Guest Blogger: Lily Erb

Everybody has their 'thing' in high school. Maybe you were the star of the football team, or you dedicated your time to the robotics team. Maybe you were on the school newspaper staff or you attended all the science fairs. For a lot of kids, they throw themselves into the abyss of theatre.

Every year towards the end of spring, Bay Shore High School puts on an annual Cabaret Night. Cabaret is basically just a talent show, with each performer doing their own act with piano, drum, and bass accompaniment. There's one catch: you can only perform a song from a musical or movie.

Ah, stage kissing. It makes me nervous just thinking about it. Kissing is hard enough, but rehearsed kissing? On a stage? In front of an audience? The mere thought of it sounds downright uncomfortable. Throw in the added ingredient of high school, and you've got yourself a mess. High school is full enough of hormones and drama, and stage kissing just adds another unnecessary dosage.

There comes a time in every young actor's life where they're cast in a challenging role. Whether the part is physically demanding, musically difficult, or just a strange role to play, all actors have been there at some point or another. When most people recall their hardest roles, it's a fond experience. Maybe they were a lead dancer in Anything Goes, and they hadn't taken one tap lesson in their life. Maybe they were Princess Fiona in Shrek the Musical, and they had to paint themselves green in between scenes. Maybe they were Cinderella in Into the Woods, and they had to fall flat on their face every other scene. What was my hardest role? I was the front end of a cow.