Student Blog: From Hesitation to Spotlight

At the beginning of this year, I received an email from my professor encouraging me to audition for a new musical. This musical had not been produced anywhere else and they wanted college students to come workshop the musical. At first, I was extremely hesitant. I had never performed or workshopped a new musical before and I was not sure what that would look like. For days I would contemplate whether or not I should audition because the anxiety of immediately stepping into something new worried me tremendously. After thinking it over, I decided to send in my resume and audition and waited patiently for the results. 

A few days later, I discovered that I had actually received a spot in workshopping this new musical. I was completely taken aback by the news that, as a new college student, I had been selected. I came to the first rehearsal not knowing what to expect. They had sent some information on parking, schedules, and rehearsal calendars, but not exactly about the work we were going to do. I soon came to find out that the directors were not sure of how it would look either. They wanted to experiment with different musical numbers and scenes that we could all do for the showcase that sponsors would be going to. 

As the rehearsals went on, I started to get more comfortable with the other actors around me and the team that we were working with. We were mostly doing ensemble numbers and creating the world around the musical with abstract dance and specific improv movements. I loved that the directors let us be so creative with our ideas for the musical. I noticed that one sound producer would always say hello to me every time I walked in. She would always smile at me and I would smile back. I did not think much of it until one day, she called me over to her. She asked about my life and what made me want to pursue theater. She asked me what my favorite shows were and what I would want to do with my career. This was the moment that I realized that I was so glad that I had taken the initiative to audition because I wouldn’t have met this amazing song writer and producer who decided to create a positive relationship with me.

During the showcase, I would usually feel more nervous about performing but this time, I did not. Sure I had some nervous energy but I felt so confident in myself that I was not scared to go onstage. Afterwards, the cast and crew went out to celebrate the amazing accomplishments from this workshop. At that moment, I felt proud of the huge risk I took with this workshop. I actually found out that the directors were the original choreographers for Bright Star the Musical and the writer of the musical wrote the play Clue! Through this experience, I learned so much about what it takes to produce a musical and how much an ensemble can really impact a performance. It’s easy to look at the leading actors and see how they create the world but I believe that the ensemble really brings the vision to life. I definitely will cherish this experience as I pursue my acting career and the wonderful and talented team I got to work with!