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Musical cast bonds into ‘family’

By Annie Roe tx. Correspondent - | Mar 10, 2019
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TX. Theater Class
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TX. Play rehearsal

If you’ve ever seen a live musical, you might have wondered how the actors remember lines, cues, lyrics and dance moves all while seeming happy and portraying a character.

Let me tell you, it’s hard but definitely worth it.

Recently, I had the opportunity to participate in my school’s musical, ”The Drowsy Chaperone.” This is the fourth show I’ve done, and with every experience I grow to love the difficulties of staging a production more.

We started rehearsing for this February show at the end of November. The first step in any show is learning all the music. Our musical director came and we learned all the ensemble parts. Sometimes it takes a long time to learn only a few measures, because all four voice sections must have the notes down confidently.

Even though sometimes it felt like we had been rehearsing the same song for an impossibly long amount of time, it always resulted in a feeling of accomplishment. When the whole cast sang a line perfectly, you could feel how proud we all were of each other and of how the show was coming along.

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After we learned our music, our choreographer came in and taught us all the dances. Dance rehearsals were some of the hardest parts of the show. It can be very discouraging when I don’t understand the moves or can’t seem to get them right.

However, some of my favorite memories are also from dance rehearsals. Our whole “Drowsy Chaperone” cast got a lot closer as we brought the show to life through dancing. When we were all stressed about the dance break in our biggest musical number, our choreographer taught us all a hip-hop combo so we could have a break. Even in the times when we were stressed, I could always count on someone to make a joke so we’d all laugh and not be so frustrated.

All the dancing, acting, singing and practicing culminated in four performances of this musical at Ogden High School in late February. From the first moment I walked on stage on opening night, I knew we had really achieved something amazing. Over the course of 10 weeks, our cast grew from a group of people — some of whom were total strangers — to a real family.

Not only did I enjoy being on stage, I also loved being able to support my friends from behind the curtain. Everyone was so supportive of one another. I can’t deny that there were times I didn’t know how we would pull off a show and I felt very overwhelmed. At the end of the day, though, it was a great experience.

I’ve learned that theater is something I truly enjoy. There’s nothing else that feels like final bows on closing night, when you know that all your hard work has paid off, not only in the quality of the show but also in the friendships made.

A show is not about one person; it’s about the cast coming together and working as one to tell a story. Everyone is important. Without the ensemble members, stage crew, supporting characters and main characters, no show could be successfully staged. It does require a lot of effort, but I’ve come to know that no matter what part I play, I’ll be valued.

I can’t deny that putting on a show is hard. It does require a lot of work and dedication from everyone involved. But it also creates something wonderful, which is why I can’t wait for next year’s show.

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