I love theatre. It has been my rock thought high school and navigating the changes in my life. I found myself during the shows I did. Each show I did was a gateway to understanding who I am, and what I love the most about myself and my life. I have never liked to be in the spotlight, so my freshman year I asked our director if there was anything I could do that was not a performing role, and she asked if I would be interested in working backstage. I accepted her offer and fell in love. My junior and senior year of high school I was the assistant stage manager, and I loved it. Being on the stage management team was everything I could have imagined and more. I was able to be a part of the show for months before tech week in addition to being
People have dreams of what they want to do or accomplish in life, but usually musical theatre is just pushed into the non-realistic void. It isn’t a dream for me. In the past four years, musical theatre has been clarified as my reality. Musical theatre has been the only thing I have seen myself wanting to do. My first love was The Phantom of the Opera, seeing how I watched it almost every day and it was one of the first shows I saw. Of course, I started doing all of those cute shows in middle school and making a huge deal about it to my family and friends, but I have never felt so passionate about something. The minute I get up on that stage I throw away Riley for two and a half hours and it’s the most amazing feeling! Being able to tell a story
to, to put on a play about its life. It was mad. How could they put
“You know somethin’, Gloria? This sweet ole cat and me has been together for fifteen years. We’ve lasted longer than most marriages,” (“Everybody Loves Opal”).
I was practicing the routine for my opening act, for the Broadway musical "The Sound of music." I am an actress playing the lead role of the main character Maria. My director Jane Marshall says," Barbara, you only have twenty minutes until your performance." My only chance to start a satisfying reputation for myself and please the audience. As I listened to those words come out of my directors mouth, that's when it dawned on me. I will only have one chance to do it right. I wouldn't want to cause any disarrays.
Standing. Standing for so long my legs have become numb and the slightest movement will trigger the pins and needles. Waiting for something so long that I forget what I’m waiting for. I can't even think. My mind constantly being pierced with the voices of other choirs. It’s dark, except for the stage standing in the front of the auditorium, lit up with hot stage light. They could fade the color of anything that stands before them.
I want to create today and forever. Since I was a little girl, the lights of the stage have called me. Later on when I saw the Broadway night lights I knew that was the lights that were destined for me, but did I have what it takes. I proved that I did with every performance I did. I have the talent it was always how much I give. If I stepped on stage without my confidence my talent goes to waste because I didn’t give it everything I’ve got. However when I step on stage chest fully out with confidence I am giving it all I’ve got showing that I have what it takes. It is also in these moments I see not only Broadway’s stage lights but the lights all over the world shining for me. Those lights will always shine for me as long as I give it all
It was my first time dancing in front of a big crowd, I was nervous and felt stupid for letting my sister talk me into going on the stage in the first place. I knew I was in over my head dancing against these men who probably had practiced a thousand times but it was too late to turn around.
On March 24, 2016 I attended an American Hockey League (AHL) game at the Quicken Loans Arena between the Lake Erie Monsters and the Rockford IceHogs. To get to the game, I had to meet my good friends parents for the first time because we were taking their car up to Cleveland. Ironically, this process felt almost ritualistic, because even though my friend was a female and not a romantic interest, I still conducted my usual nervous preparation for meeting her parents. Aside from this encounter, the game really brought to life the discussion our class had regarding “what is play,” these last few weeks. To start, the game commenced after the players, coaches and trainers took the ice for the singing of the National Anthem. In regards to the frame
Broadway Musicals? That was my entire life during middle school and high school. I was in every school production, obsessed over shows, listened exclusively to soundtracks, and was a self proclaimed theater geek.
The curtain rises, the house lights go down, the audience hums with excitement and I am never more proud as I see months of hard work, late nights and hours reconfiguring ancient equipment coming together. These challenges could be seen to some as a downside to pursuing a career in theatre, but for me, conquering these challenges makes the job extremely satisfying and my dream career.I became intrigued in theatre production as I love working out how things are done behind the scenes, the first time I really thought about pursuing backstage work was whilst watching Cirque Du soliel at the Royal Albert Hall in London. The hustle of the crew and backstage atmosphere could be seen from my seat and I became fixated on what was going on out of sight underneath the polished productions that I witnessed in the West End.
I first met “T” when I was placed into the same group as him in ninth grade drama class. I believe the teacher was trying to allow for diverse groups, leading to diverse opinions. My school was majority white, farm children, and T was no exception. Our group contained 5 people, including myself and T, and we had to create a script about teenage pregnancy. I always attempt to give everyone I meet a fair first-impression, but T decided to use this first meeting to complain about the groups and the content of the class. The rest of us worked diligently and co-operatively while T continued to either be on him phone or out for a “smoke-break”. T was an obvious sharp contrast next to the rest of the group.
I’ve learned to appreciate the beauty of how theater is more than a mere performance, but rather an artform with nuance and depth. My knowledge on theatrical styles has expanded and some of my favorites we have studied in class are Brechtian and Chinese theatre styles. I grew up participating in musical theatre, but never had the opportunity to truly learn the history and details of the craft. After studying RENT, I am inspired by the various possibilities for theater beyond acting, singing, and dancing. Theater can be used for activism or as a form of commemoration. Theater is relevant by communicating issues to the world. Theater is so much more than a dramatic presentation. The theater that I have come to appreciate the most are the performances that relay a greater purposeful message about society amidst the theatricals on
I caught the acting bug in third grade. For my first play, I memorized an audition piece with my mom’s help and proceeded to secure the lead part. My parents helped me memorize all of my lines to a degree that everyone in the house knew them-- even my four year-old brother. I fell in love with performing, and I auditioned every year afterwards.
I am interested in anything that is interesting. Eclecticity seeps into my brain much more easily than the thunderingly similar data of a single concentrated topic area. Though I tend to gravitate towards computer, science, and math information, I will just as likely find an article on a political, religious, or historical topic just as interesting as an article on how astronauts keep their Coke fizzy in space or a book on how public key encryption works.
School's out for the summer! Seems like just yesterday I was humming along to that song, and now school is back in and summer is almost out. The kids are back in school, night time routines are back in place, back to school shopping is over and homework is being done. The school week is spent doing work sent home from school, and the weekends are spent with family. I can't believe that the year is almost over. Can you? As a family, I like spending time together, doing things as a family and that includes our movie nights and one of the ways we enjoy our movies is by having XFINITY X1 services. I don't know about you, but there is no way that I can live in a home without access to a television. After all I have my favorite shows that I just have to watch and I can't wait until their season begins this fall.