Peter and the Starcatcher’s Celia Keenan-Bolger on Her Physics Aversion and Early Broadway Dreams

As kids all over America head back to school, Broadway.com decided to ask our favorite Broadway stars to look back at their own years in the classroom—and share a school picture! Celia Keenan-Bolger, who moved up from starring in a school production of Alice in Wonderland (above) to Broadway’s Peter and the Starcatcher, recalls her favorite teacher, least favorite class and lifelong love of performing.

Who was your favorite teacher and why?
My favorite teacher was my third grade teacher, Ms. Pettapiece. I remember she was the first teacher I ever had who talked to us like we were adults. She had really high expectations and never talked down to her students. It made me want to do my very best for her.

What advice would you give to your school-age self?
Stop trying to memorize facts and equations and actually try to learn. My short-term memory served me well, but there's so little I actually remember now.

In school you would have been named “most likely to…”
I would have been named "most likely to be obsessed with Broadway."

What’s your favorite back to school item?
A stiff competition between the lunch box and the trapper keeper.

What class did you dread and why?
I dreaded physics in high school. I think that's one of those subjects you either get or you don't, and I just never ever got it.

In which extracurricular activities did you participate?
I was really into sports K-8, especially soccer and gymnastics, but then I went to a performing arts high school so all of that went away. I was also big into student government.

Describe your school-age self in three words.
Bossy, talkative, leader.

Click here for more School Days memories from your favorite stars.