All the world’s a stage for senior Annie Ruoff of Monmouth Beach. Ruoff has performed  in plays and musicals since she was in the third grade and has been a part of 18 productions from her local community theater to school shows as an actor, choreographer and more.

Ruoff said she made the transition from acting to directing with her middle school’s drama club.

“At my middle school Monmouth Beach I acted in two shows … but then I went back the past two years and I helped with assistant directing and choreography,” Ruoff said.

Ruoff has performed in musicals for three years with the Shore Players of Shore Regional High School, and now, Ruoff aims to bring musical theatre right here to CHS. As the director of the Drama Club, Ruoff and the rest of the council decided to try something new this year. In May, they will perform “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” one of the only musicals ever to be done at CHS.

“Ever since I was a freshmen… I asked people, ‘Why don’t we do musicals?’” Ruoff said. She did not accept the answer that it would simply be “a hassle.”

“We do have a lot of talent at this school and I think they just needed a director and a group of people who had that kind of experience,” she said. “This year things just kind of came together.”

Ruoff not only shows her skills on the stage but on the court. This year, Ruoff co-captained the Shore Regional tennis team, competing in third singles for her home high school. Ruoff has started on the varsity team since her freshman year, and for the past two years, she has helped her team advance to the Shore Conference semifinals or further.

On top of acting and playing tennis, Ruoff waitresses part-time at the Turning Point. Ruoff’s busy schedule makes for some challenges in balancing different activities.

As a senior, she is also busy planning for her future in college and in the working world.

“My dream is to be a director, but I think I’m actually going to go to law school and study to be an entertainment lawyer … because I love working with people and I love the entertainment industry so I think that’s where I’d be happiest.”