“The NEO has brought me an even tighter community within the Loomis community. I am still in touch with people who graduated, and the people I act with now are some of my best friends.”

We recently caught up with senior Nina Gitlitz, who in February will appear in her final winter musical on the Norris Ely Orchard Theater (NEO) stage. She will have a major role in The Burrow, an original musical by Melanie Guerin, a longtime musician, educator, and composer who has collaborated with Loomis Chaffee Theater Director David McCamish for years. David will direct the musical.

Nina has played many roles in plays and musicals in her three years at Loomis Chaffee. “This is going to be bittersweet,” Nina says. “We have traditions for the final days of the show and for seniors; obviously I can’t give away all the secrets. There are going to be moments when I will have to acknowledge the people in the cast, that it is the last time I will perform with them. And the people I have performed with for all of my time here at Loomis — it will be hard to leave them behind. But I am proud of what I have accomplished, and I know I am becoming part of that bigger legacy.”

Any more to share about the rituals?

“I don’t know what’s at stake if I reveal. ... let’s just say what happens in the NEO stays in the NEO,” Nina says with a laugh.

Theater and English are two pursuits in which Nina has poured much energy. This term she is taking two English courses: Graphic Novel and College-Level Magical Realism. Last year she was awarded a Junior Dance & Theater Arts Award, a Junior English Award, and a Founders Prize. She also won a silver key and honorable mention in the 2025 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, Connecticut Writing Region.   

Year: Senior

Hometown: North Salem, N.Y.

Clubs/activities: President of Spectrum, president of Physics and Astronomy Club, communications manager for Student Activities, president of Pelican Pilot, peer mentor, member of Jewish Student Union, Writing Studio volunteer, theater.

Favorite class/assignment: The final project for the College-Level Literature and the Environment course in the fall was to take photographs on campus and write accompanying poems. “The requirement was to do six, and I ended up doing nine because I loved doing it.” Her photos and topics were about mirrors. Her favorite might have been the one in which she says she took a “flash photo of a mirror. You can’t see my face, but you can see the flash of a camera and the room illuminated through the mirror. That was so cool to me.” She says she had been in the room many times before, “but never saw it like that. Being able to write down the emotions it invoked, ... that was a favorite.” 

She particularly enjoys English courses. “I think literature is humanity’s own act of creation, and the stories we tell are so important to our culture and history, and how we’ve grown. Our ability to create art is one of the things that makes us human. I have always been interested by literature in that the tiniest change in a word or a letter or sentence can impact the whole meaning, and literature is about the conveyance of meaning. I enjoy studying the different ways people have tried to convey meaning and spread their ideas. And just telling stories has always interested me.”

If you could invite anyone to dinner, past or present, who would it be? From the present, she would choose singer Sabrina Carpenter, whom Nina has seen in concert. From the past, Shakespeare would be at the table. “How did you write all that you did?” she would ask. “And did you know you'd be considered one of greatest writers ever?” Nina played an over-the-top Shakespeare in the musical Something Rotten last winter. The plot involved two playwrights who are desperate to step out from the shadow of Shakespeare, who is funny, sly, narcissistic, and willing to do anything to hold on to his role as the No. 1 bard, the most famous writer in England. So what would Shakespeare think of her performance? “I’d like to think he’d be impressed, but logically I think he’d be rolling over in his grave.” She isn’t sure he’d appreciate this kind of portrayal, but “I’d like to think he’d get the spirit of it.”

More on theater: She has been performing since middle school. Nina says theater has taught her confidence, compassion, and flexibility, and she has learned more about herself and the world around her through her participation. “The NEO has brought me an even tighter community within the Loomis community. I am still in touch with people who graduated, and the people I act with now are some of my best friends.”

Favorite place on campus: “I have so many special memories in a million places.” She talks about the swing set by Faculty Row, dorm life, the NEO and the green room backstage, the Writing Studio (“even when I’m not tutoring, just to get my thoughts out on the white board”), the Senior Path, the sunrises over the Meadows.

Favorite season: Winter is especially meaningful, she says. “It is musical season, and that brings me such joy. Outside of that I’d say spring. I love that time when the sun is out and everything is warm, and you’re seeing the sky for the first time in months, ... but there are not bugs yet.”

If you could have a robot do a chore, or anything, for you, what would it be? “If it was a chore, washing dishes. If it was anything at all, I’d have a robot do my hair every day. Love hair but the routine is too much.”

Favorite meal: Her father’s maple-glazed salmon hits the spot. Plus, Nina and her friends still have some West Hartford restaurants on the bucket list before Commencement arrives.

What is something people might not know about you? She used to ski race. “And my top fun fact is that I do archery. ... I’m not very good at it, but I do it.”