BWW Blog: Alyssa Sileo - Candle Chronicles - GCIT International Thespian Society Troupe 5480 Inductions

ALL THE THINGS THAT MAKE A 5480 INDUCTION DISTINCTLY UNCONVENTIONAL AND PURELY GCIT:

1) We spend lots of time in rehearsal shouting "ALL HAIL THESPIS".

2) We have cake and punch after the ceremony.

3) We sing "Happy Birthday" as a warm-up.

4) We have a homecoming-proposal at the end of a rehearsal.

3) We actually inducted our teacher into our troupe this year.

Don't understand any of these? I got you.

1) I mean, we're pretty happy this guy made a decision hundreds and hundreds of years ago that saved our art form from remaining solely as a chorus droning on in Greek verse. It can also be said that all of the troupes, all of the rap lyrics from Hamilton, and all of our future careers are direct results of Thespis' chitchat.

2) You've never seen so many upperclassmen crying into blue and yellow frosting. I wouldn't go so far as to say the cake symbolizes the end of another Induction and subsequent shrinking number of remaining milestones, but if you stuck around after the ceremony you experienced a volatile combination of emotion and sugar.

3) A Thespian birthday is bound to occur during the rehearsal process. Happy birthday Skyler.

4) My best friend Dylan, who was Doody in his summer camp's production of Grease, is my date! The poster: "Those Magic Changes...My Heart Arranges a Date to Hoco?" And at the bottom, foam letters I had to be creative about curating: CCCCCC AAAAm FFFFFF GGGG7. (Some Ds had to be ripped into Cs).

5) Our Thespian Board and drama teachers had noticed that our facilitator, Miss Lynch-Walsh, has never been inducted into 5480, which initially seems unthinkable--but when you take a peek at our Drama Department schedule, it makes lots and lots of sense. And it only felt right that we should surprise Miss Lynch-Walsh with a mini induction, because she's a Thespian if anyone is. As the teacher and artist who constantly emboldens her Thespians, deals with our frenzies, and safely takes us from point A to point B, whether it be from October to June or from Jersey to Nebraska, she's the ultimate. So our board, when they should have been introducing the student induction ceremony, goaded Miss Lynch-Walsh to the podium and handed her a lit candle and said "Congrats! You're now a member of 5480."

The Thespian Board opened the induction with "Arabian Nights" from Aladdin. I adored every moment of it except for that final alto note I had to wail out. What I did for love.

Inductees performed "Friend Like Me" from Aladdin. It's the law of numbers: every batch of Cheetah theatre kids will have some quality that is present in a majority of the people. 2017 is the dramatic class. 2018 is the comedy class. 2019 is the tap dance class. Dear Genie friends, you all put smiles on our faces.

As per usual, I found my most ceremonious moments had to do with sporadic and singular instances. GCIT has modified my sense of formality, and now my memories are as terrifically offbeat as this institution. What echoes in my mind is might not be the induction pledge, but our dabs backstage and our Miranda Sings versions of the board number. And this is what Thespian Induction really is:

1) Sprinting from the back of the house to the front row to put batteries in the waning microphones.
2) The quick-changes from Agrabah Resident to Formal Thespian Board Member to jeans and our class color t-shirts.

3) Swiftly greeting Thespian alumni as your teacher is lighting the induction candle.

4) Snapping photos in every iPhone filter of your Thespian successors as they deliver a promise to Thespis that you also whisper.

5) Videoing your class in the backstage lights as they dance like goofballs to "Seasons of Love" during the 5480 Photo Slideshow.

And saying to yourself, "All hail Thespis, and all hail us."

I think the moment we truly become Thespians is when we watch others with the candle in their hand. When you see the theatre magic in action, by observing your successors performing, competing at Thespian Festival, or applying for board positions, only then you may say you're 5480. You haven't made art until others partake, because theatre does, theatre makes, and theatre catches.

So to all who took the pledge last Thursday: Thank you for inducting my friends and I many times over. I wish for your inaugural year, imbued with the beauty of your induction night, to be replete with harmonies, objectives, good newsletters. Thespis's light is eternal, but not stagnant in scope. You make the decision of how it grows.

I hope you always emerge from the chorus and say your piece, and after, that you return to your ensemble and share the new things you learned.

Love, your Assistant Public Relations Officer and your forever friend,
Lyssi