“I think we have an amazing community at Loomis, theater in particular.  ... It feels like you can live so many different lives.”

We recently caught up with sophomore Tomorrow Chestnut, who had just finished a four-day run from February 19 to 22 playing Nostradamus in Something Rotten! And there was something brilliant about her performance. Since she played a seer in the musical, we just had to ask what tomorrow holds for Tomorrow. “I’m not too sure what the future holds for me, but as my end goal, I hope to have a house in southern Italy with my brother, his family as well as mine, only traveling back to the U.S. for work.” She shared how she got her first name. “I’ve heard a lot of stories for how my name came to be,” she said, “and a funny one is that my grandmother wanted to name me something like Tamara, but my father thought of tomorrow and the future and thought I was the future, so therefore my name should be Tomorrow.”

Year: Sophomore

Hometown: Paterson, N.J.

Clubs/activities: Besides playing Nostradamus in Something Rotten!, she was in the ensemble in Chicago last year. Spectrum leadership; Peer Health educator; tour guide; Norton Family Center for the Common Good intern; member of the Step Team, which performed during the Martin Luther King celebration in January; manager of girls varsity softball as a freshman.

What was it like to play Nostradamus? In the musical Something Rotten! Thomas Nostradamus is the nephew of the famous Nostradamus, the French astrologer, physician, and seer, known for his predictions. Thomas has been called a nutty, loony soothsayer who can almost predict the future. “At first I thought it was a difficult character to play only because he’s so silly, and so funny, and kind of insane. ... Then I leaned into the playfulness of the character and that was fun.” Once she got the lines down, Tomorrow could experiment. At that point, she said, “You can really play with it, say the line this way or that way, because you’re not thinking about it.”

What do you enjoy about theater? She had not done theater before coming to Loomis Chaffee. “I think we have an amazing community at Loomis, theater in particular.  ... It feels like you can live so many different lives. [This year] I was playing this silly man — I don’t even know how to describe him — he’s so ridiculous. And next year I could be doing a stern woman, so it’s kind of cool.”

Favorite course or homework assignment so far: “I really enjoy English, the books we read, and the writing assignments.”

Favorite meal: Rice and beans and pernil (pork shoulder) cooked by her mom.

Favorite place on campus: The playground near Faculty Row. “The swings, the view, I love it. It’s so cute.”

If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be? “I know this is broad, ... but everyone having access to what they need. Everyone deserves to be able to live life.”

Do you have any pets at home? “No, but I want a bulldog because my grandparents had two. And I was begging my dad for an iguana because we have an exotic pet shop near my house. They were so cute.”