Talented UNC senior blends interests and aspirations with the Pauper Players

For four years, Olivia Myrick has been defending her decision to go to medical school.

But it’s hard when the operating theater isn’t the only theater that calls her name.

This summer, Myrick interned for Abingdon Theatre, a nonprofit theater company in New York City.

Her work there helped land her a second internship as the personal script consultant for Richard Frankel, a producer at Richard Frankel/Marc Routh Productions — the company behind Broadway hits like “The Producers,” “Hairspray,” and “STOMP.”

“It’s a sad, sad thing that she is pursuing medicine over theater,” said Jan Buttram, the artistic director of Abingdon Theatre. “I hate to think that her talents are not going to be contributed toward American theater.”

Myrick, a senior Spanish major from Charlotte on the pre-med path, is also a highly-regarded executive director of the Pauper Players, an entirely student-run theater musical production company at UNC.

Myrick attributes her success in New York to her experience working in all the aspects of Pauper Players’ shows.

“It really gave me the backing to apply for these internships in New York,” Myrick said. “That’s the great thing about Pauper — you can work in all these different capacities.”

While applying to medical schools and administrating the company, Myrick is set to star as Nickie in Pauper’s fall production, “Sweet Charity,” which opens Nov. 12.

But Myrick’s friends and coworkers say that she is able to excel at all of her passions with seamless ease.

“I can definitely see her being successful in the medical world,” said Kim Sharp, the associate artistic direction and literary manager of Abington Theatre. “Her focus is incredible and she’s such an intelligent woman.”

Before Myrick returned to UNC, Frankel offered her a position as his personal script consultant.

“Writing and performing is such a personal thing for me,” she said. “With medicine, I feel a connection that is missing with theater.”

Myrick hopes to find a common ground between her artistic and scientific pursuits through her campus involvement this year.

She is writing an honors thesis about medicine — in Spanish — and working on putting the finishing touches on a musical with music she wrote herself.

Frankel encouraged Myrick to create a musical of her own, based on the quality of her theatrical criticism.

As the vice-president of Alpha Epsilon Delta, an honors premedical fraternity, Myrick is working to organize more cross-organizational events on campus this year.

“Olivia has done an excellent job integrating Pauper into a broader UNC community,” said Michael McWaters, director of “Sweet Charity.”

“She is just a dream cast member. She’s constantly challenging herself to push her talent more and go different places,” McWaters said.

Though she doesn’t plan to pursue a career in theater, Myrick is appreciative that she has opportunities for creative outlet, she said.

“I had a professor tell me recently that they don’t think I should go medical school because I’ll ‘lose my spark,’” Myrick said.

Contact the Arts Editor at

artsdesk@unc.edu.