At only 15 years old, Gibault Catholic High School student Morgan Ladyman barely made the age cut to try out for the popular TV singing competition “The Voice.”

Age clearly wasn’t a factor though, and Ladyman received a callback for the show’s next season after she auditioned Feb. 2 in Nashville, Tenn.

The producers told her more than 10,000 singers auditioned over the course of the weekend, and only a very short number of people made the callback list.

Though Ladyman was not called back for this season, the producers liked her enough to offer her a chance next season.

Ladyman is no stranger to singing and performing. She has been singing since she was little, when she would do karaoke with her grandfather at age 6.

“I did my first play the summer going into fifth grade at Althoff and just started loving plays,” she said.

Her career as a performer took off from there, and she has been in musicals with Althoff, Visitation Academy, Summerstage Playhouse, Immaculate Conception School, Cabaret Showcase, Shrewsbury Community Theater and Tower Grove Abbey.

She is very involved at Gibault as well, and is a part of the basketball team, volleyball team, Hawk Capella singing group and was a freshman homecoming attendant.

Ladyman recently joined a band called All Tooned Up, and their manager suggested she try out for “The Voice.”

After waiting for hours to try out in Nashville, Ladyman and her mom were thrilled when they heard the good news.

“They told me I had a callback after I sang, and we both started crying,” Ladyman said. “It didn’t feel real. We hardly saw any callbacks.”

The coolest part of the experience, she said, was getting to see all different kinds of people auditioning.

“When we were waiting to get in the building at 5 a.m., a guy behind us came out with a speaker and just started singing,” she said. “It was such a fun atmosphere.”

When Ladyman goes back next year for her callback, she won’t have to stand in line and can go straight to the studio.

Being called back for next year actually turned out to be perfect for Ladyman, because she just secured a major role as Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz for Tower Grove Abbey in St. Louis. She also just found out she got the lead role in Gibault’s spring musical.

“If I had gotten on this season (of “The Voice”), there are a lot of things I would’ve had to put on hold,” she said. “This worked out the best, and I’ll get more experience (between now and next year).”

One of the questions they asked her at “The Voice” audition was what type of crowds she has sang in front of, so her mom, Connie, booked her for three dates to sing the National Anthem at GCS Ballpark in Sauget this summer.

“That’ll get her in front of crowds around 5,000,” Connie said.

Ladyman is excited about getting the opportunity to play Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, because she was selected out of 85 other “Dorothys” who auditioned.

“We’re also using an actual dog for Toto, so I’m excited for that,” she said with a laugh.