MANSFIELD – MaKayla Lawrence loves to wear a sash and a smile.
The former says “Miss Greater Cleveland’s Teen,” while the latter says she’s ready to give the best version of herself every day, including at the Miss Ohio Teen pageant ahead of her.
Lawrence, 18, a Mansfield resident and senior at Pioneer Performing Arts Academy, will represent her hometown on the stage for the Miss Ohio Teen Scholarship Program on June 20 at Archer Auditorium in Ashland.
It’s about 23 minutes from Mansfield’s Renaissance Theatre, where Lawrence fostered her love for pageantry and performing arts, as well as the typical location for the pageant. Archer Auditorium becomes the temporary site while the Renaissance undergoes renovations.
The oldest of three siblings, Lawrence comes from a family of performing artists who have routinely taken the stage at the Renaissance. Lawrence has performed in 23 shows.
“It’s given me so many opportunities, being able to do shows there,” Lawrence said. “Being able to be in the neighborhood, and seeing all these little kids now doing shows, and people being inspired by me. It’s been a great experience.”
That experience led to Lawrence winning Miss Greater Cleveland’s Teen. The title marks her first local pageant victory. After several failed attempts, Lawrence said she used the lessons she took away to come back victorious.
“My first pageant that I did, I really beat myself up when I didn’t win because I thought, ‘I have this in the bag. I got this, I feel like I have a chance,’” Lawrence said.
“I realized I can’t really beat myself up too hard, because it just wasn’t the right time for me,” Lawrence said. “Then, once I got to Greater Cleveland, I was like, ‘I feel it. I feel like I can win,’ … I realized all those attempts were just building me up to this point, and I knew I was supposed to win this title.”
Lawrence’s chosen talent for Miss Ohio Teen is vocal performance. Lawrence’s mother, Kristal Lawrence, a lifelong singer and actress, was her daughter’s biggest inspiration.
“I wanted to follow in her footsteps,” Lawrence said. “I’ve never really done vocal lessons … but being able to do acting really helped me build up my vocals, so it’s a very strong talent of mine.”
Acting, singing and performing has always been a family affair for Lawrence, and is the leading reason behind her chosen community service initiative: “Scene & Heard; a Safe Space for Every Story.”
“Scene & Heard is dedicated to fostering an inclusive and supportive theater community – a place where every voice is valued, every story matters and everyone feels seen and respected,” Lawrence wrote on her Instagram account.
Scene & Heard was largely born out of struggles with mental health in Lawrence’s family, starting after her uncle passed away.
“His mental health was not good, and realizing how we never knew about that … and he held it back so much made me realize there are so many people that are doing the exact same thing,” Lawrence said. “I want to be able to be there before something happens.”
“I’ve seen so many people struggle with (mental health), even through the theater community,” Lawrence said. “Not a lot of people understand. When they see a show, they’re like, ‘Oh, well, they’re just acting. It’s all fun and games,’ but nobody really knows what goes on behind the stage.
“The hard work we put into doing shows, and months and months of preparing for it, just for it to be shown for maybe two weekends. Then after that, it’s back to normal life.”
The smile Lawrence brings with her everywhere is something she hopes can be infectious throughout the acting community. When asked to describe herself in a word, Lawrence said: “bubbly.” To her, that means uplifting others, showing love and trying to put a smile on everyone’s face.
“I like to brighten up the room, even when someone’s down,” Lawrence said. “I want to brighten them up, their mood, and I want to be able to be there beside them and realize, ‘Hey, everything’s OK.’”
Lawrence will take her smile, sash and bubbly personality to Miss Ohio’s Teen Competition next, where, if she were to win, she’d be offered scholarship money. Though she hasn’t started thinking about colleges or life after high school, Lawrence hopes to continue in the arts, becoming a music producer, with a focus on R&B.
