Aariyana Gould
Hi y’all! My name is Aariyana Gould, or Aari for short and I grew up in rural south jersey, in a small town named Salem. Historically impoverished and overlooked, there wasn’t much to do or to explore, much less theatre to perform. However, with the addition of a new band program in my middle school, I was drawn to play the flute. As soon as I was old enough to participate in choir, I did that as well. Every musical opportunity that came my way, I was involved in. By the time I reached 8th grade, I was performing in Regional choirs, and I was a part of the high school marching band. Falling in love with the band and the choir, I knew that I wanted music to be a part of my life forever.
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In high school, I continued my choral and band journey in state, regional, and county ensembles. Theatre was the only artform I hadn’t tried. It was an easy decision for me to audition for the school musical! My first role ever was Olive’s mom in the 25th Putnam County Spelling Bee. I had a blast! The next year, I got cast as Ariel in the Little Mermaid, and after that experience, I knew I wanted to do musical theatre forever! Two years later, I found myself in a very confusing college audition process. By the end of it, I knew Wilkes University was the college for me to continue my journey.
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A Little About Me:
At Wilkes, while earning a BFA in Musical Theatre, I have enjoyed many moments on stage that helped me grow tremendously. Here I even enjoyed taking dance classes such as tap, broadway styles, jazz, and ballet. I also went back to my choir and roots, participating in the University Chorus as well as being in a select group called the Chamber Singers for multiple years. I have been in 12 mainstage productions, and have taken a number of courses that ave helped me learn more than I ever thought possible.
While at school, I also had the opportunity to audition for and participate in professional auditions at both SETC (2022) and UPTA (2023). Here I was able to network and audition in front of 50+ companies at a time. Both of these experiences were very rewarding and taught me a lot about what it is like to actually audition professionally. ​
Now, I am looking forward to graduating in May 2023, and I can’t wait to use all that I have learned and put it into practice!