The Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — Marilyn Harris has had a theatrical streak for most of her life.

“I love singing. I’m such a performance person — when I was little, I used to love to watch ‘Grease.’ And I would get up on the coffee table and pretend I was Cha Cha. We have home videos of that, unfortunately,” said Harris, a sophomore at Steamboat Springs High School.

Those performances made her parents fear their daughter might be tone-deaf, she joked. That’s not a problem anymore.

At 7 p.m. today, Harris will give a recital at United Methodist Church. The program splits the difference between her classical training and love of musical theater, and is a culmination of more than five years of studying voice. She’s spent several of those years working with local voice teacher and musician Christel Houston, who will accompany Harris on her recital.

“I’ve grown so much with her, and I’ve really developed my range and my repertoire,” Harris said of working with Houston. “This is my way to show what I’ve learned to the community.”

It’s also her way of saying goodbye. In the fall, Harris will continue her education at Phillips Academy Andover, where she plans to step up her academics and participate in the school’s theater, dance and hockey programs. Known for its academic rigor, the Massachusetts school offers classes in areas including play production, technical theater, acting and directing. Harris received an endowment scholarship to go there.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity for her, and she’s always been ready, even though she’s just turning 15 next week,” said Geri Harris, Marilyn’s mother.

“She’s worked really hard for a long time on this, and I think she was planning on going next year, so she’s been preparing the songs all year,” Geri Harris said.

Active in youth theater and hockey programs in Steamboat Springs, Marilyn Harris said she expects the distance from here to her new school to be difficult. But she’s ready for the challenge and plans to keep singing for the rest of her life.

“I’ve loved growing up here in Steamboat, and I’ve done so much here. And everything I’ve done here has been a springboard into Andover,” Marilyn Harris said. She looks at her recital as a way to give back to the community by giving it entertainment.

Houston said her students usually don’t do solo recitals until their junior year of high school but that she made an exception for Harris, who comes to each lesson ready to take her performance to the next level.

“Marilyn has been an exceptional singer since she was, like, 7 years old. And it was really fun to watch her just love singing and music more than anything,” Houston said. “She’s going to get a great education where she’s going, and I told her if she doesn’t she should fly home every week and take lessons.”