Rushing across streets, bolting down avenues, a long, black, ruffled dress held up by two clammy hands. Lyrics running in her head, as her feet struggle to keep up on the race to 57th Street and 7th Avenue. 

Jamie Lapierre graduated from Mills in 2020, and since has dived right into the world of acting, auditioning for dozens of shows a week despite knowing nothing will come out of most of it.

“I’m really hoping that this show will let folks process and really feel where we’re at right now,” said Rebecca Bailey, the stage manager for the Department of the Performing Arts’ newest production, “Too Much Unhappy.”

Bailey, a junior studying public relations and musical theatre, was tasked with helping to bring the production to life and navigating a new kind of performance: a hybrid between in-person and virtual.

The mass of blonde hair waves around with every step taken. A bottle is pulled and lightly tipped back, all while the young woman dressed in a white dress shirt and pink work pants stumbles her way around bystanders right into a desk. As she sits in her chair, she lets out a loud laugh, an exchange of words, and takes another sip out of the nipper, without a care in the world. Everyone on the stage either gives her a soft glare or pays no mind at all.