as important type of thinking than is utilized in the classroom everyday,” Tori said.