Musicals

            It was freshman year at Caledonia High, and there was something different with my friends: they were tired.  The whole year they were alive and excited, but something about January dropped their energy like Eminem drops rhymes.  At first I thought it was the cold winter season, or perhaps being the new semester.  When I finally asked a buddy why everyone seemed so tired, she responded with a kind of annoyed tone, “It’s the musical.”  Yet, if they were so tired, there had to be a reason that they continued it year after year.  So the next year, I started my adventure in the art of theatre.

            At first, I wasn’t sure that I wanted to do the musicals.  It sounded dull, and practicing nearly every day after school for hours didn’t help persuade me either.  And yes, there had to be enjoyment in it if everyone liked being in it.  What finally got me to say yes was when a friend on the golf team said,
“Well at least it gives you something to do in the winter before the golf season.”  Yes, because those four months of the year were the longest wait I have ever experienced.  Joining the musical would keep me from thinking about golfing and possibly help me make some new friends.  Without another thought, I placed my name on the signup sheet next to my best friend’s, and waited for the time to come.  It was nerve-racking to sing and act in front of the directors, even though one was my choir director.  Even worse was the wait.  Would I make it?  Would I get a part or will it be another embarrassment?  There was no way to prepare myself for the list to come out, so I simply waited.

            It was excitement, and relief, that I felt when I saw my name on the cast list.  Sure, I had a very small role, but it was enough for my first year.  As the entire cast practiced more, and memorized lines, songs, dances, and scenes, the energy level was becoming harder and harder to maintain.  Most nights we were there until seven or later, and after dinner and homework, there just wasn’t time to relax.  Pressure was building as I realized that everything was needed to be memorized soon; the show was only a few weeks away.  I had so much more to learn, and before I knew it there we only four practices left.  I’ve seen it on television: I forget my line or mess up in a dance, and there’s no turning back.  My body was drained when I got home, but I couldn’t sleep because I had to work on my songs and dances.  This is why everyone was so tired during the winter.

            I can never forget the feeling of when the curtain rose for the first time.  My first real show, and there was so much excitement in me.  Oddly enough, I wasn’t nervous when I was on stage.  Perhaps it was because I was focused so much on the next line or next cue, that I couldn’t focus on the audience.  The show was fun, and so was the after-show party.  Finally, I was able to sleep.  A whole week of relaxing and regaining my energy.  This is what we musical people call PMS (Post Musical Syndrome).  And before I knew it, here came the reason I joined the musical in the first place.  The golf season had arrived already.  This whole time in the musical I had no time to think about golf.  Then I knew that I was sticking with the musicals.

            That first show was entitled “Once Upon a Mattress” and the next year I had a slightly larger role in “West Side Story”.  This past year, though, offered my first big role.  I was Elisha J. Whitney in “Anything Goes” and that took the most out of me.  I had almost too many lines along with dances and songs, but it was worth it.  Since I began my musical adventure I have made plenty of new friends and it has expanded my personality.  I am more outgoing and learned how to be a leader to the younger actors.  It was a great experience, and I wish everybody knew what it felt like to be part of a show.  Though tiring, the musicals contained some of the best memories of my high school.