Taking the Stage
Have you ever felt out of place or felt like you didn’t belong? I was involved in everything in high school ranging from sports to Beta Club and still hadn’t found where I felt like I belonged. One of the things that I loved the most was being a cheerleader. My daily battle was between loving to be a cheerleader and not conforming to what the stereotype of a cheerleader was. Cheerleading was a big part of my life, and one of my literacy sponsors it taught me to not listen to what others say. However, at the beginning of my junior year, I finally felt where I belonged. Theatre, rather than cheerleading, gave me the chance to try something new without fear of judgment. Theatre was the biggest influence in my life and to this day, I can reflect on what I have learned.
Cheerleading has been in my life for as long as I can remember, so of course when it came to middle and high school I tried out for the team and made it every year. By my junior year, I found myself struggling to have connections with other girls and never knew why. Fed up with not feeling included, I found myself in a Theatre One class. At the end of the semester the class preformed a small one-act play for students at the school. The whole process of acting intrigued me, from learning your lines to stepping on the stage. At the end of the semester, I decided that I wanted more of challenging when it came to theatre. Auditions for the advance theatre class were in two weeks and I decide to take the risk.
The risk paid off. I was honored to be in the play production class, but it didn’t stop there. I had to audition for the musical Cinderella; with this audition we not only had to act, but sing. As I stood in front of the directors, the fear overwhelmed me. I stood there in a stupor. I took a deep breath and told myself that I would be fine being in the ensemble. A week pasted, and the cast list went up at the end of the day. Not only was I flabbergasted that I was casted as the stepsister Joy, but we were also double casted. I was so astounded that I was even casted as a main role but then I started thinking why I was casted as Joy when the girl in the other cast was so much better than me. I started thinking to myself, what is the purpose of double casting if the other person is obviously better than me? The director told us that we are double casting for the fact you never know what’s going to happen but I think it was because there was so much talent and not enough roles. Not only did I second-guess the casting idea, but I also started second guessing myself.
With the feelings I had about being able to perform as the stepsister in the play against Victoria, the other Joy, I went to talk to the co director and my mentor Mr. Ousley. As I sat down with Ousley, I found myself struggling to believe that I had the capability to preform to the best of my abilities. He looked at me and told me that I was one of the hardest workers in the program, that during the day of auditions he saw something in me and knows how well and how perfect I am for the part of the stepsister. Months, weeks and days before the play I would schedule meetings with Ousley in order to work on music my lines or even to have a conversation on how I was doing. Due to Mr. Ousley’s extra help I felt more prepared and ready for opening night than I ever thought I would be.
Opening night came around and I was nervous but ready to share my new talent. As we did our warm-ups before the show, I became weighed down by all my senses. As I started to freak out and have a panic attack I looked over and Mr. Ousley was standing there ready to give me a hug. He told me he was proud of me and how far I’ve come, he told me that I will do great and to have fun. With this being said, the curtains were pulled open and the show started. After the first scene, I walked off in amazement of how I felt. I realized that the
audience wasn’t watching me but watching the story unfold and I just had to play the part.
After the last performance, we started cleaning out the dressing rooms and stage. Each cast had a list of things to do. Throughout the performance each cast got along fairly well until we started cleaning, rumors had been going around that people had been talking about people. It all blew up after I said a few wrong words to my best friend. The rest of the day was spent talking over
our feelings to each other with Ousley being present. We came to the conclusion that yes we both felt judge by the other cast and both thought the other was better.
After all was said and done I can honestly say that not only me but also everyone in both cast learned much more bout life than about theatre. My last performance was called “The Yellow Boat” I was not a lead nor did I wish to be. It was a small one-act play directed by other students. This too was a struggle, to learn how to put all ideas together and work as one. As my senior year ended I found myself much more well off than I had before I began my junior year. The senior goodbyes where tough and bitter sweet but I can honestly say that I have
learned so many life lessons in my time in theatre than I thought I ever could.
Theatre has given me the chance to show my talent and hard work. I figured out who I am and that if I have trust in myself and try new things it will bring me to be a much better person. After everything I have been through I have also become more aware of not judging people or myself or not to see the bad in everyone. I look back and I can honestly say that hard work pays off and whenever you have people who believe in you, you can go far.