Orange Beach’s Evie Rosa Butler wins 2nd state theater competition

Orange Beach’s Evie Rosa Butler wins 2nd state theater competition

Evie Rosa Butler, a junior at Orange Beach High School, achieves state title – twice. A two time All Star Cheerleader has won a state title two times in a row. And, it wasn’t for cheerleading.
Evie Rosa competed at the Walter Trumbauer State Theatre festival and defied the odds. She won 1st in state in two consecutive state competitions in the same category. As a freshman, she competed with fifty girls from across the state in the contemporary monologue event.
Her title was the first state champion for the newly formed Orange Beach High School, where she has served as a variety cheerleader. Covid-19 stopped the competition last school year, but in the 2021-22 competition, Evie Rosa returned to the same category on a higher level, competed against fifty students – girls and boys – and won 1st in state again in this highly competitive event. Veterans of the competition couldn’t remember a time in over twenty years that a student had won first in state for the monologue event two years in a row.
Two months after winning first in state, Evie Rosa participated in the Alabama Thespian Festival in Birmingham, where her role in the school’s one act competition, won her Best Actress in the state-wide festival. Evie Rosa was also awarded a superior rating for her monologues and a bid to the International Thespian Festival at the University of Indiana this summer.
In March, Evie Rosa attended the Southeastern Theatre Conference in Memphis, where she auditioned for seventy colleges, universities, and conservatories. She received an unheard of thirty-seven callbacks from these schools with numerous scholarship and program admittance offers.
When asked about her plans, Evie responded, “An actress. But, you know a lot of people don’t understand that and talk to me about a ‘Plan B.’ I don’t need a back-up plan. Acting for stage and film has been my dream since I was kindergarten. I’m thankful that I have two supportive parents who recognize the importance of me being able to carve my own path – to fulfill my purpose.”
Evie Rosa played the role of Elsa Schraeder, the love interest of Captain Von Trapp in the recent school production of The Sound of Music. “It’s a great role for me as a dramatic actress. It’s the one role where I don’t have to sing, and I can focus on creating a dramatic role in the middle of a musical,” she said.
In addition to acting, Evie Rosa was the school’s first Homecoming Queen in 2019. She has been a varsity cheerleader for three years and has just been chosen to co-captain the squad for her senior year. As a freshman, she was the SGA president 2020-21, and junior class president. She is a member of the National Honor Society, Model Mako 2020, Key Club, Mu Alpha Theta, Peer Helpers, and Junior Leadership. “I think that participating in the arts and athletics while working hard academically makes you a more well-rounded student ready for life. Plus, it’s very important to be involved in your community as well, ” said Evie Rosa, who carries a 4.0 GPA.
For Evie Rosa, theatre is a family thing. Her father, Darren Butler, is the Fine Arts Director and theatre teacher at Orange Beach Middle/High School. “I knew Evie Rosa was talented when she was very young. She always had this presence about her. I never wanted to push her into theatre because I loved it. She always knew it was her choice. She just fell in love with the whole process. It’s been great to see her receive this recognition. People in the industry see her talent and potential the way I do.”