The crowd silences, the lights dim, and the curtain opens, revealing the stage inside WA’s Performing Arts Center. This only means one thing. Senior actor Alex Ross is about to blow the audience away.

After dozens of productions over the span of his time in the Westford Public Schools, Ross will graduate from WA in June and continue his acting journey in college.

Since the age of eight, acting has played a major role in Ross’s life. He partook in children’s theater at Roudenbush daycare, and at 10, he started doing musicals.

“I’ve been doing shows religiously since then,” Ross said.

Over time, Ross has been a part of a drastic amount of shows, greatly contributing in each of them. Ross has played roles in The Addams Family, Secondary Ed, Songs for a New World, Dancing at Lughnasa, Once where he played Billy, The Spongebob Musical where he played Spongebob, Weird Sisters: The Tragedy of Macbeth where he played Macbeth, and is currently in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe as Mr. Tumnus.

In order to perform the perfect final product for these productions, Ross has dedicated hours of hard work and effort. Of these performances, The Spongebob Musical stands out to Ross as the most difficult.

“The most challenging role was Spongebob. No other part has challenged me physically and vocally like that one,” Ross said. “But Spongebob was also a complete blast. It felt like a marathon of fun, and pain, every night.”

After all of his hard work through the high school level, Ross plans to continue his theater career in college. While he is undecided on the college he wants to attend, he still plans on studying Musical Theater.

Following his college experience and the productions he will be a part of, Ross hopes to carry acting into his professional career.

“I hope to work as, at this moment in time, an actor who can do any medium and genre,” Ross said. “[For example], musicals, straight plays, television, and anything else.”

Part of the reason for why Ross has experienced such a tremendous amount of success with acting is due to his passion for theater, and consistently hard work ethic.

“I think I have a strong work ethic, I always try to be open and flexible in collaboration, and I try to be spontaneous and present when performing,” Ross said. “I hope to improve on these skills, and more, in conservatory training and through working professionally.”

In order to achieve the amount of success Ross has, it requires a true passion and love for acting. For Ross, this is completely the case, as he enjoys putting himself in the shoes of a character and bringing their story to life. Playing the role of a given character comes with challenges but also highlights, fulfilling Ross’s love for the art over the years.

“Acting is my outlet. It is how I center myself and how I release stress and anxiety,” Ross said. “Acting is just the thing I’ve chosen to practice and the thing that fulfills me the most.”

High school marks the end of most people’s acting careers, but this is not the case for the talented Ross. As he searches for the ideal college, Ross knows one thing; acting will continue to be a driving factor in his life.

“I’ve been lucky enough to live in Westford, having all the teachers who have helped me through the years [with acting]. I’ve always learned from intelligent, talented, and hard working people who believed in me and wanted to help me,” Ross said. “I would not have been able to grow in the way I have without them.”