As a cast member in "Erratica: An Academic Farce," now running in Strother Theater, Alli Miller's brightly colored outfits are the first thing one notices about her when she walks on to the stage. Miller said she recalled always exuding such vibrancy.
When she was a child, she said, she would run up to strangers and sing to them while they were in the supermarket.
"Yeah, most parents ask their children to sing for them; mine would tell me to stop singing," she said.
While in kindergarten, Miller said her dance teacher gave her the confidence to perform. She was the child who would do pirouettes up and down the aisle of Meijer.
Miller's roommate Emily Nejad said "nothing has changed." She still does fouette turns up and down the street.
"She is by far the most embarrassing friend that I have." Nejad said. "She is shameless."
Miller doesn't only share her "talent" off-stage but on the stage as well. She said she is working to refine her talents.
"I am intermediate at acting, singing and dancing, but I am working to be better," Miller said.
Miller decided to attend Ball State University to study musical theater because she did not want to feel like a little fish in a big sea and the theater faculty made her feel welcomed.
Now she is swimming to the top of the theater pool.
Last spring when she auditioned for "Erratica," she knew she wanted the role of Lisa Milkmin.
"I know how to be this heinous bitch," Miller said. "I know how to give her a justification. ... Yeah she's a heinous bitch, but she's hurting. There's a problem."
She said she likes playing the antagonist because an actor must make the character likeable while still trying to achieve his or her objectives.
Although Miller's persona is usually sunshine yellow, she has experienced some blues and greys.
Last year one of her good friends was killed in a motorcycle accident in Florida. She received calls from her friends who told her that the accident occurred because he rode the bike in the rain, and tried to make a turn and flew off the bike.
"It was just really awful," Miller said.
Even more awful was that Miller never got to say goodbye to her friend. She was upset because she remembered forgetting to hang out with him the last time he was in town. Now she tries to make good with everyone she really cares about.
"I won't let anyone leave my house without them knowing I love them if we're in a fight," Miller said. "Just in case it is the last time I see them."
That tragedy, coupled with other events, made Miller fall into a state of depression. She said she couldn't even do some of her roles because everything brought her back to an emotional state, and she was not able to let go of her own problems. Miller considered leaving Ball State because she wanted a fresh start. She said supportive faculty members put her back on track, and she felt like they really cared about her.
Miller's other roommate, Keely Leonard, said one of her character flaws is she cares too much about people.
"She doesn't know when to say no," Leonard said.
Miller went on vacation to Los Angeles and asked her mother if they could go to the grocery store to buy food to feed all of the homeless people on the street. And she did.
Miller said the reason why she is so willing to help others even when she may not be in the financial state to do so is becaue she received so much help from her family members as her parents struggled financially. Although her parents did not have a lot of money, they were still able to keep her in the performing arts.
"They never let me know that they were struggling," Miller said.
She has the humanitarian spirit because it bothers her to see people on the street.
"If we get people off the streets, then we get people off the drugs. If we get people off the drugs, then we get them out of the prisons and it makes everyone a lot happier 'hatchah'," Miller said while laughing.
"Carpe diem" is Miller's new motto. She has decided to live life to the fullest as result of some of her more traumatic experiences.
"I am the happiest I have ever been because of how content and grounded I am," Miller said. "My friends are so amazing and I feel really loved."
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