Student Blog: Student Blog: No Small Parts… Just Short Actors

Although I am going to be a BFA musical theatre major next year, I have never been the lead in any of my high school musicals. I’ve been lucky enough to be cast as the comic relief, the antagonist, and the pivotal role of ensemble #7 in “Cinderella.”  Throughout high school, I have had many disappointments, and a lot of times it felt like it stemmed from the fact that I’m 4 foot 10, spritely, and cute - not the typical ingenue.   I felt like I wasn’t being taken seriously and it started to take its toll on my confidence.  And while this is of course disappointing, I needed to learn to make the best of it. I may not get every opportunity possible, but I found a way to prioritize what I really want and make my own.

When I was feeling disappointed and sad, I constantly needed to remind myself of the famous saying “There are no small roles, just small actors.”  But the large and small victories I had in between those spring musicals helped me stay motivated to keep trying.  In between rehearsals in the role of “Lorraine,” the tap-dancing friend of the lead in “42nd Street,” I reached out to my old directors at my alma mater middle and elementary schools to see if they needed extra help with their musicals.  This ended up being so fulfilling and led to new relationships with directors and students and gave me behind-the-table experience that I would not have had otherwise. 

With this new route I was going on, the superintendent of our school district noticed my hard work and made additional opportunities for me. I spoke at a women’s leadership panel a few months ago - something that I didn’t even know was a possibility. By making these opportunities for myself, I was using my connections to form new ones. Through former experiences, I got to intern with costuming, shadow a director, and be a youth supervisor for the regional theatre house, 5star Theatricals, I had grown up in. I saw a post on the Broadway World Instagram to be a student blogger, so I took initiative, applied, and got the opportunity for myself.

Although I was busy with rehearsals and school work, I had my mind on two goals:  directing “The Diary of Anne Frank” my senior year, and getting into Marymount Manhattan College for musical theater. Anytime I felt less than or discouraged, I would work on my pitch or practice my audition songs to remind myself of the big things that I had in store. While not getting the lead is disappointing to any teenage girl, directing a poignant and powerful piece like “The Diary of Anne Frank” put everything into perspective and showed me what truly mattered.  Because of these victories, the little disappointments didn't seem to matter as much.

Thanks to these smaller roles and having enough time on my hands to learn how much I love directing, I am now going to study directing as well in college. Because I wasn’t busy practicing a large load of lines for the spring musical, I got to take extra dance classes and feel really good about my college pre-screen videos. Sure, I would get mad and/or sad about never getting a lead role, but I know that I’m lucky to get the things that really matter to me.