If you’ve been to a sporting event at East Hampton High School recently, walked through the halls during play rehearsals, or attended mass at St. Therese in Montauk, chances are you’ve heard Faith Mullaly. The freshman has the powerful yet beautiful voice of a woman three times her age, and the grace to go along with it.
Faith’s parents discovered her talent when she was just 5 years old. “My mother had the camcorder and she was recording me at the dinner table, and I was eating my Cheerios and I was singing ‘Castle on a Cloud’ from ‘Les Misérables,’ ” she recalled.
The private concerts continued at home until the third grade, when Faith gave her very first performance at Montauk School’s variety show, going with her favorite song from Les Mis once again.
These days, she sings the national anthem at varsity sporting events as often as she can, frequently at the request of Kathy Masterson, the East Hampton School District’s athletic director.
“Faith’s voice is the voice of an angel,” Ms. Masterson said. “I love hearing her sing. Every time she does, she turns heads.”
At the end of the month, Faith will play the witch in the high school musical, “Into the Woods” — a huge role for a first-year student, but no leap of faith for the play’s directors.
“Taking on the role of the witch as a freshman will be memorable for her and her audience, but I really believe theater is just the tip of the iceberg for Faith,” said Melanie Freyre, the school’s choral director. “It is becoming clear that her talents in music are expansive, and I will be sure to continue to foster and provide opportunities that nurture and challenge her.”
“I cried when I got the role,” Faith said. “I was surprised, cause I’m only 14. I thought I messed up on the dancing at auditions and I thought I was gone, but I’m so grateful that I got this role. It’s an honor that people would choose me.”
Faith is also the regular cantor at St. Therese’s 10:30 a.m. Sunday service, where, if you don’t look up at the choir balcony, you’d never guess a teenager was singing those praises. What’s even more impressive is the stellar human being who backs up that masterful melodic voice — a hugger and a smiler who is kind, warm, welcoming, and humble, well beyond her years.
“Faith is an undeniable raw talent, but she is also proving to be a gem of a human. In all of her accomplishments she is a team player and supportive of her peers,” Ms. Freyre said. “Last weekend, the conductor of the [Hampton Music Educators Association] Festival Chorus was astonished as Faith improvised over one of the gospel concert selections. This week she will solo with the E.H.H.S. Camerata and in March she will sing as a member of the [Suffolk County Music Educators Association] All-County Choir. The future is bright.”
Faith and her castmates will perform in the spring musical, “Into the Woods,” on Feb. 27 and 28 at 7 p.m. and March 1 at 1 p.m., in the East Hampton High School auditorium.