Student Blog: From Roses to Bananas: High School Musical Rituals I’ll Never Forget

As we are in the month of December—a month of celebration, the end of the year, the start of winter changes and traditions—I wanted to share some musical theatre traditions from back in high school that are dear to my heart and always made me feel grateful and motivated before going on stage.

First up is throwing roses. Throwing roses was something we did as a collective to pay respect or say a sweet message to one of our castmates before we went on for a performance. We would all gather in a huge circle—even though it ended up looking more like an oval due to how large our ensemble could be at times. We would start with one person as the volunteer tribute, and we’d each throw a rose. I would usually throw roses to one of my friends or peers I was in a vocal group with or someone I was a part of the featured ensemble with, and give them their props or a compliment on their character throughout a performance. I usually would get roses for being sweet in the midst of such a chaotic week of performing, so that was a compliment that always put a smile on my face before performing.

Second is such a sweet, memorable fave of mine called Warm Fuzzies. Fun fact: my musical theatre director called it that because the purpose is for it to be a randomly selected sweet note for a classmate that makes them feel warm inside—like getting a nice, warm hug. Warm Fuzzies was something we did on Fridays, and it was something I always looked forward to because, as you could imagine, sometimes in high school you think people don’t really see you, but in reality, they do. We would take a sticky note and write a nice message or compliment to a random peer, and Ms. Faircloth, my musical theatre and choir director, would read them out loud on Fridays. Warm Fuzzies showed me that as an ensemble we all saw each other and cared, even when it felt like otherwise at some moments.

Last but most certainly not least is Go Bananas! When it was ten minutes before showtime for a musical production, all of the cast, crew, and my director would gather in the chorus room in one big circle and chant: “Grow banana, grow grow banana! Peel banana, peel peel banana! Mash banana, mash mash banana!” And I think there was “Eat banana, eat eat banana,” then the best part: “Go bananas, go go bananas!” We had a whole dance incorporated into the chant and everything. It was such a fun and energetic way to get the jitters out and momentum going before we headed backstage to start a show.

These traditions hold such a special place in my heart. Looking back, those acts of kindness and silly chants have never left me. They have always sparked such confidence as well as a fondness in me.