BWW Blog: Daniella Ignacio - Life (Without Performing) Can Be Beautiful: How to Survive When You're Not In A Show

Hello hello hello, fellow theatre fans! My name is Daniella, I'm 17 and I'm new here today. The small town in New Jersey that I come from seems so far away. Actually it doesn't, as I am writing this from my school library and unfortunately do not live in New York City yet. But I digress. Through this blog, I plan to document the life of what it's like as a teenager obsessed with musical theatre. Due to my passion for this art form, there aren't many times in the year when I'm not working on a production in some capacity. However, every year since I have begun participating in local theatre, I have not performed much during the spring beyond my school's spring musical, which usually has performances in March. In the beginning, I found it unfathomable to not be involved with productions during this time, but as the years go by, I continually discover that it can be helpful to take time off from performing. Here are some of my tips for dealing with not being in a show:

1. Deal with all of the agony that comes with post-show depression. Cry or scream if you must. (This is actually quite cathartic; don't be afraid of those judgmental people who don't understand how passionate you are about theatre. Or just do this privately.)
2. Once you get that out of your system, find a new show to become obsessed with! And generally expand your theatre horizons. This probably will not be difficult for you.
3. Once you find that new show, really obsess over it (there is a difference between #2 and #3). Spend all of your time learning all the music and lyrics from that show. Then bother your family and friends non-stop with it!
4. Repeat tips #2-3 however many times you wish. One can never know and love too many musicals!
5. Take extra classes wherever you can fit them in! You probably take some of these already, but additional acting classes, dance classes, voice lessons, audition prep workshops that you find would be useful supplementary training! All of this education can help you develop as a performer and make you even better for the next show that you audition for!
6. Pursue other interests that you might not always have time for when you are in the rehearsal process or performing. Join a new club or local organization, get involved with charities, maybe even start a blog (like I've done)! As an English nerd, I enjoy assisting my school's literary magazine on a more regular basis during the spring. It's fantastic to be able to tap into this side of me and go back to something that I end up dropping halfway through the year because of the school musical. Exploring other fields can also help you become a better-rounded person with further experiences that can benefit your performance skills.
7. To my fellow juniors who want to pursue musical theatre in college and are starting to think about college auditions: find those monologues and 16/32-bar audition songs! The more time you have to prepare, the better your audition will be and the higher chance you'll have at getting into your dream theatre program.
8. Actually do something productive with all of the free time that you have! For me, that is, unfortunately, devoting more time to school. Fourth marking period tends to be my best marking period academically, as I have no excuse to say "I can't go to after school help/do homework/finish this project/study, I have rehearsal." I may suffer, but I end up getting good grades, which is a great thing.
9. Stay in touch with your theatre friends. These are the people that understand you and the pain you're dealing with. Talk to them. Conversely, also spend time with your other friends that you couldn't hang out with as often when you were rehearsing or performing. They exist and are wonderful, as well.
10. Look for upcoming auditions in your area and start preparing for them! Because, honestly, you can't stop thinking about your desire to perform and stay involved with theatre, as much as you try not to. And it's always good to look towards the future.
11. On audition day, do your best so you can get into that production. See all of those countless articles on audition tips for more info on that!
12. When you are accepted into the show, count down the days until the first rehearsal begins! If you aren't cast, find other shows and keep trying until you finally get into a show!