Student Blog: Introduction and Summer as a Theatre Kid!

My name is Jeffrey and I am a brand new student blogger at Broadway World. I am a self-proclaimed writer. English is my favorite subject and I enjoy having fun while writing. I have loved everything about Broadway from a young age. The first show I ever saw on Broadway was Beetlejuice at the Marquis Theater. While watching shows is a huge part of my life, performing is an even bigger part. I always wanted to be on stage making people laugh. I'm fortunate enough to have been able to continue that journey of performing all the way into my highschool career. I just finished ninth grade and I'm going into the tenth grade in August. 

I am currently cast in Sweeney Todd: School Edition as "Beadle Bamford," a crooked public official who Is Judge Turpin's right-hand man. The outline of this show consists of learning my lines over summer. My off-book date is the first rehearsal. Then we'll be polishing and rehearsing in the fall. Finally, we'll be performing in November. Obviously a big part of my summer plans will be learning choreography and lines for Sweeney. I am hoping to spend a lot of time reading lines on the beach and by the pool. I've found that when I'm in a relaxing space without many distractions I learn lines quickly. Another thing I will be doing this summer is reading my script and figuring out exactly how I'm going to say each line and what emotion Beadle will be portraying.  After that I will record myself and a friend reciting every scene I am in. I will be listening to it over and over again all summer so I will not forget how I want to say it. That will also help me learn my lines.  

I want to spend a lot of my summer watching live theater. As I already said, live theater was always a big part of my life. And as a student, live theater isn't always accessible to me. Theater is very expensive at most places. But luckily I have the opportunity to see affordable community theater near my house and school productions of musicals where it's a bit more affordable. Some shows I'm already booked to see this summer are, Guys and Dolls, Once Upon a Mattress and Mean Girls. I'm always keeping an eye out on what local theaters are doing and hoping I'm able to get inexpensive tickets for professional theater.

I am also looking forward to writing a lot for Broadway World student bloggers. I am incredibly excited and grateful to have this opportunity. Some article topics you might be seeing from me are Rejection in Theater, Burnout, Creativity Block, Academic Integrity and so much more. I'm excited to see what others think about my academic and theatrical life. I'm also looking forward to seeing what other topics my fellow student bloggers will write. It's going to be a great summer!