Prospect High student hits the stage with 'Crucible' role

While most teenagers might be focused on summer vacation plans, Prospect High School freshman Lea Grace Biwer is busy working — and loving every minute of it.

She is shining in the spotlight.

Biwer, a budding actress, is one of the key characters in Arthur Miller's classic drama “The Crucible” at Invictus Theatre, one of Chicago's premier professional theaters. It plays Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through June 11.

“The Crucible” is one of Arthur Miller's most well-known and respected works and is set during the Salem witch trials of 1692. A young servant girl maliciously accuses a farmer's wife of witchcraft, resulting in mass hysteria.

Biwer's Betty Parris is an important role in the play, and one she earned with a step-by-step growth in the entertainment industry.

Biwer has studied acting, dancing, and singing for years. This, in turn, led to onstage parts in school, community theater and performing arts academy productions.

Highlights of Biwer's early performance resume shows the young actress is a true triple-threat performer. She handled the comedic lead of Buddy the Elf in “Elf the Musical” at Forest View Theater, wowed audiences as the lead dancer in “Let's Dance” at the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre, and sang beautiful harmonies as Louisa von Trapp in “Sound of Music” for Big Noise Theater.

She's even played a few Disney princesses, including Rapunzel, Jasmine and Cinderella, and appeared on television as a segment model for multiple news networks.

But 2022-23 has been a big year for Biwer. She started her high school career — making both the junior varsity cheerleading team and the elite Prospect High School A Cappella Singers.

Then, at the end of 2022, Biwer landed her first professional acting job — playing Susan Waverly in Music Theater Works' production of Irving Berlin's “White Christmas” at the North Shore Performing Arts Center.

Biwer was the only child actor in the show. Yet she not only held her own, she wowed audiences every night.

“I may be young, but my mother taught me the importance of hard work when something is important. And this is important. I understood I was there to do a job and to learn from everyone,” Biwer said.

And that dedication to putting in the work has paid off. Biwer earned LifeandTimes.biz's Heartstrings Award for “Most Meaningful Performance by a Young Person in a Female Role” for her performance in “White Christmas.”

“My hope is to continue to grow as a performer and take advantage of opportunities whenever they present themselves. You never know when opportunity is going to drop in your lap,” Biwer said.

Biwer isn't wasting time waiting for success to knock on her door. She is working hard to prepare herself for the next steps in her career.

“It's all about keeping everything balanced,” said the student actor who maintains a 4.0 G.P.A.

“Performing should be fun, there should be a feeling of accomplishment for doing a good job. But it's also an opportunity, and you should never lose sight of that. We're lucky to get to do this. I'll never take it for granted.”

To see Lea Grace Biwer in “The Crucible” being produced by Invictus Theatre, purchase tickets at www.invictustheatreco.com/crucible.