Five years ago, Madelyn (Maddy) Tax was a high school student in Watertown, Minnesota, navigating a life-changing diagnosis of Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Today, she’s a senior theater major with an impressive list of performances to her name.
For Tax, theater and recovery share a common thread — they both rely on the support and generosity of others.
That appreciation for human connection is what drew her to the University of Minnesota’s theater program, where the academic experience is deeply integrated with the professional stage.
“I love how connected our program is to the greater Twin Cities theater community,” she says. “There are so many ways to build relationships with professors and other students. The productions are high quality, the classes are focused on what we actually need to learn and there is just so much room for growth.”
Looking back on her four years at the University of Minnesota, Tax describes a rewarding experience. She’s performed in three mainstage productions — “Pride and Prejudice,” “Cabaret” and “Mac Beth” (a modern adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” with an all-female cast) — and is grateful for the doors that have opened for her.
“I was in my first professional show as a student because of one of my professors,” she says. “Many of them have their own companies and sometimes update us on opportunities.”
Coming from a small town to a large university forced Tax to take the initiative and “put herself out there,” but she believes that the size of the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus is actually one of its greatest strengths.
“I really like how big it is, because it makes the smaller communities you find within it feel more special,” she says.
That sense of community is also what has allowed Tax to thrive as a student. For her, donor support played an important role in keeping her focused on her goals.
“Donor support has definitely been beneficial,” says Tax, whose scholarships include the Barbara Reid Scholarship, the Iron Range Merit Scholarship and Jim St. George and Mark Sullivan Performing Arts Initiatives Fund. “It helps balance out the financial support from my parents and what I am able to contribute. And especially now that I have a younger brother starting college soon, it puts less financial stress on everyone.”
As Tax prepares to graduate, she is also celebrating a major personal milestone: five years cancer-free. To mark the occasion and show her gratitude to the anonymous blood donors who supported her treatment, she organized an on-campus blood drive in December. About 80% of the people who donated were students.
“Giving blood is a unique connection between people,” she says. “Knowing that I once had someone else’s blood in my veins because they were willing to donate … I want to find ways to encourage other people to do that, too.”
After graduation, Tax intends to stay in the Twin Cities to continue working in the local theater scene. While a graduate program or a return to Europe — she studied abroad in Dublin — may be in her future, she is currently focused on the community that helped her get here.
“The Minneapolis theater community is just so broad and so connected at the same time. And there are so many opportunities,” she says. “I can’t wait to see what happens.”
More stories
