Student Blogger: MaryRose Jones

My biggest piece of advice to you is to be bold. I regret being terrified of speaking up or taking on new things. Don't be afraid to do what you love which is theatre! You'll be free, taking opportunities you otherwise wouldn't have. Now, I'm making art in a new way.

College decision day just happened. You've accepted an offer at a college, but it is not exactly what you were hoping for. You're getting a BA or BM, instead of your dream, a BFA. Not getting a BFA isn't exactly the tragedy that it might seem at first. I was in the same shoes as you, multiple times in fact, and I can honestly say that I am thankful to be a BA major.

At the beginning of the semester, I did not get into any of the shows I auditioned for. I was upset, but thought that it meant I was going to have a quiet and boring semester. I was wrong. My advisor asked me if I wanted to stage manage a show for her. This was something that I had never done or ever thought I would do, but I took a chance and I'm so glad I did. Here are some tips that I learned as a first-time stage manager.

Earlier this week, I got my second rejection of the summer stock season. Of course, I was a little frustrated because it was a theater I really wanted to work with. In the past, I would have pouted and overanalyzed for hours and hours about what I did wrong and how I deserved to be in that show, and so on. However, now, I've decided not to let this rejection get me down, and instead think of how this rejection will help me.

I am inspired by the cast members who have to be in character every day, whether that is as an umpire at Casey Corner, or a princess at Fairytale Hall. These performers have a strength and imagination I don’t yet possess, but I really hope to someday.

It was a wild time in terms of all the activities and classes I had to balance, but I'm so grateful for this semester. This is the first semester that I felt like I grew significantly as an artist. I have been really reflecting on this semester and how I grew.

There is a famous story about after the first performance of Rent. Someone shouted in the audience, 'Thank You Jonathan Larson.' That's my sentiment exactly. Thank you Jonathan Larson for creating such a deeply flawed, but beautiful musical that encourages my curiosity to learn more. Thank you Jonathan Larson for making me remember why I love theatre.

Whereverland tells the story of Monica, who has obsessive compulsive disorder and spends the entire musical in a bathroom. She falls in with James, but her best friend does not think she is good for him. According to Gomez, 'the musical is really about her discovering that he's not the person that he says he is and regaining the sense of I can be on my own and I can take care of myself.'

The year of 2020 allowed for a new type of musical to be created: Tiktok musicals. Most of them are based on popular works, think of the Ratatouille musical. My personal favorite has been the Bridgerton musical created by the amazing team of Bear and Barlow. I had been listening to Abigail Barlow's music for a while when she began to work on the Bridgerton. Needless to say, I became obsessed rather quickly and couldn't wait for the concept album to come out. Here are some of my favorite songs from the album!

Schools with a large technical budget can really play up the fantasy of the musical. They can do high tech transformations and amazing monsters. Schools with a smaller budget can really play up the camp factor of the show, and have more simplistic sets and special effects. The same goes with cast size. The chorus of this show can be huge or small, depending on the needs of the school.

Disney has opened many spectacular shows on Broadway, such as Beauty and the Beast, Frozen, and The Lion King. However, it's been around four years since they opened a new show on Broadway. Here are some of my top picks for their next movie-to-stage adaptation to come to Broadway. It has been so long since we got a new Broadway production from Disney. Hopefully, now that Broadway is reopening and new shows are being developed again, Disney will open an amazing new show that will delight audiences, children and adults alike.

'Going in, I didn’t know what to expect. I was very nervous that I was not going to be able to make much progress in such a short time. However, I was able to learn about my voice and how to take care of it. This has allowed me to be way more confident in my voice.'

I am very fortunate that my mother showed me movie musicals from a very young age. She didn't just show me the Disney musicals, like Beauty and the Beast, and The Little Mermaid. I was exposed to Julie Andrews's Maria and Brandy's Cinderella. I was mesmerized by all of these films. I loved the storytelling. I loved the music. I loved the romance. I wanted so badly to be just like the women I saw in those films, especially Julie Andrews It is what reminded me of what I loved about theatre. It reminded me of the joy you experience when the main couple meets. It reminded me how dance and song can tell a story like nothing else. It reminded me of how theatre allowed me to escape. It made me want to do theatre again forever.

'You shouldn’t feel the need to sacrifice your mental health for others. I think that sometimes, like Biles, we feel like by being a part of a show, we have the weight of the world on our shoulders. We don’t want to let anyone down by protecting ourselves.'

'The reason live theatre is amazing is because it’s never the same. If people wanted to see the exact same thing every time, they would watch a movie. Everyone has their own strengths and life experiences that will make their portrayal of a character different than someone else’s.'

'If you can see yourself doing something else..' implies that we aren't supposed to be good at anything of importance outside of theatre. Interests outside of theatre make us a more well-rounded individual and a better performer in general.

Live theatre is finally coming back. Well, kind of. A lot of theatres, especially community theatres, aren't coming back quite yet or having smaller casts than normal. That means that a lot of people who typically are singing their hearts out on stage aren't able to do so just yet. One of those people is unfortunately me.