A calling can come from anywhere. The moment where someone stumbles into something that resonates can be found in a variety of locations, and Del Mar drama student Hunter Holloway found his calling from seeing people on stage for a musical.
“I saw my first ever community theater show, which was ‘Footloose’ at Aurora Arts Theatre,” Holloway said.
From the moment he saw it, he was sold on theater.
“I knew that’s what I wanted to do with my life,” Holloway said.
He went on to audition for a musical, wanting to give this new medium a try for himself.
“My first production was ‘A Christmas Story’ (2019) at Aurora Arts Theatre,” Holloway said.
On top of getting into the show, he was given a comedic role.
“I was the kid in the scene where Ralphie goes to see Santa,” Holloway said. “I was the kid who peed on Santa.”
The first of anything can cause someone’s nerves to show. When Hunter went through the rehearsal process for the first time with this “A Christmas Story,” he was no different.
“It was rather nerve-wracking,” Holloway said. “I was always worried what people would think and if I was going to be good enough,” Holloway said.
Once it was time to start performing though, it was soon clear that his comedic performance went over well with Corpus Christi audiences.
“Every time I did that scene, the audience would knock their socks off,” Holloway said.
The audience was not the only group enjoying their time with that year’s performance of “A Christmas Story,” though. Holloway also remembered his time in the production rather well, soothing the anxieties that had flared up while he was getting ready for the show.
“It made me feel happy that I was making people laugh,” Holloway said. “I think I felt that way because I felt like I was doing my part perfectly.”
This first theatre experience gave Hunter many lessons to learn.
“I learned how to be part of a group and work together with a group of actors,” Holloway said.
With his first time in a theatrical production, Hunter found something in himself: his voice, along with many other things. The fundamentals of being on stage had been established.
“I learned how to unlock my singing voice and I learned how to dance a bit,” Holloway said. “I learned a lot of theater terms and slang as well.”
Now that he had started off in community theaters, he was not interested in stopping.
“Being in that show at such a young age helped later on with high school theater,” Holloway said.
He took on the high school stage, appearing in many productions at Flour Bluff High School during his time as a student.
“I was in ‘Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory’ as Charlie’s dad, ‘These Shining Lives’ as Mr. Reed, which was our One Act (a statewide theatre competition) for 2023, ‘Clue’ as Col. Mustard, my first lead role, and ‘I Never Saw Another Butterfly’ as Loudspeaker,” Holloway said.
There was a significant difference between the working environments at Aurora Arts compared to his time at Flour Bluff.
“It was definitely a transition,” Holloway said. “Community theater is, in my opinion, less stressful than high school theater.”
The difference lies in the weight of expectations, with those expectations ramping up as he got older.
“When you’re an upperclassman, you have more of a leadership role,” Holloway said.
He noted his competitive appearances being of note due to the scrutiny he was under for those productions.
“One Act was the most stressful because you are being judged and you get critiqued after,” Holloway said.
Speaking of One Act appearances, his first was a record performance in Flour Bluff history, being the highest the school had ever placed in the competition.
“I got to set a school record with ‘These Shining Lives’ by being the first One Act in school history to get to area competition,” Holloway said.
For his second One Act competition, a rendition of the play “I Never Saw Another Butterfly,” Hunter had to play a difficult role: a Nazi officer.
Originally written to just be a loudspeaker, the role was expanded for the production, having him dress in thick black clothing and national socialist regalia. He states this was his hardest role to do.
“I hated becoming that character,” Holloway said. “I mean, he was a Nazi. That’s the lowest of lows you can get.”
It took a process to portray the character properly, one which involved a level of isolation.
“I really just had to disconnect from the rest of the cast,” Holloway said. “Before every show, I’d just sit by myself and listen to music.”
Hunter’s acting is not limited to Corpus theaters. He has also gone out of town for performing experience, namely to Port Aransas.
“I’ve done two shows at PACT [Port Aransas Community Theatre],” Holloway said. “’The Lightning Thief, the Musical’ and ‘The Play That Goes Wrong.’”
He looks at this experience in a positive light.
“’The Play That Goes Wrong’ was my first comedy and we sold out the theatre the entire run of the show,” Holloway said.
Being a show of quick wit and humor, he had a chance to learn some more comedic chops.
“I learned how to do good improv from that show too,” Holloway said.
Not only did he like the productions on their own, but he also liked the intimacy of the venue itself.
“You can see almost everyone in the theater and it was always fun to see people’s different reactions to you on stage,” he said.
High school came to an end eventually, however he had already made plans on where to go once his time in Flour Bluff was up.
“I went to clinics for One Act at Del Mar and I really enjoyed them,” Holloway said.
Del Mar College also influenced him to continue his time here.
“The school is also local and I thought this would be a great place to continue my theatrer career,” Holloway said.
Before his time in Flour Bluff was even up, he had already made himself known amongst the Del Mar theater students.
His vocal teacher, Peter Lopez, hosted a recital for his students in the spring. He had also been directing the vocals for Del Mar’s cast of “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” who were invited to perform as well.
“That’s where I met all the Del Mar folks for the first time,” Holloway said.
The students he met at the rehearsal made a good impression on him.
“They were really nice and meeting them basically made up my mind about going to Del Mar,” he said.
Once his introductions had been made in the spring, he then started attending college in the fall.
“It’s been going well,” Holloway said of his time so far. “I’ve made lots of friends with the drama majors and I’m enjoying my classes.”
While he’s already busied himself theatrically with “A Christmas Story” this year, he’s still waiting for his chance at the Del Mar stage.
“Hopefully by next semester, I’ll be on stage in a show at Del Mar,” Holloway said.
Now a five-year veteran of the local theater scene, Holloway has found his niche and stuck with it. Given his drama enrollment at Del Mar, it’s likely that he’ll be sticking with the calling for years to come.
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