Angelica Sanchez does it all

By Emily Gregoire

“I started singing when I was 3 years old, it’s not like a memory I remember;

it’s on a home video I watch. I know I was too young to even know what was going on,”

said Plattsburgh High School senior Angelica Sanchez.

                    Sanchez gets her vocal skills from her mother’s side of the family. She

recalls a time when she was so young, yet so amazed just by watching her cousins sing.

                   Her mother, Nancy McDonald put her in vocal lessons right away.

                 “She has a presence”, McDonald said.

                   When Sanchez was younger, McDonald was a member of the Plattsburgh

State Gospel Choir. Sanchez has always been a part of a very musical family. Each

holiday season is filled with singing and putting on shows.

                  “What I used to do with Angelica, when she was little, we would put on little

Broadway shows with those pretty, feathered boas and sing,” McDonald said.

                    Sanchez starred in her first play in 5th grade, she was living in Queens, NY at

the time. Sanchez would audition for her school’s rendition of Grease and would later be

granted the lead role of Sandy.

                    When Sanchez moved up to middle school, she became involved in talent

shows. In 8th grade she was preparing for a monologue which required her to really get

into character.

                   Sanchez noted by that time her father had already been diagnosed with cancer

and ironically the monologue was about a young women losing her father and displaying

her emotions.

                 “And then in 9th grade, that’s when drama club gets serious,” said Sanchez.

                  She started out with a small part, she practiced and grew. Sanchez came back

each year more and more prepared.

                  In her junior year of high school, Sanchez played the character of Marty in

another Grease rendition.

                  For Sanchez’s senior year, she starred in Anything Goes. She says it was one

of her downfalls in her drama club history. Sanchez had fallen ill with strep throat.

                  “It was one of the most fun shows I’ve ever done,” Sanchez said despite being

ill and worrying about whether or not she could perform.  

                  Sanchez’s mother is not only her biggest fan, McDonald is also her biggest

advantage.

                   McDonald continues to pass her musical knowledge down to Sanchez. When

Sanchez was younger, it wasn’t always that simple.

                   Sanchez remembers coming home from vocal practice in the past and telling

McDonald that she was working on things that McDonald had already noted.

                   “There are many layers to Angelica,” said McDonald.

                    McDonald says that Sanchez is sensitive, fun-loving, musical, and very

artistic.

                    Sanchez’s younger sister, Ava even gets in on the act. When the two sing

together Ana is seen as the equalizer and balances Sanchez in just the right way.

                       “We did a version of the Cups song from Pitch Perfect,” Ava Sanchez said.

                     Sanchez is multifaceted not only because of her interest, but her personality

                        “The one thing I really love, is that she is so comical,” McDonald said.

                          McDonald envisions a bright future for Sanchez; whether that means,

moving to the city to peruse her singing aspirations, taking a shot at professional acting,

or attending school to learn about the fashion industry.

                        “I think she’d be great on SNL,” McDonald said.